Thank you for the question, “After God had completely wiped out the inhabitants of Jericho in the book of Joshua, who, now, were the inhabitants in the days of Elijah and Elisha as found in the books of The Kings?”
As I read the question, I would like to make two clarifying points before I answer the question to put the question in its proper context.
A. God commanded Joshua to kill the inhabitants of the Promised Land. The reason given for the destruction of the inhabitants of the land was due to their evil conduct (Genesis 15:12–16). God gave the people 400 more years of grace to repent of their evil ways.
B. Joshua and the Israelite fighting men kill the inhabitants of the Promised Land. It was a time of war. As one reads the Book of 0Joshua, there were times when the Israelites attacked the inhabitants of the land and in other occasions, the inhabitants attacked the Israelites. It was a time of war (Gen. 10:5) when the five Amorites kings joined force to attack the Israelites.
After the conquest of Jericho, the Israelites rebuilt the walls and occupied the house in the city and in the countryside. The Promised Land land was divided among the Israelite tribes. Thus it was the Israelites who occupied the Promised Land including the city of Jericho. It is important to note that the conquest was not fully completed by the time of Joshua’s death (Joshua 13:1–5). The tribe of Benjamin inherited the city of Jericho and its surrounding areas.
Joshua 18 says this, “The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba—twelve towns and their villages. 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages).
As time passed, the Canaanites who were not conquered began to trade with the Israelites or made peace with them. This allowed the Canaanites to repopulate and intermarried with the Israelites in the land. As one reads I and II Kings, the Israelites even adopted the worship of the Canaanites gods. Thus in some ways the inhabitants who were in the Promise Land were an integrated people for those who didn’t follow the Law of Moses. Ezra faced that problem when he returned to the Promised Land.
SUMMARY: The Israelites lived in Jericho during the times of the Kings but their faith and lifestyle began to be mixed with the Canaanites in the Promised Land.
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