# Which ſhall be diſcovered or declared guilty by the Lor, which is diſpoſed by.the Lord, Prov. 16. 33. and Sch Gon to be caſt in the Lords preſence before the Ark. Of ſuch uſe of Lots, ſee 1 Sam. I4. 41, 42. Jon. 1.7. As 1.26,
15 And it (ball be,zhbat he thatis taken withthe accurſed thing, (hall be burnt with fire &, he and all that he hath :: becauſe he hath tranſgreſſed the covenant of theLORD, + Or, , and becauſe he hath wroughc + folly »s in Iſrael z.
k As perſons and things accurſed were to be. See Numb. 15: 30, 35. Deur. 13.16. 1 His Children and Goods, as is noted verſe 24. according to the Law, Deut. x3. 16. m So fin is oft called in Scrip- cure, as Gen. 34. 7. Judges 20. 6, &c, in oppoſition to the idle opini- on of ſinners, who commanly eſteem it to be their wiſdom and inte- reſt. 7 (i e.) Among the Church and people of God who had ſuch excellent Laws to dire& them, and ſuch an All-ſufficient and graci- ous God to provide for them, without any ſuch indire& and un- worthy praftices. _
16 4 So Joſhua roſe up early in the morning, and brought Iſrael by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. | |
17 And be brought the family oof Judah,and he took the family of the Zarhites z and he brought the family of the Zarhites, man by man.p, and Zabdi was taken.
o Either, 1. The Tribe or people; - as the word Family ſometimes ſignifies, as Judges 13. 2. Zech. 12, 13. Amos 3- I, . 48s, 3.25. com- pared with Revel. 1. 7. Or, 2. The Families, as v. 14. The ſingular Number for the Plural, the chief of each of their five families, Numb. 26, 29, 21. p Not every individual perſon, as is evident from verſe 18. But every Head of the ſeveral Houſes, or leſſer Families of that greater Family of the Zarhites, of which ſee 1 Chron. 2.6.
18 And he q brought his houſhold, man by man, and, Achan the ſon of Carmi. the-ſon of Zabdi, the ſon of
q Either Joſbua, or Zabdi by Joſbua's appointment,
wickeani\. |
# Heb my
{ Heb.) poured,
19 And Joſhua fajd unto Achan, My fon 7 give, I + Or,g's |
=" heft done ; hide is not from me,
glory to the LORD God of. Iſrael 5, and # raj
make confeſſion unto him, and tell me-now what thou: -
4 SO
1
Apa +4 IAA, D +a ,vz£ Y: -x . a. mA ©. m- So” avs. Aa. as ot ot... os ob
heed #
FJ O08 M Chap. VIy,, |
hap: Yit- | ſuch a publick ſcandal and miſchief. And for the burning of Achor i
» So he calls him, to ſhew, that this ſevere Inquitition and Sen-
Jr,
9! *|þ
tence did not proceed from any hatred to his perſon, which he loved as a Father doth his Son, and 2s a Prince oughr to do each of his Subje&ts. 5 As thou haſt highly diſhhonoured him, now take the ſhame and blame to thy ſelf, and aſcribe unto God the Glory of his Omniſcience in knowing thy {in, of his Juſtice in puniſhing it in thee, and others for thy ſake ; of his Omniporency, which
waiting for the iſſue of this buſineſs.
24 And Joſhua, and all Iſrael with him, took Achan the fon of Zereh, and the filver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his ſons, and his daughtersg, and his oxen, and his aſſes, and his theep 5, and his tent, and all that he had : and they brorght them unto the
valley of Achor.
g But this ſeems hard and unjuſt, and therefore forbidden by God himſelf, Deut. 24. 16- Avſw. 1. That Law was given ro men, not to God, who certainly hath a more abſolute Right and Sove- raignty over men, than one man hath over another. 2. Their death was a debt they owed to nature and to their own fins, which debr God may require when he pleaſeth; and he could nor rake it in more honourable and excellent Circumſtances than theſe, That the death of a very few in the beginning of a newEmpire, & of their ſettlement in the Land, might be-uſeful to prevent the death of
many thouſands, who rook warning by this dreadful Example,
whom, if the fear. of God did not, yet the love of their own, and of their dear Children's lives, would reſtrain from ſuch dangerous and pernicious praftices. 3. Ir is very probable they were conſci- ous of the fa&, as the Jewiſh Doors affirm. If it be pretended that ſome of them were Infants, the Text doth nor ſay ſo, but only calls them Sens and Daughters. And conſidering that Achan /was an old man, as is moſt probable, becauſe he was the fifth perſon from Judah, (of which ſee on verſe 1+) it ſeems moſt likely, that rhe Chil- dren were grown up, and ſo capable of knowing, and concealing, or diſcovering this Fat. Nor doth it follow, that they were not guilty, becaule it is nor ſaid ſo; For it is apparent, thar'many Cir- cumſtances are omitted in divers hiſtorical Relations in Scripture, which ſome-times are ſupplied in other places. þ Which, though not capable ofſin, nor of puniſhment properly ſo called, yer as they were made for man's uſe, ſo they are rightly deſtroyed for man's
ood; And being daily killed for our bodily food, it cannot ſeem
range to kill them for the Inſtru&ion of our minds, that hereby we might learn the deteſtable and contagious nature of fin, which involves innocent Creatures in its plagues ; And how much ſorer puniſhments are reſerved for man, who having a Law given to him, and that excellent gift of Reaſon and Will to reſtrain him from the tranſgreſſions of it, his guilt muſt needs be unſpeakably greater, and therefore his ſuffering more ſevere and terrible. Further, by this enumeration it appears, that he had no colour of neceſſity to in- duce him to this fa&, but was wholly inexcuſable.
25 And Joſhua ſaid, Why haft thou troubled us? the LORD ſhall trouble thee this day. And all Iſrael ſtoned him with ſtones z, and burned them with fire, after they had ſtoned them with ſtones k.
3 And burned him with fire; which is eaſily underſtood of both out of the following words, and from God's Command to do ſo, verſe 15. which doubtleſs was here executed. k Queſt. How could both theſe Deaths be inflicted upon them > Avſw. It ſeems they were ſtoned to death, which was the puniſhment of ſuch offenders, Lev. 24. 14. Numb. 15. 35. .and not burned to death ; and there- fore the ſtoning only of Achan is mentioned here, and- nor his burning : And God would have their dead Carkaſſes burned to ſhew his utmoſt deteſtation of ſuch perſogy as bieak forth into ſins of
commanded verſe 15. Ir ſeems not likely ro be meant of his burn- ing alive, becauſe that burning is common to him, and all that he
hath, as is there expreſſed ; bur of the burning cf his dead Carkaſs,