1However, the children of Israel committed a serious sin by taking some of the things that were cursed. It was Achar (the son of Charmi, the son of Zambri and grandson of Zara) of the tribe of Judah who took the cursed things, which made Jehovah very angry with the children of Israel. 2Thereafter, JoShua sent men as spies to Gai (which is close to BethEl). 3And when they returned, they told him, ‘We won’t need the whole army; all we will have to send is two or three thousand men to take the city, because not many of our enemy is there.’ 4So they sent about three thousand men, but they had to retreat from the men of Gai, 5because the [people there] killed thirty-six men as they chased them from their [city] gate… they were destroyed as they were running down the steep hill. This upset the [Israelites] and caused their hearts to become like water. 6Well, at this, JoShua started ripping his clothes; then he and the elders of Israel threw dust on their heads and fell with their faces to the ground before Jehovah [and lay there] until evening. 7And JoShua prayed, ‘Lord; Why have You caused Your servant to bring these people across the Jordan, just to allow the Amorites to destroy us? We would have been better off staying on the other side of the Jordan and settling there. 8So what should I say, now that Israel has [been forced to] to flee from before our enemy? 9Why, when the CanaAnites and all the other inhabitants of the land hear about this, then they will surround us and destroy us from the land… and what will You do for Your great Name?’ 10And the Lord said to JoShua: ‘Why have you fallen to your face? Get up! 11The people have sinned and broken the Sacred Agreement that I made with them by stealing things that are cursed and hiding them among their possessions. 12And as the result, the children of Israel won’t be able to stand before their enemies… they’ll have to run from them, for they’ve become cursed. And I won’t be with you anymore, unless you remove the cursed things from among you! 13‘So now, get up and make the people holy. Tell them to make themselves holy, and then say, Jehovah the God of Israel says that you have cursed things among you, and you won’t be able to stand before your enemies until you’ve removed these cursed things. 14So, all the tribes must gather tomorrow morning, then Jehovah will indicate to us, which tribe, which family line, which household, and which man [is guilty]. 15And whoever He points to will be burned with fire for breaking the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah and making all Israel [appear] wicked.’ 16So JoShua got up early [the next morning] and assembled the people by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was indicated. 17Then all their families [were set aside], and the family of the Zaraites was indicated. 18Then all their men were set aside, and Achar (the son of Zambri and grandson of Zara) was indicated. 19So JoShua said to Achar, ‘Give glory to Jehovah the God of Israel today and confess. Tell me what you’ve done… and don’t [try to] hide it from me!’ 20Then Achar answered JoShua and said, ‘Yes, I’ve sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21I noticed an embroidered shawl, two hundred silver coins, and a piece of gold among the loot that I wanted, so I took them and hid them in my tent [under the shawl].’ 22So JoShua sent messengers who ran to his tent in the camp, and they found those things hidden under the shawl. 23Then they brought them to JoShua and the elders of Israel and laid them before Jehovah. 24Then JoShua took Achar (the son of Zara), his sons, daughters, calves, burros, sheep, tent, all his belongings, and all the people who lived with him, and brought them to the valley of Achar at Emec. 25And JoShua said to Achar, ‘You’ve destroyed us, so today Jehovah is going to destroy you!’ Then all Israel stoned him with rocks. 26And it was after they covered him with a huge pile of rocks that Jehovah’s rage ended. This is why that place is called The Valley of Achar (the Troublemaker) to this day.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 ACHAN'S TRESPASS. (
Josh 7:1)
the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing--There was one transgressor against the cherem, or ban, on Jericho, and his transgression brought the guilt and disgrace of sin upon the whole nation.
Achan--called afterwards "Achar" ("trouble") (
1Chr 2:7).
Zabdi--or Zimri (
1Chr 2:6).
Zerah--or Zarah, son of Judah and Tamar (
Gen 38:30). His genealogy is given probably to show that from a parentage so infamous the descendants would not be carefully trained in the fear of God.
2 THE ISRAELITES SMITTEN AT AI. (Jos. 7:2-26)
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai--After the sacking of Jericho, the next step was to penetrate into the hills above. Accordingly, spies went up the mountain pass to view the country. The precise site of Ai, or Hai, is indicated with sufficient clearness (
Gen 12:8;
Gen 13:3) and has been recently discovered in an isolated tell, called by the natives Tell-el-Hajar, "the mount of stones," at two miles', or thirty-five minutes' distance, east southeast from Beth-el [VAN DE VELDE].
