Commentary for Avodah Zarah 106:6
ולמה לי למיתלייה במלחמת יהושע מלתא אגב אורחא קמ"ל כי הא דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב ישראל שזקף לבינה להשתחות לה ובא עובד כוכבים והשתחוה לה אסרה
Why did he compare it to the war waged by Joshua? He teaches something on the side, like that which R. Judah said in the name of Rav: If an Israelite set up a brick to worship [but did not do so] and an idolater came and worshipped it, it is prohibited.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
The baraita above could have just said that if the idolaters intend to return, it is prohibited. Why mention the war waged by Joshua? The Talmud will now say that the baraita does so in order to teach something else. The issue is a case where an Israelite set up something to be worshipped, but an idolater worshipped it. Although generally a person cannot make something prohibited when it is not his, in this case he does. We will now see that this is derived from the conquest of the land. The baraita teaches us that the laws of idolatry can be learned from what occurred during this period.
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