Ch. Joshua 7:1-5. The Sin of Achan, and Assault on Ai

1. committed a trespass] The word used here in the Septuagint Version is very striking. It is the same as that employed in Acts 5:1-2 to describe the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. They took for themselves, appropriated to themselves, sequestered from God, a portion of what had been devoted to Him at Jericho. Wyclif renders it “mystoken of the halewid thing.”

for Achan] Or, Achar, as he is called in 1 Chronicles 2:7.

the son of Zabdi] Or, Zimri, as his name is given in 1 Chronicles 2:6.

took of the accursed thing] What he took is more fully described in Joshua 7:21. His sin was rendered more heinous by the fact that he knew full well the ban which had been pronounced upon the doomed city, a ban extending to all time, and including even the whole family of any who should dare to restore the fortifications of Jericho. Cæsar in his account of the devotion of conquered towns to the gods amongst the Gauls, alluded to above, Joshua 6:17, goes on to say, “Multis in civitatibus harum rerum exstructos tumulos locis consecratis conspicari licet: neque sæpe accidit, ut neglecta quispiam religione, aut capta apud se occultare, aut posita tollere auderet; gravissimumque ei rei supplicium cum cruciatu constitutum est” (Bell. Gall. Joshua 6:17).

2. from Jericho to Ai] The country of Canaan seems in the time of Joshua to have been broken up into a number of small territories, each governed by an independent chief or “king,” who extended his rule from his fortified citadel to the district round. In Joshua 12:7-24, we find mention of no less than 32 such “kings.” A series of sieges, therefore, rather than of pitched battles, might be expected to characterise the campaigns of Joshua.

which is beside Beth-aven] Ai had been already mentioned in Genesis 12:8, in connection with the history of Abraham, who is said to have removed from Shechem “to a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east.” Though smaller than Jericho, Ai was a position of great importance; (a) It dominated the road to Jerusalem, then called Jebus, and was situated only a few hours distant; (b) It commanded the approaches into the heart of the country, and especially the fertile district of Samaria; (c) Its fall virtually involved that of Bethel. Beth-aven lay between Bethel and Michmash (1 Samuel 13:5; 1 Samuel 14:23). In Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5, the name is transferred, with a play upon the word characteristic of the prophet, to the neighbouring Bethel, once the “house of God,” but then the house of idols, or “naught.”

the east side of Beth-el] Bethel, formerly Luz (Genesis 28:19), was an ancient Canaanitish royal city. The name Bethel existed, it would seem, as early as the time of Abraham, who removed from the oaks of Mamre to the “mountain on the east of Bethel” (Genesis 12:8). Here he built an altar, and hither he returned from Egypt with Lot before their separation (Genesis 13:3-4). Even in those early times a distinction seems to have been drawn between the “city” of Luz and the consecrated “place” in its neighbourhood (Genesis 35:7) called “Bethel” by Jacob (a) Genesis 28:19, (b) Genesis 35:14-15, which name does not appear to have been appropriated to the city itself till after the conquest by Joshua (Joshua 16:1-2; Jdg 1:22-26).

Go up and view the country] So important did the Hebrew leader deem the position of Ai that he resolved to repeat the tactics already pursued at Jericho, and to send spies to “view the country.” For the use of “view” = to “survey,” “review,” comp. Ezra 8:15, “and I viewed the people and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi;” and Hall, Henry V., “Before whose arriuall the kyng was departed from Wyndsor to Winchester, entending to haue gone to Hampton and to haue vewed his nauie.” Shakespeare, Henry Josh v. 4. 21,

“Therefore, I say,’tis meet we all go forth

To view the sick and feeble parts of France.”

See Bible Word Book, pp. 511, 512.

5. unto Shebarim] So called, perhaps, from the mines, or stone quarries, which lay in the neighbourhood. The LXX. translates “till they had crushed or annihilated them.”

in the going down] Or, as in the margin, in Morad. If we retain the translation in the text, “the going down” would point to a spot, about a mile distant, “where the wâdies, descending from Ai, take their final plunge eastwards.”

the hearts of the people melted] Comp. Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 2:11. “And the herte of the puple myche dredde, and at the lickenesse of water is molten,” Wyclif.

