Joshua 7:12

Jos 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

Ver. 12. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand.] Sin is that great discord maker, hell-hag, cut-throat, troubler, mother of all mischief: and that was a very good answer of an English captain at the loss of Calais, when a proud Frenchman tauntingly asked, When will ye fetch Calais again? the reply was, Quando peccata vestra erunt nostris graviora, When your sins shall weigh down ours.

Neither will I be with you any more.] That God which, for ten righteous men, would have spared the five wicked cities, would not be content to drown that one sin of Achan among the righteous.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:12 Israel itself has been set apart for destruction: With his individual sin, Achan made all Israel liable to destruction.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Then to suffer wickedness unpunished, is to refuse God willingly.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 12. Because they were accursed] From this verse it appears that the nature of the execration or anathema was such, that those who took of the thing doomed to destruction fell immediately under the same condemnation. The inhabitants of Jericho and all that they had were accursed: therefore they and all their substance were to be destroyed. The Israelites took of the accursed thing, and therefore became accursed with it. This was certainly understood when the curse was pronounced: Every man who touches this property shall be involved in the same execration. Achan therefore was sufficiently aware of the risk he ran in taking any part of the anathematized thing; and when viewed in this light, the punishment inflicted on him will appear to be perfectly just and proper.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. except ye destroy the accursed from among you] The LXX. translate, “Except ye remove the accursed thing, the Anathema, from among you,” using the identical word for remove that St Paul uses respecting the incestuous Corinthian, “therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person,” 1Co_5:13.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies,.... Being forsaken of God for the sin committed among them:

but turned their backs before their enemies: had not courage to face them, but fled as soon as they appeared:

because they were accursed; of God for the accursed thing that had been taken, as was threatened would be their case, should they take any of it; Jos 6:18,

neither will I be with you any more, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you; that is, until they had put to death the person who had taken of the accursed thing, and made himself thereby accursed, and even all the camp of Israel; till this was done, the Lord would not be with them to protect and defend them, and give them success against their enemies.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Accursed - Compare Jos 6:17-18.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Because they were accursed, as I warned and threatened them, Jos 6:18, they have put themselves out of my protection and blessing, and therefore are liable to the same destruction which belongs to this accursed people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies — In the moral government of God there is a causal connexion between moral and natural evil, between sin and suffering. But how few the national leaders who have eyes to see the relation which a nation’s righteous character sustains to its victory in war and its prosperity and greatness in peace! The atheistic apothegm of Napoleon, that Providence always favours the strongest battalions, is still believed by the statesmen of even Christian nations. God, as the disposer of human events, finds too little recognition in camps, courts, and cabinets.

Neither will I be with you any more — This declaration proves that the strong promise of Jos_1:5, was conditioned on the fidelity of Israel.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore. This plain statement disposes of the idea that the repulse before Ai was simply the result of Joshua"s rashness in sending so small a body of troops. The vivid narrative of the detection of Achan, obviously taken from contemporary records, precedes the account of the final capture of the city, although Joshua, who, as we have seen, does not neglect to employ human means, resolves to take greater precautions before making a second attack. Not a hint is dropped that the former number of men was insufficient, or that Joshua had been misled by the information brought by the reconnoitring party. In the mind of the historian the defect is entirely owing to the existence of secret sin in the Israelitish comp. Except ye destroy the accursed from among. Dr. Maclear, in the "Cambridge Bible for Schools," calls attention to the fact that 1Co_5:13 is a quotation from the LXX here, substituting, however, ton for to anayema .

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Were accursed - They have put themselves out of my protection, and therefore are liable to the same destruction which belongs to this accursed people.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.