1PERO los hijos de Israel cometieron una prevaricación en cuanto al anatema; porque Acán, hijo de Carmi, hijo de Zabdi, hijo de Zara de la tribu de Judá, tomó del anatema; por lo cual se encendió la ira de Jehová contra los hijos de Israel. 2¶Josué entonces envió hombres desde Jericó a Hai, que estaba junto a Bet-aven, al oriente de Bet-el, y les habló, diciendo: Subid y reconoced el país. Subieron pues los hombres y reconocieron a Hai: 3y volvieron a Josué y le dijeron: No suba todo el pueblo, sino que suban como dos o tres mil hombres, y hieran a Hai. No fatigues a todo el pueblo, marchando allá, porque ellos son pocos. 4De manera que del pueblo subieron allí como tres mil hombres; mas huyeron delante de los hijos de Hai. 5Y los hombres de Hai hirieron de ellos como treinta y seis hombres; porque los persiguieron desde delante de la puerta hasta Sebarim, y los hirieron en la bajada de la cuesta: por lo cual derritióse el corazón del pueblo y vino a ser como agua. 6¶Entonces Josué rasgó sus vestidos, y cayó postrado en tierra sobre su rostro delante del Arca de Jehová hasta la tarde, él y los ancianos de Israel; y echaron polvo sobre sus cabezas. 7Y dijo Josué: ¡Ay, Señor, Jehová! ¿por qué has hecho que pase este pueblo el Jordán, para entregarnos en mano de los Amorreos, para destruirnos? y ¡ojalá hubiéramos sido contentos en quedarnos de la otra parte del Jordán! 8¡Ah Señor! ¿qué podré decir, después que Israel haya vuelto las espaldas delante de sus enemigos? 9Porque lo oirán los Cananeos, y todos los demás habitantes del país, y nos cercarán en derredor, y cortarán nuestro nombre de sobre la tierra; entonces tú ¿qué harás por tu gran nombre? 10¶Jehová empero respondió a Josué: ¡Levántate! ¿por qué estás así postrado sobre tu rostro? 11Israel ha pecado, y también ha traspasado mi pacto que les prescribí, y también han tomado del anatema, y también han hurtado, y también han mentido, y también lo han puesto entre sus efectos. 12Por lo mismo no podrán los hijos de Israel hacer frente a sus enemigos, sino que continuarán volviendo las espaldas delante de sus enemigos; porque han venido a ser anatema. Yo no tornaré más a estar con vosotros, a menos que destruyáis el anatema de en medio de vosotros. 13Levántate, santifica al pueblo y dile: Santificaos para mañana; porque así dice Jehová, el Dios de Israel: ¡Anatema hay en medio de ti, oh Israel! no podrás hacer frente a tus enemigos, hasta tanto que destruyas totalmente el anatema de en medio de ti. 14Acercaos pues por la mañana por vuestras tribus; y será que la tribu que tomare Jehová se acercará por sus parentelas; y la parentela que tomare Jehová se acercará por sus casas; y la casa que tomare Jehová se acercará por sus individuos. 15Y será que aquel que fuere tomado con el anatema será quemado a fuego, él con todo lo suyo; por cuanto ha traspasado el pacto de Jehová, y porque ha cometido villanía en Israel. 16¶Por la mañana pues madrugó Josué, e hizo acercar a Israel por sus tribus; y fué tomada la tribu de Judá. 17E hizo acercar la familia de Judá, y tomó Dios la parentela de los zareos. E hizo acercar la parentela de los zareos por sus individuos, y fué tomado Zabdi. 18Luego hizo acercar la casa de éste por sus individuos, y fué tomado Acán, hijo de Carmi, hijo de Zabdi, hijo de Zara, de la tribu de Judá. 19Entonces dijo Josué a Acán: Hijo mío, ruégote des gloria a Jehová el Dios de Israel, y haz confesión a él; y manifiéstame, te lo ruego, qué has hecho: no lo encubras de mí. 20Y Acán respondió a Josué, diciendo: En verdad yo he pecado contra Jehová el Dios de Israel; y así y así he hecho. 21Pues ví entre los despojos un manto babilónico muy bueno, y doscientos siclos de plata, y una barra de oro, del peso de cincuenta siclos; y los codicié, y los tomé: y he aquí que están escondidos en la tierra en medio de mi tienda; y el dinero debajo del manto. 22¶Josué pues envió mensajeros que fueron corriendo a la tienda; y he allí el manto escondido dentro de la tienda, y el dinero debajo de él. 23Y tomáronlos de en medio de la tienda, y los trajeron a Josué y a todos los hijos de Israel; y los extendieron delante de Jehová. 24Entonces Josué y todo Israel con él tomaron a Acán hijo de Zara, y la plata y el manto y la barra de oro, juntamente con sus hijos y sus hijas, y sus bueyes y sus asnos, y sus ovejas y su tienda, y todo lo que era suyo; y los hicieron subir al Valle de Acor. 25Y le dijo Josué: ¿Por qué nos has turbado? ¡Jehová te turbará a ti en este día! Y todo Israel le mató a pedradas; y a él y a los suyos los quemaron a fuego después de apedreados. 26Y levantaron sobre él un gran montón de piedras que dura hasta hoy. Así tornóse Jehová del ardor de su ira. Por tanto se ha llamado aquel lugar, Valle de Acor hasta el día de hoy.
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).