Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Joshua (whose original name was Hoshea) is first mentioned in Numbers 13:8, where he was selected by Moses as one of twelve spies sent to scout out the land of Canaan as the Israelites approached it following their exodus from Egypt. He was of the half-tribe of Ephraim, and he was the son of a man named Nun. Hoshea's name meant "salvation". As indicated In Numbers 13:16, Moses changed his name to "Joshua", meaning "the LORD is salvation".

Joshua initially distinguished himself by being (along with Caleb) one of the two spies who urged the Israelites to conquer Canaan with God's help, while the other ten spies told the Israelites that the Canaanites were too strong for the Israelites to defeat.

Because of Joshua's faith, he was subsequently appointed by God in Numbers 27:18-23 as Moses' lieutenant and chosen successor in leading the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan as related in the book of Joshua, including the capture of the walled city of Jericho, in which God caused the walls of the city to collapse, as detailed in Joshua 6.

(Later, in the New Testament, the name given to Jesus was the Greek version of the name Joshua.)

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