Who Conquered Jerusalem? The TaNaK gives several conflicting answers.

So, what do the books of Joshua, Judges and Samuel say about who conquered Jerusalem? We have nine conflicting options:

1. The Judahites captured Jerusalem in Judges 1:8 “And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and smote it with the edge of the sword; and set the city on fire.” (This passage, Judges 1:8, is contradicted 13 verses later, by Judges 1:21)
2. The Benjaminites dwell in Jerusalem and live with the Jebusites. “And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; and the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day.” Judges 1:21. How does the same chapter contradict itself?
3. The Judahites did not capture Jerusalem per Judges 1:8 above, as Joshua 15:63 says, “And the children of Judah did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; and the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah in Jerusalem until this day.” Please re-read our second possibility above, Judges 1:21 and compare the Hebrew with that of Joshua 15:63. Joshua 15:63 and Judges 1:21 are almost the same in Hebrew. The major exception is that in the book of Judges, “Benjamin” replaced “Judah.” Jerusalem is on the border of Benjamin and Judah.  The first “supposed” king of Israel was Saul, of Benjamin, and David from Judah supposedly replaced Saul.  This is a clear sign in the text of “editing”.  Benjamin and Judah at one time were fighting for supremacy of the three southern tribes. We have a Benjaminite editor and a Jewish editor. Here is Judges 1:21 compared to Joshua 15:63 in Hebrew, see how similar they are:
   
   וְאֶת־הַיְבוּסִי֙ ישֵׁ֣ב יְרֽוּשָׁלַ֔םִ לֹ֥א הוֹרִ֖ישׁוּ בְּנֵ֣י בִנְיָמִ֑ן וַיֵּ֨שֶׁב הַיְבוּסִ֜י אֶת־בְּנֵ֚י בִנְיָמִן֙ בִּיר֣וּשָׁלַ֔םִ עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה
   And the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not drive out. The Jebusites and the Sons of Benjamin live in Jerusalem until this day.
   וְאֶת־הַיְבוּסִי֙ יֽוֹשְׁבֵ֣י יְרֽוּשָׁלַ֔םִ לֹא־יָֽכְל֥ו בְנֵֽי־יְהוּדָ֖ה לְהֽוֹרִישָׁ֑ם וַיֵּ֨שֶׁב הַיְבוּסִ֜י אֶת־בְּנֵ֚י יְהוּדָה֙ בִּיר֣וּשָׁלַ֔םִ עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה
   And the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, the sons of Judah did not drive out.  The Jebusites and the Sons of Judah live in Jerusalem until this day.
   
   
4. Joshua 12:7-10 states that Joshua conquered Jerusalem, killed its king, and everyone within the city. “And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side of the Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon, to the smooth divided mountain that goes up to Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, according to their divisions… The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, that is beside Bethel, one. The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one.” If one were to read the entire chapters of Joshua 10, 11, 12, and 18, one would have no doubt that the book of Joshua claims that Joshua subdued the entire land of Isarel, including Jerusalem. The land is so conquered that they cast lots distributing the tribal territories. Yet, the very first verse of the book of Judges says none of the land was conquered, “And it was after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked of the Lord, saying, "Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" Judges 1:1. The Textual Critic finds the very idea that Joshua and Judges had the same author is impossible, as these two books radically contradict one another.  More on this to come…
5. The books of Joshua and Judges are both wrong, no one conquered Jerusalem in those books, King David conquered it later: “And the king and his men went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying: 'you shall not come here unless you remove the blind and the lame'; as if to say: 'David shall not come here.' And David conquered the stronghold of Zion which is the city of David.” (2 Samuel 5:6-7)
6. Joshua was right above, David did not conquer Jerusalem, it was already conquered by Joshua. In David’s youth, Jerusalem was Israelite. David slew Goliath, and David brought Goliath’s head to an already conquered Jerusalem when David was a young boy: 1 Samuel 17:54 “And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem, and his weapons, he put in his tent.” Here, the textual critic sees yet another contradiction. David has not conquered Jerusalem yet, but David brings Goliath’s head to Jerusalem, accidentally admitting Jerusalem was already an Israelite city before David was even king and conquered it himself!
7. David did not kill Goliath. Elhanan killed Goliath, and somehow David got credit for it: 2 Samuel 21:19 states “And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.” The Textual critic here will point out a verse in Chronicles correcting this “error”, as Chronicles was written after the book of Samuel. 1 Chronicles 20:5 claims Elhanan kills Goliath’s brother, Lachmi and not Goliath. But of course, the textual critic points out that “Lachmi” is from the Hebrew word for “bread”.  Bethlehem, the city of David’s birth and upbringing, means “house of bread.”
8. "The children of Israel dwelt among the Jebusites." (Judges 3:5) Judges 3:5 agrees and disagrees with points 1-6 above. I add it in to drive home the point that one must chose arbitrarily which scenario to believe: Did Joshua, Judah, Benjamin, or David conquer (or not conquer) Jerusalem?

