CHAPTER VII. 16-26. very small portion of the whole counsel of God. Give glory to the Lord God of THE DISCOVERY oF AcaAN's srn.-Ver. Israel, and make confession unto mm. 16.-':\'he family of Judah. The expression Literally, offer (or impute) glory to the Lord T\JJ~WO is remarkable. Many commentators God of Israel, and give confession (or praise) would read nn;i~Q, not without some MSS. unto Him (cf. John ix. 24). The meaning authority. Keii objects that the Chaldee and is to give honour to God as the all-seeing Syriac have the singular. But the LXX. has God, the revealer-of secrets, by an open con- Kara oi1µovr;, Etnd the Vnlgate juxta familias. fe~sion before men ol what is e.lready known On th!) whole it seems more probable that as to Him. It may have been a co=on T\IJ~~r,) occurs twice in this passage, it has formula of adjuration, though Masius thinks been so pointed where the same letters occur otherwise. for the third time, than that, with Poole, it Ver. 21.-A goodly Babyloniah garment. means tribe (so also Gesenius and Winer); Literally, "a mantle of Shinar, one goodly or that, as others suggest, it is used for one." Babylon was in the" land of Shinar" omnes or singulas gentes. See, however, (see Gen. xi. 2 ; xiv. 1; Isa. ri. 11; Zech. Judg. xiii. 2, where it is unquestionably v. 11). The T\J,~ derived from ,,N great, used in the sense of tribe. glorious, was a;, 11mple cloak, sometimes of Ver. 19.-My son. This is no mere hypo- hair or fur (Gen. xxv. 25 ; cl. 1 Kings xix, critical 11ffectation of tenderness. Joshua 13, 19; 2 Kings ii. 13, U; Jon11h iii. 6, &c.). feels for the criminal, even though he is The Babylonish mantle was famed for its forced to put him to death. So in Olll' own beauty (1ro,~i;l.11, LXX.), 1md was, no doubt, day the spectacle is not uncommon of e. worked artistically with figures of men and judge melted to tears as he passes sentence animals. " Of a.II Asiatic nations, the Baby- of cleath on the murderer. The expression lonians were the most noted for the wea,ing seems almost to imply a belief that, though of cloth of divers colours. Into these stuffs Achan must undergo the extremest penalty gold threads were introduced into the woof of the law in this world, Joshua entertninccl of many hues. Amongst those who troded o. hope that he might be forgiven in the iu • blue clothes and embroiderecl work' with next. It certainly proves that, stern os the Tyre were the merchants of Asshur, or law of Moses was, it was felt, at least in those Assyrin; nncl that the garments of Babylon early days, to be rather against the sin than were brought into Syria a.ncl greatly esteemed the sinner th11t its severity was directed. at a very early period, we learn from their In commenting upon the severity of the being classed amongst the most precious Mosaic covenant, whether towards offenders articles of spoil, even with gold, in the time agoinst its provisions or o.gainst the Ca- of Joshua" (Layarcl, 'Nineveh,' II. 413). naanites, we must remember Bishop Butler's From this, among other passages, we may caution, tho.t i11 this wodd we sec but II infer the eady date of the Book of Joshua. 1, 126 THE BOOR.OF JOSHUA. ['CH. VII. 16-26.
marks nn early stage of civilisation when Great-grandson in reality (see ver. 1 ; cf. 111 embroidered garment c1tn be considered 1 Kings xv. 2, 10). And hie sons and hie ns in 11.ny degree equivalent to gold. The daughters (see note, ver. lo). Brought Israelites, it must be remembered, were not them. Hebrew, "brought them 11p." '1'ho unnccustomed in Eg:,1,t to tbe highest valley of Achor was above Jericho, whcthe1· degree of ci,ilisation t.hcn kuown. "Nam higher up the ,-alley or on higher ground is Pers11rum, finitimarumqne gentium lnxum not known. The valley of Achor (sec eh. eo se ostentarc sokrc wl ex eo constat quod xv. 7; Isa. !xv. 10; Hos. ii. 15). Achor captisab Alexanrlro Magno Susis illicim·enta means trouble (see note on eh. vi. 18). fuerit 10 millia pondo, sive t1tlenta purpurai Ver. 25.-Stoned him with stones. The Herrnionicn,, t<>slc Plutarcho in Alexandro " word here is not the same e.s in the last part (Corn. a Lapi,le). A wedge of gold. Literally, of the Ycrse. It hn.s been suggested that the .. a to11_quc of gold." Some derive our word former word signifies to stone a living per- ingot from the French /ingot, or little son, the second- to heap up stones upon a tongue. But others deiive it with greater dead one ; and this derives ·confirmation probability from the Dutch in9icte11, the from the fact that the former word has the same as the German cin_qicsscn, to pour in. signification of piling up, while the latter "Si ergo invenias apud philosophos pcrversa rather gives the idea of the weight of the dogmata luculenti sermonis assertionibus pile. Some have gathered from the use of dccorata, is/a est lingua aurca. Sed .-ide, the singular •here, that Achan only was ne tc decipiat fulgor operis, ne te rapiat ser- stoned; but the use of the plural immediately monis aurei pulchritudo : memento, quia afterwards implies the contrary, unless, with Jesus a1,athema jussit esse omni aurum Knobel, we have recourse to the suggestion quod in Jericho fuerit inventum. Si poetam that " them " is e. "mistake of the Deuter- legcris modnlatis versibus et prmfulgido onomist '' for " him." It is of course carmine Deos Deasque texentem, ne delec- possible that bis family were only taken teris eloqucntiro snavitate. Li11_qua aurea there to witness the solemn judgment upon est : si eam sustuleritis, et posueris in taber- their father. Buh the )fSe of the singular naculo tuo : polluis omnem ecclesiam Do- and plural in Hebrew is frequently very in- mini" (Orig., Hom. 7 on Joshua). definite (see Judg. xi. 17, .19; Psa. lxvi. 6. ,er. 23.-Laid them out before the Lord See note. above, on eh. vi. 25). This shows the directly religious nature of Ver. 26.-And the Lord turned from the the proceeding. God had directed the lot, heat of Bis anger. There is no contradic- the offender was discovered, and now the tion between this and such passages as de¥oted things a.re solemnly laid out one by 1 Sam. xv. 29; Ja.mes i. 17. It is not God, one (for so the Hebrew seems to imply, but we who 'turn. Our confession and though in 2 Sam. xv. 24 it has the sense of restitution, by uniting our will with His, of planting firmly, as molten matter hardens necessity turn His wrath away. Yet of and becomes fixed) before Him whose they course it is through Jesus Christ alone that are, as e. confession of sin, and also as an such confession and restitution is possible, a.et of restitution. and they are accepted simply because by ,er. 24.-Took Acba.n, the son of Zerah. faith they are united with His.