Joshua 7:17

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 7:17 Ver. 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 7:18 Ver. 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 7:19 Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto Achan, my son,....

7:16-26 See the folly of those that promise themselves secrecy in sin. The righteous God has many ways of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness. See also, how much it is our concern, when God is contending with us, to find out the cause that troubles us. We must pray with holy Job, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me. Achan's sin began in the eye. He saw these fine things, as Eve saw the forbidden fruit. See what comes of suffering the heart to walk after the eyes, and what need we have to make this covenant with our eyes, that if they wander they shall be sure to weep for it. It proceeded out of the heart. They that would be kept from sinful actions, must mortify and check in themselves sinful desires, particularly the desire of worldly wealth. Had Achan looked upon these things with an eye of faith, he would have seen they were accursed things, and would have dreaded them; but looking on them with an eye of sense only, he saw them as goodly things, and coveted them. When he had committed the sin, he tried to hide it. As soon as he had got this plunder, it became his burden, and he dared not to use his ill-gotten treasure. So differently do objects of temptation appear at a distance, to what they do when they have been gotten. See the deceitfulness of sin; that which is pleasing in the commission, is bitter in the reflection. See how they will be deceived that rob God. Sin is a very troublesome thing, not only to a sinner himself, but to all about him.

The righteous God will certainly recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people. Achan perished not alone in his sin. They lose their own, who grasp at more than their own. His sons and daughters were put to death with him. It is probable that they helped to hide the things; they must have known of them. What fatal consequences follow, even in this world, to the sinner himself, and to all belonging him! One sinner destroys much good. What, then, will be the wrath to come? Let us flee from it to Christ Jesus as the sinner's Friend. There are circumstances in the confession of Achan, marking the progress of sin, from its first entrance into the heart to its being done, which may serve as the history of almost every offence against the law of God, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

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 7:17 . The family — Either, 1st, The tribe or people, as the word family sometimes signifies; or, 2d, The families, as Joshua 7:14 , the singular number being put for the plural, the chief of each of their five families, Numbers 26:20-21 . Man by man — Not every individual person, as is evident from Joshua 7:18 , but every head of the several houses or lesser families of that greater family of the Zarhites, of which see 1 Chronicles 2:6 .

The family of Judah; either, 1. The tribe or people, as the word family sometimes signifies, as Judges 13:2 Zechariah 12:13 Amos 3:1 Acts 3:25 , compared with Revelation 1:7 . Or, 2. The families, as Joshua 7:14 , the singular number for the plural, the chief of each of their five families, Numbers 26:20,21 . Man by man; not every individual person, as is evident from Joshua 7:18 , but every head of the several houses or lesser families of that greater family of the Zarhites, of which see 1 Chronicles 2:6 .

16-18. So Joshua rose up early, and brought Israel by their tribes—that is, before the tabernacle. The lot being appealed to (Pr 16:33), he proceeded in the inquiry from heads of tribes to heads of families, and from heads of households in succession to one family, and to particular persons in that family, until the criminal was found to be Achan, who, on Joshua's admonition, confessed the fact of having secreted for his own use, in the floor of his tent, spoil both in garments and money [Jos 7:19-21]. How dreadful must have been his feelings when he saw the slow but certain process of discovery! (Nu 32:23).

Execution of the Command. - Joshua 7:16-18 . Discovery of the guilty man through the lot. In Joshua 7:17 we should expect "the tribe" (shebet) or "the families" (mishpachoth) of Judah, instead of "the family." The plural mishpachoth is adopted in the lxx and Vulgate, and also to be met with in seven MSS; but this is a conjecture rather than the original reading Mishpachah is either used generally, or employed in a collective sense to denote all the families of Judah. There is no ground for altering לגּברים (man by man) into לבתּים (house by house) in Joshua 7:17 , according to some of the MSS; the expression "man by man" is used simply because it was the representative men who came for the lot to be cast, not only in the case of the fathers' houses, but in that of the families also.

[Bible] 7:16. Josue, therefore, when he rose in the morning, made Israel to come by their tribes, and the tribe of Juda was found. 7:17. Which being brought by in families, it was found to be the family of Zare. Bringing that also by the houses, he found it to be Zabdi: 7:18. And bringing his house man by man, he found Achan, the son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda. 7:19. And Josue said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast done, hide it not. 7:20. And Achan answered Josue, and said to him: Indeed I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. 7:21. For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment, exceeding good, and two hundred sicles of silver, and a golden rule of fifty sicles: and I coveted them, and I took them away, and hid them in the ground in the midst of my tent, and the silver I covered with the earth that I dug up. 7:22. Josue therefore sent ministers: who running to his tent, found all hid in the same place, together with the silver. 7:23. And taking them away out of the tent, they brought them to Josue, and to all the children of Israel, and threw them down before the Lord. 7:24. Then Josue, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of Zare, and the silver, and the garment, and the golden rule, his sons also, and his daughters, his oxen, and asses, and sheep, the tent also, and all the goods: and brought them to the valley of Achor: His sons, etc... Probably conscious to, or accomplices of, the crime of their father. 7:25. Where Josue said: Because thou hast troubled us, the Lord trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him: and all things that were his, were consumed with fire. 7:26. And they gathered together upon him a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day And the wrath of the Lord was turned away from them. And the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor, until this day. Achor... That is, trouble.

14. These intercessions Joshua put up to God, as he lay prostrate on his face: whereupon God answered him, That he should rise up, and purify his host from the pollution that had got into it; that "things consecrated to me have been impudently stolen from me," and that "this has been the occasion why this defeat had happened to them;" and that when they should search out and punish the offender, he would ever take care they should have the victory over their enemies. This Joshua told the people; and calling for Eleazar the high priest, and the men in authority, he cast lots, tribe by tribe; and when the lot showed that this wicked action was done by one of the tribe of Judah, he then again proposed the lot to the several families thereto belonging; so the truth of this wicked action was found to belong to the family of Zachar; and when the inquiry was made man by man, they took Achar, who, upon God's reducing him to a terrible extremity, could not deny the fact: so he confessed the theft, and produced what he had taken in the midst of them, whereupon he was immediately put to death; and attained no more than to be buried in the night in a disgraceful manner, and such as was suitable to a condemned malefactor.