Yahweh said to Joshua, Behold, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king of it, and the mighty men of valor.
Critics have been frustrated trying to find something wrong with this narrative.  Holmes stated that, "It is so skillfully compiled that at first sight there is not much fault to find."[21]  Of course, there are peculiarities in the construction of this narrative, but these are indications of the ancient style in which it is written.  "These minor peculiarities mostly relate to the trumpets and to the ark, but these do not argue against the unity of the passage."[22]  The kind of criticisms usually resorted to are merely exclamations of unbelief.  Boling, for example, SUPPOSED the story to be INCREDIBLE because of all the outbuildings and dwellings that usually surrounded ancient cities, declaring that, "These instructions presuppose that Jericho is already mostly in ruins at the outset."[23]  Such a criticism is illogical.  All of the people had already moved inside the walls preparatory to the beginning of the assault upon the city which they expected.