6–15. The Defeat before Ai. Joshua’s Prayer

6. And Joshua rent his clothes] in token of sorrow and distress (comp. Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10). The clothes were torn in front over the breast, yet for not more than a handbreadth. In Patriarchal times we read of Reuben rending his clothes, because “Joseph was not in the pit” (Genesis 37:29); of Jacob rending his clothes, and “mourning for his son many days” (Genesis 37:34); of Joseph’s brethren that they rent their clothes, when they found the cup in Benjamin’s sack (Genesis 44:13). For the same custom among the Romans compare Juvenal xiii. 131

“Nemo dolorem Fingit in hoc casu, vestem diducere summam Contentus.”

and put dust upon their heads] Likewise a sign of mourning. Comp. the young man of Benjamin running to Shiloh with tidings of the battle, his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head (1 Samuel 4:12); the man coming from the camp to David with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head (2 Samuel 1:2). See also 2 Samuel 13:19; 2 Samuel 15:32. Comp. Hom. Il. 18:25, 24:164.

7. would to God we had been content] Or perhaps better as the LXX. have rendered it, “would that we had remained and dwelt on the other side Jordan.”

10. Get thee up] Joshua might well infer that the people had incurred the Divine displeasure, but it was no time for unavailing remorse—he must be up and trying to detect and put away the sin.

12. except ye destroy the accursed from among you] The LXX. translate, “Except ye remove the accursed thing, the Anathema, from among you,” using the identical word for remove that St Paul uses respecting the incestuous Corinthian, “therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person,” 1 Corinthians 5:13.

13. sanctify the people] “Rise, halwe the puple,” Wyclif. Compare the instructions to Moses before the giving of the Law, Exodus 19:10.

14. according to your tribes] Each tribe was divided into families; each family into houses; each house into persons.

the tribe which the Lord taketh] i.e. by the sacred lot. We find the lots used (a) for the detection of a criminal here, and in the case of Jonathan (1 Samuel 14:42, and Jonah 1:7); (b) in the choice of men for an invading force (Jdg 1:1; Jdg 20:10); (c) in the partition of land (Numbers 26:55; Joshua 18:10; 1Ma 3:36); (d) in the assignment to foreigners or captors of spoils or prisoners (Joel 3:3; Nahum 3:10); (e) in the selection of the scapegoat on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:8); (f) in the settlement of doubtful questions (Proverbs 16:33; Proverbs 18:18). The custom was of great antiquity and widely spread, and “recommended itself as a sort of appeal to the Almighty, secure from all influence of passion or bias.” In Homer we find it employed by the gods themselves (Il. 22:209; Cic. de Div. 1. 34, 11. 41), and the Romans had their lots in divisions (sortes divisoriœ) and elections (sors urbana and peregrina) in the choice of a prætor.

15. shall be burnt with fire] Achan by his conduct had become cherem or devoted, and is so called in Joshua 7:12, and everything devoted to punishment for the reparation of the Divine honour was to be burnt. Comp. Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9; Joshua 6:24; 2 Kings 23:16.

folly] Or, as in margin, wickedness; “and hath do sacrilege in Ysrael,” Wyclif.

16–26. The Discovery and Punishment of Achan

16. brought Israel by their tribes] Joshua first caused the heads of the tribes to come before the Ark, and lots were cast for them, and the lot fell upon Judah; then the heads of the clans of Judah were brought, and the lot fell upon the Zarhites; then the heads of the houses of the Zarhites were brought before the Ark, and the lot fell upon Zabdi; then the men of his house were brought, and the lot fell upon Achan, the son of Carmi.

18. and Achan … was taken] (a) Sometimes in taking the sacred lot dice were thrown; comp. the expression “to cast lots” (Joshua 18:10); to “throw” them (Joshua 18:6); “the lot falls” (Jonah 1:7; Ezekiel 24:6); (b) sometimes tesseræ were flung into a vessel and then drawn out; comp. the expressions “the lot came forth” Numbers 33:54; “came up” Leviticus 16:9.

