Joshua 7:14
Ver. 14. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes,.... One or more of every tribe, according to the number of them, were to be brought the next morning before Joshua and the elders of Israel, the sanhedrim and council of the nation, and very probably the tabernacle, where they assembled for this purpose:
and it shall be, [that] the tribe which the Lord taketh; how a tribe and so a family or household were taken is differently understood; what some of the Jewish writers say deserves no regard, as the detention of persons by the ark, or of the dulness of the stones in the Urim and Thummim: it seems best to understand the whole affair as done by casting lots {x}; so Josephus {y} and Ben Gersom; and they might in this way be said to be taken by the Lord, because the disposition of the lot is by him, Pr 16:33; now it is said, that the tribe that should be taken, as Judah was, from what follows, shall come according to the families [thereof]; that is, the families in that tribe, meaning the heads of them, as Kimchi well observes; these were to come to the place where the lots were cast:and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; on whatsoever family in the tribe the lot should fall, the heads of households in that family should appear and have lots cast on them: and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man; that household that should be taken by lot, the men thereof, the heads of the house, should come each of them and have lots east on them, that the particular man that sinned might be discovered.{x} Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. Samaritan. Chronic. apud Hottinger. Smegma. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 505. Jarchi in loc. {y} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 10. Joshua 7:15Ver. 15. And it shall be, [that] he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire,.... He that is taken by lot, and the accursed thing found with him, this should be the death, burning, one of the four capital punishments with the Jews: this was ordered in this case, because the city of Jericho, accursed or devoted, was burnt with fire, Jos 6:24;he and all that he hath; the particulars of which are enumerated, Jos 7:24;because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord;See Gill on "Jos 7:11";and because he hath wrought folly in Israel; as all sin and every transgression of the law is, and was the cause of Israel's turning their backs on their enemies; which, as Abarbinel says, was folly, and made the people of Israel look foolish, mean, and contemptible: the word has also the signification of a dead carcass, and may possibly have respect, to the thirty six men whose death he was the occasion of, Jos 7:5, and therefore justly ought to die himself. Joshua 7:16Ver. 16. So Joshua rose up early in the morning,.... Which showed his readiness and diligence to obey the command of God; and as there was much work to do, it required that he should rise early:and brought Israel by their tribes: before the Lord, at the tabernacle, where he and the high priest and elders attended; each tribe was thither brought by their representatives:and the tribe of Judah was taken: either his stone in the breastplate of the high priest looked dull, as some say, or rather the lot being cast fell on that tribe. Joshua 7:17Ver. 17. And he brought the family of Judah,.... That is, the tribe of Judah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, {z}; or rather, the several families in that tribe, even the heads of them:and he took the family of the Zarhites: which descended from Zerah the son of Judah; that was taken by lot:and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and cast lots on them:and Zabdi was taken: that part of the family of the Zarhites which sprung from Zabdi, a son of Zerah.{z} So R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 94. 2. Joshua 7:18Ver. 18. And he brought his household man by man,.... The household of Zabdi, the heads of each house therein:and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken; the lot fell upon him, and he was laid hold on, and detained. Joshua 7:19Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto Achan, my son,.... Treating him in a very humane, affectionate, and respectable manner, though so great a criminal, being a subject of his, and of the same religion and nation:give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, by acknowledging his omniscience, justice, power, truth, and faithfulness; as in his promises so in his threatenings:and make confession unto him; of the sin he had been guilty of; this Joshua might urge, partly for his own good, who might more reasonably expect the forgiveness of his sin: so it is said in the Misnah {a}, whoever confesses has a part in the world to come, for so we find concerning Achan, Jos 7:19; and partly for the glory of God, this being the instance in which he is directed to give it to him; and partly on account of others, particularly the tribe, family, and household to whom he belonged, who after all might not be satisfied thoroughly that he was guilty, unless he had confessed it: according to Maimonides {b}, this was but a temporary law on which Achan was put to death; for, he says, our law condemns no man to death on his own confession, nor on the prophecy of a prophet, who says that he committed such a theft; and it was not on his confession, but by the order of God, determining the affair by lot, that he was put to death: the confession Joshua directs to was not what was made to man, but to God, that is, of the evil of it, and as committed against God, though the fact itself was to be owned before man, as follows:and tell me now what thou hast done, hide [it] not from me; what were the particular things he had taken; the lot showed he had taken something, but what that was, as yet was unknown, and where it was; and this Joshua desires him he would inform him of and satisfy him about, and without any reserve openly declare the truth.