9. In scenario five above, David took Jerusalem in Second Samuel chapter five, by sneaking under the walls via the water tunnel to the center of town. The only problem with this scenario is that it was King Hezekiah who constructed the water tunnel, centuries after David's death. (2 Kings 20:20). The archaeologists do not spend enough time with the textual critics, who analyze all the biblical texts.  There are a LOT of contradictions between Deuteronomy, and the subsequent history recorded in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.  Let’s look at these now.  

   
   

   Contradictions in the books of Joshua and Judges, when compared to Deuteronomy:
   We have contradictions between the Torah and the book of Joshua regarding the Ammonites and Moabites. In the book of Joshua, we read that, "Moses allotted to the Gadites half of the country of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, which is east of Rabbah." (Joshua 13:24-25) "Moses allotted to the tribe of Manasseh as their holding the lowlands of Moab east of the Jordan." (Joshua 13:31-32) This is a direct contradiction to the Torah. In the book of Deuteronomy, we find that Moses said, "when you reach the territory of the Ammonites you must not harass them or provoke them to battle for, I (YHVH) will not give you any Ammonite land as a possession." (Deuteronomy 2:19) "You avoided the territory of the Ammonites, thus fulfilling all that YHVH had commanded." (Deuteronomy 2:37) "Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I (YHVH) will not give you any of their land for a possession." (Deuteronomy 2:9) Let me repeat this: The Torah made clear that YHVH would not give Lot’s land to Israel (Moab and Ammon’s lands).  However, the book of Joshua clearly shows that Joshua conquered Moabite and Ammonite lands giving them to Israel, even though YHVH said he would not allow Israel to conquer this land.  In the 11th Chapter of Judges, Jephthah quarreled over land with the Ammonites. The Ammonites said, "when the Israelites came up out of Egypt, they seized our land all the way from Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now return these lands peacefully." (Judges 11:13) This contradicts Moses who said the opposite in Deuteronomy: "Esau/Edom granted us passage, and so did the Moabites in Ar." (Deuteronomy 2:28-29) If Joshua succeeded Moses, then Joshua would have heeded YHVH’s command to Moses, to not attack Ammon nor Moab, Lot’s descendants.  There are a LOT more contradictions between Joshua and Deuteronomy, but for the sake of time, no textual critic is going to accept Deuteronomy had the same author as Joshua, as these books contradict one another.

