21 When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.
Have no love for the world or for the things which are in the world. If any man has love for the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because everything in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but of the world.
Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;
And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.
Cursed are those who go deep to keep their designs secret from the Lord, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and who has knowledge of our acts?
The images of their gods are to be burned with fire: have no desire for the gold and silver on them, and do not take it for yourselves, for it will be a danger to you: it is a thing disgusting to the Lord your God:
But I say to you that everyone whose eyes are turned on a woman with desire has had connection with her in his heart. And if your right eye is a cause of trouble to you, take it out and put it away from you; because it is better to undergo the loss of one part, than for all your body to go into hell.
But those who have a desire for wealth are falling into danger, and are taken as in a net by a number of foolish and damaging desires, through which men are overtaken by death and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil: and some whose hearts were fixed on it have been turned away from the faith, and been wounded with unnumbered sorrows.
Then put to death your bodies which are of the earth; wrong use of the flesh, unclean things, passion, evil desires and envy, which is the worship of strange gods;
But evil acts of the flesh and all unclean things, or desire for others' property, let it not even be named among you, as is right for saints;
What then is to be said? is the law sin? in no way. But I would not have had knowledge of sin but for the law: for I would not have been conscious of desire if the law had not said, You may not have a desire for what is another's. But sin, taking its chance through that which was ordered by the law, was working in me every form of desire: because without the law sin is dead.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
A curse on him who gets evil profits for his family, so that he may put his resting-place on high and be safe from the hand of the wrongdoer!
A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power. They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.
Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:
He who is ever desiring wealth goes running after money, and does not see that need will come on him.
And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.
I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Now my master has taken nothing from Naaman, this Aramaean, of what he would have given him: by the living Lord, I will go after him and get something from him. So Gehazi went after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from his carriage and went back to him and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well: but my master has sent me, saying, Even now, two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim; will you give me a talent of silver and two changes of clothing for them? And Naaman said, Be good enough to take two talents. And forcing him to take them, he put two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to his two servants to take before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hands, and put them away in the house; and he sent the men away, and they went. Then he came in and took his place before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where have you come from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere. And he said to him, Did not my heart go with you, when the man got down from his carriage and went back to you? Is this a time for getting money, and clothing, and olive-gardens and vine-gardens, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants? Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.
Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vine-garden in Jezreel, near the house of Ahab, king of Samaria. And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money.
And David sent to Joab saying, Send Uriah the Hittite to me. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah came to him, David put questions to him about how Joab and the people were, and how the war was going. And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and let your feet be washed. And Uriah went away from the king's house, and an offering from the king was sent after him. But Uriah took his rest at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. And when word was given to David that Uriah had not gone down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house? And Uriah said to David, Israel and Judah with the ark are living in tents, and my lord Joab and the other servants of my lord are sleeping in the open field; and am I to go to my house and take food and drink, and go to bed with my wife? By the living Lord, and by the life of your soul, I will not do such a thing. And David said to Uriah, Be here today, and after that I will let you go. So Uriah was in Jerusalem that day and the day after. And when David sent for him, he took meat and drink with him, and David made him the worse for drink: and when evening came, he went to rest on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab. And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death. So while Joab was watching the town, he put Uriah in the place where it was clear to him the best fighters were. And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.
Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.
And at the first, his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 7
Commentary on Joshua 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Jos 7:1. Achan's Trespass.
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") (1Ch 2:7).
Zabdi—or Zimri (1Ch 2:6).
Zerah—or Zarah, son of Judah and Tamar (Ge 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.
Jos 7:2-26. The Israelites Smitten at Ai.
2. 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 (Ge 12:8; 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 (Ho 4:15; 5:8; 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 (Jos 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, 5. 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.
6-9. 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.
10-15. 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 (De 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.
16-18. 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).
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 £22 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, 23. 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.
24-26. 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 (Nu 15:30-35), 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 (De 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 (Jos 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; Ho 2:15).