Who led the Israelites in conquering Canaan?

Answer 1

The Book of Joshua presents the perspective of the northern kingdom of Israel, of the legendary conquest of the Promised Land by its hero Joshua. Caleb is mentioned, but only in a minor role, and the Book of Joshua is an epic tale of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua.

The Book of Judges, chapter 1, gives the perspective of the southern kingdom of Judah, of the same conquest by its hero Caleb. Joshua is mentioned soon after Caleb completes his conquest, but this passage is only a duplicate of a similar passage from the Book of Joshua.

Both books are now known to have been written during the seventh century BCE, some time after the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, by an anonymous source referred to as the Deuteronomist. Attempting to keep alive the traditions of Israel, the Deuteronomist typically retained enough of the traditions of both kingdoms to be credible from both perspectives, in spite of some unavoidable contradictions. A descendant of a refugee from Israel would be gratified to find the Israelite story of the glorious military conquest in the Book of Joshua, and be no more than a little puzzled by the brief account in Judges. A native Judahite could read the Book of Exodus followed immediately by the account in the Book of Judges and be similarly gratified.