

The Hebrew Bible claims that one battle ended in disaster with the Philistines not only routing an Israeli force but capturing the Ark of the Covenant. However, the Israelis were not always successful in their battles. David killed Goliath when a sling stone and the Israeli force won the battle. In one of the most famous battles an Israeli force led by David battled a Philistine force led by a giant named Goliath. The Hebrew Bible tells of numerous battles between the Israelis and the Philistines. (Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images) While the debate on Ai's location is ongoing, many archaeologists now believe that the story of Ai's destruction by an Israeli force is fictional and that this battle never took place. A few archaeologists believe Ai could be at another site called Khirbet el-Maqatir. Some archaeologists believe that the city of Ai is located at an archaeological site called et-Tell however, archaeological excavations show that the ancient city at el-Tell was destroyed during the third millennium B.C., making it impossible that Joshua's army could have destroyed it. In the story, the plan succeeds, and the city is plundered and destroyed. The Israeli leader, Joshua, splits the Israeli army into two groups: a main group that is under orders to retreat when the army of Ai attacks it and a smaller group that lies in wait near the city gates, with orders to enter the city and set it on fire once the Ai army has been lured away. In the Hebrew Bible, the Israeli army takes the city of Ai after capturing Jericho. Kathleen Kenyon (1906-1978) found that this city had been destroyed around 1550 B.C., a date that many scholars believe is too early for an Israeli army to have destroyed it.


While scholars regard the miraculous destruction of the city walls to be fictional, there is a debate as to whether an Israeli army could have destroyed Jericho during the second millennium B.C.Īrchaeologist John Garstang (who lived 1876-1956) found that a large city flourished at Jericho and was destroyed around 1400 B.C. On the seventh day, the leader of the army, Joshua, commanded the entire army to shout and, miraculously, the walls of the city of Jericho collapsed, allowing the Israeli army to take the city. The story says that the Israeli army marched around the city for seven days, blowing trumpets and carrying the Ark of the Co v enant in front of the main body of the army. 294, with the data on Origen updated based on more recent research.In the Hebrew Bible, Jericho is a major city that was taken after the Israelis crossed the Jordan River. This chart is taken from A General Introduction to the Bible, revised and expanded, by Norman Geisler and William E. The New Testament canon during the first four centuries