   The books of Joshua and Judges give two contradictory accounts on how Israel conquered the land of Canaan. The book of Joshua portrays the conquest of Canaan as a single event that took place in one campaign. The result was that the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were all slaughtered. "He left not a single survivor" (Joshua 11:8) and "the land had rest now from war," (Joshua 14:15) for, "the country now lay subdued before them." (Joshua 18:1). After Joshua chapter 18, a team was sent out and reported back to Joshua who then decided how to divide up the land with the casting of lots. The casting of the lot presupposes a complete conquest, victory, peace, and possession of the land. The book of Joshua concludes in chapter 24, with a great meeting at Shechem, and a call to follow God faithfully, just as God faithfully fulfilled a promise to hand over the Canaanite lands to Israel. Joshua died and was buried, with Canaan fully conquered. The book of Joshua ends with Joshua stating “And YHVH drove out all the peoples and the Amorites who dwell in the land, from before us.” (Joshua 24:18)

    

   The first sentence of Judges, Judges 1:1 reads: "After the death of Joshua the Israelites enquired of YHVH, 'which tribe should be the first to attack the Canaanites?'" The premise in the book of Judges is that no war of conquest took place in Joshua's time, and the Israelites then proceed to a series of battles, all of which the book of Joshua relates as already have taken place. 

   Judges 1:27 & Joshua 17:11-12 state that Israel failed to take Taanach, but Joshua 12:21 says Israel took Taanach. Ephraim failed to take Gezer (Judges 1:29), but in Joshua 12:12 and 10:33, Joshua took Gezer. In Joshua 10:33, he left no survivors in Gezer. But then again, maybe not for Joshua 16:10 says Israel failed to take Gezer. (1 Kings 9:16 has Pharoah of Egypt sacking Gezer and killing Canaanites there.) Naphtali failed to take Beth-shemesh (Judges 1:33) but Israel already took Beth-shemesh in Joshua 19:22 and 19:38. Joshua 12:23 states that Israel took Ibleam (regions of Dor), but Joshua 17:11 says Israel failed to take Ibleam.

   In Judges we are told that after Joshua's death, Judah attacked Zephath (formerly called Hormah). (Judges 1:17, compare Joshua 12:14) They then took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. (Judges 1:18) According to (Joshua 10:40-42), Joshua took Gaza, killing their King at the same time as the countries mentioned in the previous paragraph, in a single campaign ending in military victory, and "he left not a single survivor, destroying everything that drew breath." (Joshua 10:40)

   The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and would not allow them to come down onto the fertile plains. (Judges 1:34) But then again, the Amorites were beaten by Joshua in a grand, sweeping campaign (chapter 10), and as it states in Joshua 11:3-12, the Amorites were destroyed, and so were their cities and the people there. They were, "put to the sword, destroying them all." (Joshua 11:12) All their cities were 'plundered'. (Joshua 11:14) "They destroyed everyone. They did not leave anyone alive." (Joshua 11:14) "Joshua conquered the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perrizites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites." (Joshua 12:7-8) "Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perrizites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, but I delivered them into your hands. They were driven out from before you." (Joshua 24:11) Or, maybe not, for "they did not drive out the Jebusites." (Judges 1:21) "The children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites." (Judges 3:5). The very disappointing thing is, I can list many more contradictions. But to keep things semi-short and readable, I am leaving dozens out!

   Continuing in Judges, we find that after taking Jerusalem, Judah conquered the Negeb, the Shephelah, Hebron, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, and Debir. But the Negev, the Shephalah, Hebron, and Debir were all attacked by Joshua during his lifetime. (Joshua 10:36-40) In Hebron, "he left no survivor, destroying every living thing in it." (Joshua 10:36-37) A passage in Joshua describes the fate of Debir at Joshua's hand. (Joshua 10:38-39) As for the Negeb and the Shephalah, Joshua, "left no survivor. destroying everything that drew breath, as YHVH the God of Israel had commanded." (Joshua 10:39-40) As for Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, Caleb captured them (Joshua 15:13-14) and in another of the internal inconsistencies in the book of Joshua it turns out that it was also Caleb who conquered Debir (Joshua 15:15), though the book of Joshua says Joshua conquered Debir (Joshua 10:36-40).

