EXPOSITION THE DEFEAT BEFORE AI.— JOSHUA 7:1 COMMITTED A TRESPASS IN THE ACCURSED THING. The word מָעַל, here used, signifies originally to _cover, _whence מְעִיל a garment. Hence it comes to mean to act deceitfully, or perhaps to steal (cf. the LXX. ἐνοσφίσαντο_, _a_ _translation rendered remar... [ Continue Reading ]
EXPOSITION JOSHUA'S PRAYER AND GOD'S ANSWER.— JOSHUA 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes. A token of grief usual among the Jews (see Genesis 37:29, 84; Genesis 44:13, etc. Knobel cites Le Genesis 21:10); and though Joshua was not the high priest, yet from his peculiar position he might be expected to... [ Continue Reading ]
EXPOSITION THE DISCOVERY OF ACHAN'S SIN.— JOSHUA 7:16 THE FAMILY OF JUDAH. The expression מִשְׁפַתַת is remarkable. Many commentators would read מִשְׁפְחֹת, not without some MSS. authority. Keil objects that the Chaldee and Syriac have the singular. But the LXX. has κατὰ δήμους, and the Vulgate... [ Continue Reading ]