Beth-aven--("house of vanity")--a name afterwards given derisively (
Hos 4:15;
Hos 5:8;
Hos 10:5), on account of its idolatries, to Beth-el, "house of God," but here referred to another place, about six miles east of Beth-el and three north of Ai.
3 Let not all the people go up, . . . for they are but few--As the population of Ai amounted to twelve thousand (
Josh 8:25), it was a considerable town; though in the hasty and distant reconnoitre made by the spies, it probably appeared small in comparison to Jericho; and this may have been the reason for their proposing so small a detachment to capture it.
4 they fled before the men of Ai--An unexpected resistance, and the loss of thirty-six of their number diffused a panic, which ended in an ignominious rout.
5 chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim--that is, unto the "breakings" or "fissures" at the opening of the passes.
and smote them in the going down--that is, the declivity or slope of the deep, rugged, adjoining wady.
wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water--It is evident that the troops engaged were a tumultuary, undisciplined band, no better skilled in military affairs than the Bedouin Arabs, who become disheartened and flee on the loss of ten or fifteen men. But the consternation of the Israelites arose from another cause--the evident displeasure of God, who withheld that aid on which they had confidently reckoned.
6 Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth . . . before the ark . . . he and the elders--It is evident, from those tokens of humiliation and sorrow, that a solemn fast was observed on this occasion. The language of Joshua's prayer is thought by many to savor of human infirmity and to be wanting in that reverence and submission he owed to God. But, although apparently breathing a spirit of bold remonstrance and complaint, it was in reality the effusion of a deeply humbled and afflicted mind, expressing his belief that God could not, after having so miraculously brought His people over Jordan into the promised land, intend to destroy them, to expose them to the insults of their triumphant enemies, and bring reproach upon His own name for inconstancy or unkindness to His people, or inability to resist their enemies. Unable to understand the cause of the present calamity, he owned the hand of God.
10 the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up--The answer of the divine oracle was to this effect: the crisis is owing not to unfaithfulness in Me, but sin in the people. The conditions of the covenant have been violated by the reservation of spoil from the doomed city; wickedness, emphatically called folly, has been committed in Israel (
Ps 14:1), and dissimulation, with other aggravations of the crime, continues to be practised. The people are liable to destruction equally with the accursed nations of Canaan (
Deut 7:26). Means must, without delay, be taken to discover and punish the perpetrator of this trespass that Israel may be released from the ban, and things be restored to their former state of prosperity.
16 So Joshua rose up early, and brought Israel by their tribes--that is, before the tabernacle. The lot being appealed to (
Pro 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 [
Josh 7:19-
Josh 7:21]. How dreadful must have been his feelings when he saw the slow but certain process of discovery! (
Num 32:23).
19 Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give . . . glory to God--a form of adjuration to tell the truth.
21 a goodly Babylonish garment--literally, "a mantle of Shinar." The plain of Shinar was in early times celebrated for its gorgeous robes, which were of brilliant and various colors, generally arranged in figured patterns, probably resembling those of modern Turkish carpets, and the colors were either interwoven in the loom or embroidered with the needle.
two hundred shekels of silver--equivalent to Ł22 10s. sterling, according to the old Mosaic shekel, or the half of that sum, reckoning by the common shekel.
a wedge of gold--literally, an ingot or bar in the shape of a tongue.
22 Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent--from impatient eagerness not only to test the truth of the story, but to clear Israel from the imputation of guilt. Having discovered the stolen articles, they laid them out before the Lord, "as a token of their belonging to Him" on account of the ban.
24 Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan--He with his children and all his property, cattle as well as movables, were brought into one of the long broad ravines that open into the Ghor, and after being stoned to death (
Num 15:30-
Num 15:35), his corpse, with all belonging to him, was consumed to ashes by fire. "All Israel" was present, not only as spectators, but active agents, as many as possible, in inflicting the punishment--thus testifying their abhorrence of the sacrilege, and their intense solicitude to regain the divine favor. As the divine law expressly forbade the children to be put to death for their father's sins (
Deut 24:16), the conveyance of Achan's "sons and daughters" to the place of execution might be only as spectators, that they might take warning by the parental fate; or, if they shared his punishment (
Josh 22:20), they had probably been accomplices in his crime, and, indeed, he could scarcely have dug a hole within his tent without his family being aware of it.
26 they raised over him a great heap of stones--It is customary to raise cairns over the graves of criminals or infamous persons in the East still.
the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor--("trouble"),
unto this day--So painful an episode would give notoriety to the spot, and it is more than once noted by the sacred writers of a later age (
Isa 65:10;
Hos 2:15).