   Let me address another rough issue: Chariots. In the book of Judges, the Israelites are confined to the less inhabited (and easily conquered) unfertile mountain ranges, with the Canaanites maintaining a firm grip on the fertile plains, "because they had iron chariots." (Judges 1:19) Can chariots defeat HaShem? HaShem drowned chariots in Yam Suf (Red Sea) in the book of Exodus. In Judges, the conquest of the land is something that is going to take centuries to accomplish, with the justification given for this situation, that God was testing the people by leaving the Canaanites in possession of the land. "The purpose of the test was to see whether or not the Israelites would obey God's commandments." (Judges 3:4) Thus the Israelites were confined to the mountain ranges while the fertile plains are described as remaining in the hands of all those people Joshua had supposedly wiped out, 'leaving not a single survivor'. Included on the list of 'survivors' are, "the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and (of course) the Jebusites." (Judges 3:5).  These passages in Judges are a major contradiction to the book of Deuteronomy.  In Chapter 20 of Deuteronomy, we read: “1When you go out to war against your enemies, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God is with you Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2And it will be, when you approach the battle, that the kohen shall come near, and speak to the people. 3And he shall say to them, "Hear, O Israel, today you are approaching the battle against your enemies. Let your hearts not be faint; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be alarmed, and you shall not be terrified because of them. 4For the Lord, your God, is the One Who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.  5And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house and has not [yet] inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man inaugurate it.”  To be very blunt, the author of the book of Judges has zero idea that Moshe spoke about Chariots in Deuteronomy.  This is a clear sign of man inventing the NaK, as opposed to a God instructing man to write G-d breathed scripture.

   Even more problems surface when we consider a failed prophecy credited to Joshua. "The sons of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have chariots of iron."" (Joshua 17:16) Joshua replied, "you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong." (Joshua 17:18) In the book of Judges, we are told that they could not defeat those iron chariots, and indeed, as you read along into Judges Chapter 4 you find that the Israelites were being cruelly oppressed for decades by an enemy who we are told had 900 iron chariots (Judges 4:3). In Deuteronomy chapter 18, a regulation states that if a prophet makes a prophecy that does not come true, the person who spoke was obviously not a prophet. 'Do not be afraid of him.' I accept the Joshua of the Torah, not the Joshua of the book of Joshua and Judges.  Please remember, this again shows lack of knowledge of HaShem’s commandment through Moses to not be afraid of Chariots in Deuteronomy chapter 20. 

   There is also another excuse given for why the people could not conquer the land. "'I will not drive out one individual of all those nations Joshua left alive at his death. Through them I will test Israel, to see whether they keep strictly to the way of God.' So, God made no haste to drive them out or give them into Joshua's hands.” (Judges 2:20-21) As a means of testing all the Israelites who had not taken part in any battles for Canaan, God left all these nations. God's purpose was to train future generations of Israelites in the art of warfare, that is all those who had not learned it before. A few chapters later we find God conflicting himself, as God told Gideon that there would be no training of future generations of Israelites in the art of war, because "Israel might claim the glory for themselves and say that their own strength has given them the victory." (Judges 7:2) "Send the army home." (Judges 7:7). 

   It should be clear at this point that we are reading theology and not history in these books. The statement, “God’s purpose was train them for war," is a theological statement. One cannot say, "the god of the Canaanites is winning more wars than our God." This is a contradiction to the Torah too, that commands the Israelites to wipe out all the “ites” of the land, and to not make covenants with them.  This is “theologizing” the fact that Israel did not obey YHVH, and this theologizing is a clear contradiction to the Torah itself.
   
   In beginning our quest to find the earliest version of Israel's belief in YHVH, we see that the TaNaK as we have it today, has many contradictions.  These contradictions, mean to me anyways, that we need to get to the earliest texts.  Contradictions arise as later authors and editors wish to re-write history to suit their purposes in their present.  For modern readers of the TaNaK, we must rely on archaeology, and the work of textual critics of the Bible, to work to get us to the earliest sources to understand the earliest beliefs of YHVH.