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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 7
Israel defeated by people of Ai—Joshua complains to the
Lord—Achan and his household destroyed because he disobeyed the Lord in
taking of spoils of Jericho.
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1 BUT the children of
Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for
aAchan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of
Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the baccursed thing:
and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which
is beside aBeth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el,
and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up
and viewed Ai.
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3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
4 So there went up thither of the people about three
thousand men: and they afled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and
six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto
aShebarim, and smote them in the bgoing
down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
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6 ¶ And Joshua arent his
clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until
the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the
land shall hear of it, and shall aenviron us round,
and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great
bname?
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10 ¶ And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
11 Israel hath asinned, and they
have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even
taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and
bdissembled also, and they have put it even among
their own stuff.
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
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13 Up, asanctify the people, and
say, bSanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith
the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of
thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away
the accursed thing from among you.
14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought
according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which
the LORD taketha shall come
according to the families thereof; and the
afamily which the LORD shall take shall come by households;
and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.
15 And it shall be, that he that is taken
with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath:
because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath
awrought folly in Israel.
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14a which the LORD taketh By
some revelatory means Joshua was let known by the Lord, first by tribe, then
by greater family association, then by household, and then by man by man. Was
Achan the only gilty person of the sneaking of the taking of spoil? Perhaps,
perhaps not. But the manner by which Achan, a more guilty and obviously so
person was certainly made a public example of by this drawn out process to be shown that nothing
can be hid from the Lord. If others may have been also gilty though perhaps
less so, it would not be beyond the action of their own immediate repentance
and self ridding themself of their guilty plunder as soon as convienent so as
to avoid another such public showing as had been done in the Achan matter.
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16 ¶ So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
18 And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
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19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray
thee, aglory to the LORD God of Israel, and make
bconfession unto him; and ctell me now
what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I
have sinned against the LORD aGod of Israel, and thus and
thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly
aBabylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and
a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I bcoveted
them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the
midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
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22 ¶ So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
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25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones
unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger.
Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of
aAchor, unto this day.
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