Joshua 7:15

Jos 7:15 And it shall be, [that] he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

Ver. 15. Shall be burnt with fire.] After that he is first stoned with stones as a presumptuous offender, {Num 15:30; Num 15:35} who is a kind of blasphemer, {Eze 20:37} and his sin such, as is not to be expiated by sacrifice.

He and all that he hath.] His children also, as part of his goods, and infected with the contagion of his sin. Besides, they owed a death to God, who might require that debt when and how he would; neither could there be any iniquity with the Lord, since his holy will is not only recta sed regula, right, but the rule of right: neither is it for silly men to reprehend what they cannot comprehend.

And because he hath wrought folly.] Or, Wickedness, which is folly in the abstract: like as righteousness is right-wiseness, and a righteous man a right-wise-man, as in our old English books we find it printed.

In Israel.] Quorum ingentia beneficia, ingentia flagitia, ingentia igitur supplicia: men’s offences are increased by their obligations.

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.

7:15 God had commanded that all the stolen goods were to be destroyed by fire. Now they would be, because Achan and everything he had would be burned with fire. Breaking the covenant of the Lord was treason, a capital offense (e.g., Exod 22:20; Deut 4:25-27).

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

That is found guilty, either by lots, or by the judgment of Urim, Num. 27:21.

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

15. shall be burnt with fire] Achan by his conduct had become cherem or devoted, and is so called in Jos_7:12, and everything devoted to punishment for the reparation of the Divine honour was to be burnt. Comp. Lev_20:14; Lev_21:9; Jos_6:24; 2Ki_23:16.

folly] Or, as in margin, wickedness; “and hath do sacrilege in Ysrael,” Wyclif.

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.

And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire,.... He that is taken by lot, and the accursed thing found with him, this should be the death, burning, one of the four capital punishments with the Jews: this was ordered in this case, because the city of Jericho, accursed or devoted, was burnt with fire, Jos 6:24,

he and all that he hath; the particulars of which are enumerated, Jos 7:24,

because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord; See Gill on Jos 7:11,

and because he hath wrought folly in Israel; as all sin and every transgression of the law is, and was the cause of Israel's turning their backs on their enemies; which, as Abarbinel says, was folly, and made the people of Israel look foolish, mean, and contemptible: the word has also the signification of a dead carcass, and may possibly have respect, to the thirty six men whose death he was the occasion of, Jos 7:5, and therefore justly ought to die himself.

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

burnt with fire - i. e. after he had been put to death by stoning Jos 7:25; Lev 20:14.

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

Burnt with fire, as persons and things accursed were to be. See Num 15:30,35; Deu 13:16. All that he hath; his children and goods, as is noted, Jos 7:24, according to the law, Deu 13:6.

He hath wrought folly; so sin is oft called in Scripture, as Gen 34:7; Jdg 20:6, &c., in opposition to the idle opinion of sinners, who commonly esteem it to be their wisdom and interest.

In Israel, i.e. among the church and people of God, who had such excellent laws to direct them, and such an all-sufficient and gracious God to provide for them, without any such indirect and unworthy practices.

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

15. He… shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath — As the anathema was to be executed by fire, and as the guilty man has made himself and all his possessions anathema, he is to be destroyed with fire. See note on Jos_7:24. The body, rendered lifeless by stoning, (Jos_7:25,) and not the living man, was to be burned. Burning alive is not found in the Mosaic law.

Wrought folly in Israel — Folly is a very appropriate name for sin, since every sin proceeds from real intellectual stupidity, short-sightedness, and fatuity, which the Greeks expressed by a word signifying missing the mark. In the eye of true reason the devil himself is a simpleton, and all his followers doltishly reject divine instruction, and stupidly go down to hell, imagining that God does not see their sins, and will not punish the guilty.

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

He that is taken with the accursed thing; or, according to Keil, "he on whom the ban falls." He and all that he hath (cf. ver. 24). The opinion that Achan"s family had in some way become participators in his sin would seem preferable to the idea that his sin had involved them in the ban. (see Deu_24:16, which qualifies Lev_26:39; so Hengstenberg, "History," p. 218) The destruction of their possessions is due to the fact that all the family had come under the ban. Folly hlbn used of the heart as well as the head. (cf. Gen_34:7 Deu_22:21 Jud_1:19:23, 24, 20:6 2Sa_13:12 Psa_14:1) The LXX render by anomhma , and the Vulgate by herae , but Theodotion renders by afrosunh .

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

Shall be burnt with fire - As persons and things accursed were to be. All that he hath - His children and goods, as is noted, ver. 24, according to the law, Deut. xiii, 16. Wrought folly - So sin is often called in scripture, in opposition to the idle opinion of sinners, who commonly esteem it to be their wisdom. In Israel - That is, among the church and people of God who had such excellent laws to direct them, and such an all-sufficient and gracious God to provide for them, without any such unworthy practices. It was sacrilege, it was invading God's rights, and converting to a private use that which was devoted to his glory, which was to be thus severely punished, for a warning to all people in all ages, to take heed how they rob God.

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

Burned with fire. His tent and movable property [shall be burned].

He and all that he possesses. [This should be understood] according to the law explained below— he and his livestock [are put to death] by stoning. The zakeif accent, appearing over the word, בָּאֵשׁ indicates that the word בָּאֵשׁ (with fire) is separated from the word אוֹתוֹ, (he). We find other verses in which the accent divides the verse, such as, ‘אַחַרֵי דֶרֶך מְבוֹא הַשֶׁמֶשׁ’ (Far past the Jordan, the direction in which the sun sets). The word אַחַרֵי is separated from the word דֶרֶך by virtue of the [pashta] accent. Thus the interpretation of our verse is: He who is convicted [by the Ark] because of his taking of the condemned, shall be burned with fire, [which means] that which is fit to be burned [shall be burned], as is explained below.

He and all that he possesses. [This should be understood.] According to the law explained below. This is an abbreviated verse, and there is a similar verse to it: ‘Whoever strikes the Jebusites and reaches the tower.’ The verse does not explain what will be done to him, but in Sefer Divrei Ha Yomim, it is explained ‘that he will become a leader.’ Here too, it is not explained what will be done to him ‘and to all that he possesses,’ but everything is explained below.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.