{a} Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 2. {b} Pirush in ib. & Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 6. Joshua 7:20Ver. 20. And Achan answered Joshua, and said,.... He made a free and open confession of his sin:indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel; against him who had been so good to Israel in many instances, and particularly in delivering Jericho into their hands in so extraordinary a manner; against a law of his, respecting the spoil of that city, which sin was the more aggravated thereby; and that he had committed the sin he was taken for and charged with, he owns was a true and real fact:and thus and thus have I done; such and such things have I taken, and in the manner as follows. Joshua 7:21Ver. 21. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment,.... One, as the Targum adds, for no more was taken; a garment made of Babylonish wool, as Jarchi; or a valuable garment made in Babylon, called "Shinar", for that is the word in the text, so Kimchi and Abarbinel; and Babylonian garments were in great esteem in other nations: Pliny says {c} Babylon was famous for garments interwoven with pictures of divers colours, and which gave name to them; and Plutarch {d} relates, that Cato in his great modesty, and being an enemy to luxury, having a Babylonish garment that came to him by inheritance, ordered it immediately to be sold: the Vulgate Latin version calls it a scarlet robe; and in some Jewish writings {e} it is interpreted, a garment of Babylonian purple, as if it only respected the colour; and purple and scarlet are sometimes promiscuously used and put for the same, see Mt 27:28; and were the colour worn by kings: and Josephus here calls it a royal garment, wholly interwoven with gold {f}; and some have thought it to be the garment of the king of Jericho, which is not unlikely; however, it is much more probable than that Jericho was subject to the king of Babylon, and that he had palaces in Jericho, and when he came thither was clothed with this robe, so Jarchi; as is elsewhere said {g} by others, that he had a deputy who resided in Jericho, who sent dates to the king of Babylon, and the king sent him gifts, among which was a garment of Shinar or Babylon:and two hundred shekels of silver; which, if coined money, was near twenty five English pounds:and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight: or a "tongue of gold" {h}; a plate of gold in the shape of a tongue, as Kimchi and Abarbinel; a piece of unwrought gold which weighed fifty shekels, and worth of our money about seventy five pounds, according to Brererwood {i}: where he saw these, and from whence he took them, is not said; according to some Jewish writers, these belonged to one of their idols; it is said {k}, he saw the Teraphim and the silver they offered before it, and the garment which was spread before it, and the tongue or wedge of gold in its mouth; and he desired them in his heart, and went and took them, and hid them in the midst of his tent: and the Samaritan Chronicle {l} makes him confess that he went into a temple in Jericho and found the above things there: and Masius conjectures that the wedge of gold was a little golden sword, with which the men of Jericho had armed their god, since an ancient poet {m} calls a little sword a little tongue:then I coveted them, and took them; he is very particular in the account, and gradually proceeds in relating the temptation he was under, and the prevalence of it; it began with his eyes, which were caught with the goodliness of the garments, and the riches he saw; these affected his heart and stirred up covetous desires, which influenced and directed his hands to take them:and, behold, they are [hid] in the earth in the midst of my tent; Josephus {n} says, he dug a deep hole or ditch in his tent, and put them there, that is, the Babylonish garment and the wedge of gold; which, as Ben Gersom gathers from Jos 7:25, was wrapped up and hid within the garment; which is not improbable, since otherwise no account is given of that:and the silver under it; the two hundred shekels of silver lay under the garment in which was the wedge of gold, and so it lay under them both.{c} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48. {d} In Vita Catonis. {e} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 85. fol. 75. 2. {f} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.) {g} Bereshit Rabba, ib. {h} bhz Nwvl "linguam auream", Montanus, Tigurine version, Masius; "lingulam auream", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {i} De Ponder. &. Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5. {k} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 38.) {l} Apud Hottinger, ut supra. (Smegm. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 505.) {m} Naevius apud A. Cell. Noct. Attic. l. 10. c. 25. {n} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.) Joshua 7:22Ver. 22. So Joshua sent messengers,.... Directly to Achan's tent, to see if it was as he had said, and to bring the things with them:and they ran unto the tent; either for joy that the iniquity was discovered, as Kimchi; or that none of the tribe of Judah or of Achan's family or relations should get there before them, and take them from thence and make void the lot; so Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abarbinel; but, no doubt, it is remarked, to show the readiness and diligence of the messengers to obey the order of Joshua:and, behold, [it was] hid in his tent, and the silver under it; as Achan had said. Joshua 7:23Ver. 23. And they took them out of the midst of the tent,.... Out of the place, hole, or pit in which they were hid:and brought them to Joshua and to the children of Israel; to Joshua as the chief ruler, and to the elders and heads of the tribes assembled together:and laid them out before the Lord; or "poured them out" {o}; the golden wedge, out of the garment in which it was wrapped, and the two hundred shekels of silver found under it: it seems as if these were poured or laid out separately upon the ground before the tabernacle, where the ark of the Lord was, they belonging to the spoils which were devoted to him; as well as hereby they were plainly seen by the Israelites, that these were the very things which Achan had confessed.