ABSTRACT
The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings together tell an extended story. This begins with Joshua leading Israel across the river Jordan into the land of promise, after the death of Moses on the other side. Noth observed at the outset of his study that there was 'much talk of two stages of "Deuteronomistic" composition in the books from Joshua to Kings'. Noth's radical thesis has become widely accepted over half a century as the basis for an explanation of the writing of the books of the Former Prophets and of their particularly close links with Deuteronomy. There continue to be many useful studies of the books of the Former Prophets which completely ignore Noth's thesis and the many successor volumes. Joshua is encouraged as successor to Moses, and also exhorted to base his leadership on meditation on the Mosaic Torah. The deaths of Solomon and Joshua are each followed by a breakdown in central authority.
