The conquest of Canaan has long been a controversial element of the Bible. Did God really command a genocide? If so, can we still describe God as just and loving? Such ethical and theological questions occur to many who read these stories. Then came archeological investigations whose results raised questions about the historical accuracy of the accounts. Was Jericho a major city when the Israelites arrived? Is there evidence it was destroyed? While there is some archeological corroboration for some features of Joshua and other relevant Bible passages, I think it is also fair to say that at the very least, the physical evidence for a full conquest is not conclusive. Now a new avenue of investigation has been opened up thanks to genetics.
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