19. My son] “Not said ironically but earnestly, My son; an example of the pity for the Sinner which Justice feels even in punishing the sin.” Bp Wordsworth.

give … glory] Comp. 1 Samuel 6:5, “Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel; peradventure He will lighten His Hand from off you;” Jeremiah 13:16, “Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains;” John 9:24, “Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.” “The Omniscience of Jehovah is proved by this discovery. Give Him the praise, therefore, by a full confession of thy sin.”

21. a goodly Babylonish garment] Literally, a goodly mantle of Shinar, i.e. Babylonia. Comp. Genesis 11:2, “They found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there,” 9, “therefore is the name of it called Babel.” The word here translated “garment,” means a long robe, such as was worn by kings on state occasions; comp. Jonah 3:6, and by prophets, 1 Kings 19:13; 2 Kings 2:13-14; Zechariah 13:4. Probably it was stuff embroidered, made in the loom with many colours, and wrought of gold and silk threads. On the elaborate and beautiful products of the Babylonian looms see Heeren’s Asiatic Nations 1. 2, ff. 22; Layard’s Nineveh 2:319; Kitto’s Bible Illustrations 2:204. The word employed points to the existence of a trade already between Canaan and Mesopotamia. Wyclif renders it “a reed mentil ful good.”

a wedge of gold] Literally, a tongue of gold. Vulg. regula aurea, “a golden bar,” or “a tongue-shaped jewel made of gold,” “a golden rewle of fifti siclis,” Wyclif. The name lingula was given by the Romans to a spoon, and to an oblong dagger made in the shape of a tongue. The weight of the wedge was 50 shekels = about 25 ounces. See The Speaker’s Commentary in loc.

the silver under it] The mantle would naturally lie at the top, then the tongue of gold, and the silver lowest.

23. laid them out] Literally, poured them out.

before the Lord] i.e. before the ark of Jehovah, where He was enthroned. Comp. Joshua 6:8.

24. Song of Solomon of Zerah] Strictly, his great-grandson.

and his sons, and his daughters] Some have thought they were brought to the valley merely as spectators, that they might have a terrible warning: others think they must have been accomplices in his sin, and as he by his own act had placed himself under a ban (Joshua 6:18), so all that he had was treated as coming under the same law. (Comp. Deuteronomy 13:15-17.)

the valley] Henceforth known by the name of “Achor,” i.e. causing trouble and sorrow. Comp. Joshua 15:7, “And the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor;” Isaiah 65:10, “And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in;” Hosea 2:15, “And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.” The exact site of the valley is unknown, but it was somewhere on the northern border of the tribe of Judah, among the ridges to the south of Jericho.

25. Why hast thou troubled us?] Compare the question of Ahab to Elijah, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17). “For thou disturblidist us, the Lord schall disturble the in this dai,” Wyclif.

And all Israel stoned him] The use of the singular here and in the following verse is deserving of notice. It suggests that it does not necessarily follow that the sons and daughters of Achan were burned with him. In this case “the plural number used would refer only to the oxen, asses, and sheep, and all that Achan possessed.” Edersheim. Stoning was the ordinary mode of execution (Exodus 17:4), especially for idolatry and blasphemy (1 Kings 21:10).

and burned them with fire] This was a terrible aggravation of the ordinary punishment of death, Leviticus 20:14.

26. a great heap of stones] As a memorial and a warning of his sin and its punishment. The custom of casting stones on certain graves was not unknown among other nations also, as the Arabs and the Romans. Compare Propertius 4:5. 74.

So the Lord turned] “Even to Achan himself,” remarks Bp Wordsworth, “the valley of Achor may have been made a door of hope (Hosea 2:15), because he confessed his sin, and there is reason to hope and believe that he listened to the words of Joshua, ‘My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel,’ and submitted to the punishment due to his sin.”