{o} Mquyw "fundentes", Munster; "fuderunt", Piscator. Joshua 7:24Ver. 24. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah,.... Joshua and all Israel are mentioned, to show the perfect agreement between Joshua and the heads of the people in this affair of Achan, and in the nature and manner of his punishment:and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold; which, though devoted to sacred uses, yet having been converted to another's use, and made his property, was not to be employed in the service of the sanctuary, but to be burnt with him:and his sons and his daughters; who, according to Ben Gersom, Abarbinel, and Abendana, were not brought forth to be put to death, only to be spectators of the sentence of judgment, and the execution of it, that they might keep themselves from such evil things; though, as Achan may be supposed to be a man in years, being but the fourth generation from Judah; his sons and daughters were grown up in all probability, and might be accessories in this affair; and so, as some Jewish writers remark, were worthy of death, because they saw and knew what was done, and were silent and did not declare it {p}; and it seems by what is said, Jos 22:20; that they died as well as Achan, since it is there said, "that man perished not alone in his iniquity"; though it may be interpreted of his substance, his cattle, perishing with him; and indeed from Jos 7:25; it seems as if none were stoned but himself, that is, of his family; no mention is made of his wife, who, if he had any, as Kimchi observes, knew nothing of the matter, it being hid from her:and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep; in which lay his substance, as that of the eastern people generally did:and his tent, and all that he had; the tent he and his family dwelt in, with all the household goods in it:and they brought them unto the valley of Achor; so called by anticipation here; for it had its name from the trouble Achan gave to Israel, and with which he was troubled himself: some render it, "they brought them up" {q}; and as it is more proper to descend into a valley the to go up to it, it is thought there was a mountain between the camp of Israel and this valley, so Kimchi and Ben Melech; see Ho 2:15.{p} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra (c. 38.) Kimchi in loc. {q} wley "ascendere fecerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus. Joshua 7:25Ver. 25. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us?.... Been the occasion of so much trouble to us, by committing this sin:the Lord shall trouble thee this day; by the destruction of him and all that belonged to him: this is said to show that his punishment was of God, and according to his will: in the Misnah {r} an emphasis is laid on the phrase "this day", and it is observed,"this day thou shalt be troubled, but thou shalt not be troubled in the world to come;''suggesting that though temporal punishment was inflicted on him, yet his iniquity was forgiven, and he would be saved with an everlasting, salvation; and as it may be hoped from the ingenuous confession that he made, that he had true repentance for it, and forgiveness of it:and all Israel stoned him with stones; hence some gather, that only Achan himself suffered death, and not his sons and daughters:and burnt them with fire after they had stoned them with stones; which the Jewish commentators understand of his oxen, asses, and sheep; so Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abarbinel: likewise his tent, and household goods, the Babylonish garment, gold and silver, were burnt, and he himself also, for that is the express order, Jos 7:15; the Jews say, as particularly Jarchi observes, that he was stoned because he profaned the sabbath, it being on the sabbath day that Jericho was taken, and stoning was the punishment of the sabbath breaker, and he was burnt on the account of the accursed thing; so Abendana.{r} Sanhedrin ut supra. (Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 6.) Joshua 7:26Ver. 26. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day,.... That is, at the place where he suffered, or where they laid his ashes, they heaped up a pile of stones over him, as a monument whereby it might be known hereafter where he was executed and was buried; and which pile continued to the writing of this history: such sort of funeral monuments were usual with the Heathens {s} also as well as with the Jews, see Jos 8:29; so the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger; or the effects of it ceased; the outward face of things was altered, the dealings of God in his providence with Israel were changed; though, properly speaking, there is no change in God, nor such affections and passions in him as in man:wherefore the name of the place was called the valley of Achor unto this day; from the trouble Achan met with, and the people of Israel on his account, see Jos 7:24; and so it was called in the days of Isaiah and Hosea, Isa 65:10; and where it is prophesied of as what should be in time to come: according to Bunting {t}, it was twelve miles from Jerusalem; Jerom {u} says it was at the north of Jericho, but Lamy {w}, following Bonfrerius, places it to the south; see Jos 15:7.{s} Vid. Pausan. Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 477. & Phocica, sive, l. 10. p. 616, 617. {t} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 98. {u} De loc. Heb. fol. 88. B. {w} Apparat. Geograph. p. 61.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.