Randall L. McKinion and Jason K. Lee, Joshua (Kerux)

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McKinion, Randall L. and Jason K. Lee. Joshua. A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Kerux Commentaries. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Ministry, 2026. 301 pp. Hb. $28.99 Link to Kregel Ministry

Kregel’s Kerux commentary series combines rich exegetical commentary with timely preaching to help pastors and teachers prepare sermons and lessons for the church. In this new commentary on 1 Corinthians, Randall L. McKinion (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) provides the exegesis. McKinion is Professor of Old Testament at Cedarville University. Jason K. Lee (PhD, University of Aberdeen) contributes to the preaching helps for the commentary. Formerly Professor of Theological Studies, Director of Center for Biblical Integration at Cedarville, Jason K. Lee (PhD, University of Aberdeen) now serves as Provost and Vice President of Academic Administration at the University of Mobile and is a Discipleship Pastor at Heritage Fellowship Church in Springfield, Ohio. Lee edited the Matthew volume of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture.

Like other volumes in the Kerux series, McKinion and Lee divide Joshua into “preaching units” in three parts: Entering the Land (Joshua 1-12, twelve units), Distributing the Land (Joshua 13-21, five units), and the Final Days of Joshua (Joshua 22-24, four units). Observe that more than half the commentary covers the first twelve chapters of Joshua. This reflects the main problem with any commentary on Joshua, especially for one focusing on preaching the text. The first half of the book has all the exciting, preachable stories. The second half is rich in geographical detail but very difficult to preach or teach through. Except for the final challenge from Joshua, the second half of the book makes for difficult (boring?) sermons.

The twelve-page introduction begins with a brief discussion of authorship. Joshua 24:26 indicates that “Joshua wrote a book called torah” (34). But even the most conservative reader should not assume that the author of the biblical book is Joshua. McKinion and Lee do not accept the compositional theories of the Deuteronomic historian, as expressed by Martin Noth (34). Nevertheless, they state, “when considering the Books of Joshua through Kings, the reader, and the preacher of the Old Testament may no longer do so without recourse to the claims made about the Deuteronomic history” (35). Throughout the commentary, they consider how Josh will relate backward to the Torah, especially the book of Deuteronomy.

All this affects the book’s date. If the book’s origin is with the “historical Joshua,” even this depends on the date of the Exodus. But the final form of the book dates to the exile. The book uses the phrase “to this day” several times (e.g., 4:9, 5:9; 7:26). This may reflect an explanation of a given condition, an unusual object, or a practice. (an etiology). However, this is of no help since we do not know when “this day” was (37).

McKinion and Lee “take seriously, the historical veracity of the book’s claims” (37). They agree with a lengthy citation from Brevard Childs, distinguishing between the tasks of biblical interpretation and historical reconstruction. Both conservatives and liberals overemphasize historical reconstruction when approaching Joshua and miss the biblical and theological message. “This commentary has tried to take this warning seriously” (37). Are McKinion and Lee successful? In the main commentary, there is a little historical argument. Joshua is assumed to be accurate, so there are no lengthy excurses on the walls of Jericho, for example. There are other resources for the archaeology of the conquest, both positive and negative. This commentary is focused on preaching and teaching Joshua in the local church.

Regarding the theology of Joshua, McKinion and Lee focus on three major themes drawn from Joshan 21:43-45. First, Yahweh gave all the land to Israel that he had promised their fathers (21:43). Second, Yahweh gave Israel rest from their enemies as he promised their fathers (21:44). Third, none of Yahweh’s good words to Israel has failed (21:45). These main contours of the books theology are developed into a series of paragraphs on the promises to the fathers, the promise of the land, rest in the land, the coming heir the king, the importance of the Torah, serving the Lord, Joshua has a spirit filled wise man, and faith and trust in the Lord.

The theological section avoids making Joshua into a type of Jesus and interpreting everything in the book as foreshadowing Jesus. It also avoids the annoying tendency to make Joshua a model for contemporary leadership (Joshua the CEO?). They do discuss Joshua-Jesus typology. (59–60), but they avoid flattening out the book to the extent that Joshua is just a pattern for future Christology.

The Kerux series uses sidebars in the body of the commentary. In this volume, McKinion and Lee frequently provide a sidebar entitled “Where Have I Seen This Before?” (including an excellent chart on pages 80-82). These are intertextual links to the Torah. But these are far more than “Joshua is a new Moses.” In addition to these, there are several examples of intratextual illusions within Joshua. For example, there is a box comparing Joshua 3:7 and 4:14. McKinion and Lee include additional notes on the influence of Deuteronomy 31 on the book of Joshua and Chronicles (57-58).

The exegetical notes are based on the Hebrew text, which appears without transliteration. Grammatical and lexical details appear in sidebars labeled Translation Analysis. Readers without Hebrew will have no trouble reading the body of the commentary. Since chapters cover large sections of Joshua (often two or more chapters), the exegetical comments mostly cover paragraphs and individual verses.

In the commentary’s preaching sections, Lee offers assistance to the pastor or teacher preparing sermons on Joshua. This is much easier in the first twelve chapters of the book. The distribution of the land (Joshua 13-21) is divided into four parts (with the Levites and Cities of Refuge as a separate chapter. It is possible that this whole section could have been a single sermon on the theme of land and rest (see the sidebar on rest, 242-44). Lee divides his “creativity in preaching” section into a historical/literary option and a digital/life experience. For the first option, he gives an illustration drawn from history (although sometimes recent history). For the second, he offers an illustration that is more modern (popular books, films, YouTube videos, or common life experience).

I notice one shortcoming of the commentary. McKinion and Lee do not deal with the problem of violence in Joshua. Other than a sidebar on “devoted things” (125), little is said about God’s command to completely destroy Jericho and kill everyone in the city. Often, Joshua commentaries devote a section of the introduction of a major excursus to the “Canaanite Genocide.” For example, in his recent commentary in the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (reviewed here), David Firth observes that Joshua narrates history in accordance with the conventions of the period. Following John Walton, he observes that ancient people believed land belonged to their god, who gives it to whom he chooses. The land did not belong to any one people. The land always belongs to God, who gave it to Abraham and his descendants.

Conclusion. This criticism aside, McKinion and Lee provide good exegetical notes and preaching tips to help pastors and teachers present Joshua to their congregations, which is the goal of the Kerux series. The commentary will be helpful to anyone wanting to dig deeper into this important Old Testament book.

Other volumes reviewed in this series: