_TROUBLE IN THE LORD’S CAMP_ CRITICAL NOTES.— Joshua 7:1. Committed a trespass] _Lit_., “deceived a deceit” The meaning of the verb is to cover, as with a garment, thence to act deceitfully or treacherously. The sin of this single member of Israel is put as the transgression of the whole body. ACH... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— Joshua 7:6. Rent his clothes … put dust upon their heads] Both are ancient and common signs of mourning. They were practised among the Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews. With Joshua and the elders they were indicative of humiliation before God. _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE P... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— Joshua 7:11. Have also stolen and dissembled, etc.] To steal devoted things was solemnly sinful; every moment of hiding was a moment in which the guilt of theft was perpetuated and repeated in the conscience, in addition to which all Israel was being deceived and wronged; but the s... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— Joshua 7:21. A goodly Babylonish garment] _Lit_. “A cloak of Shinar,” Shinar being the ancient name for the land of Babylon (Genesis 10:10). These garments have the reputation of having been highly wrought works of art. Pliny, _Hist. Nat_., lib. viii., c. 48, says of them, “Colores... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— Joshua 7:24. All that he had] _In ordinary matters, touching the national welfare_, the law provided that the children should not “be put to death for the fathers” (Deuteronomy 24:16), but this can hardly be used as an argument to prove that the family of Achan could not have been s... [ Continue Reading ]