Joshua 7:7

_AND JOSHUA SAID, ALAS, O LORD GOD, WHEREFORE HAST THOU AT ALL BROUGHT THIS PEOPLE OVER JORDAN, TO DELIVER US INTO THE HAND OF THE AMORITES, TO DESTROY US? WOULD TO GOD WE HAD BEEN CONTENT, AND DWELT ON THE OTHER SIDE JORDAN!_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

6-9 Joshua's concern for the honour of God, more than even for the fate of Israel, was the language of the Spirit of adoption. He pleaded with God. He laments their defeat, as he feared it would reflect on God's wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness. We cannot at any time urge a better plea than this, Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great name? Let God be glorified in all, and then welcome his whole will....

Verse Joshua 7:7. _ALAS, O LORD GOD_] Particles of exclamations and distress, or what are called _interjections_, are nearly the same in all languages: and the reason is because they are the simple voice of nature. The Hebrew word which we translate _alas_ is אהה _ahah_. The complaint of Joshua in this and the following verses seems principally to have arisen from his deep concern for the glory of God, and the affecting interest he took in behalf of the people: he felt for the thousands of Israel, whom he considered as abandoned to destruction: and he felt for the glory of God, for he knew should Israel be destroyed God's name would be blasphemed among the heathen; and his expostulations with his Maker, which have been too hastily blamed by some, as savouring of too great freedom and impatience are founded on God's own words,...

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 adopt somewhat of the high priest's demeanour, and at least not to display this outward sign of grief without the strongest reason. The words "before the ark" are omitted in the LXX. And put dust o

AND JOSHUA SAID, ALAS! O LORD GOD,.... What a miserable and distressed condition are we in! have pity and compassion on us; who could have thought it, that this would have been our case? WHEREFORE HAST THOU AT ALL BROUGHT THIS PEOPLE OVER JORDAN, TO DELIVER US INTO THE HAND OF THE AMORITES, TO DESTROY US: who are mentioned either for the whole people of the land of Canaan; or rather, because the people of Israel were now in that part of the country which they inhabited: these words discover much weakness, diffidence, and distrust, and bear some likeness to the murmurs of the children of Israel in the wilderness; but not proceeding from that malignity of spirit theirs did, but from a concern for the good of the people and the glory of God, they are not resented by him: WOULD TO GOD WE HAD BEEN CONTENT, AND DWELT ON THE OTHER SIDE JORDAN; in which he seems to cast the blame, not upon the...

7. ACHAN'S SIN AND ISRAEL'S DEFEAT CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The defeat of Israel (Joshua 7:1)_ 2. The source of the defeat revealed (Joshua 7:6) 3. The transgressor found out (Joshua 7:16) 4. The judgment of Achan (Joshua 7:24) The insignificant place Ai brings defeat. Joshua sent men to view Ai. What authority was given to him to do so? There was no need to send spies once more, for the Lord had said, that the whole land was given to them. They report Ai a place without walls and recommend that only two or three thousand men be sent up. Defeat follows. Ai means “ruins.” It is mentioned for the first time in...

VII. ACHAN'S TRESPASS, ISRAEL'S DEFEAT, ACHAN'S PUNISHMENT. Joshua 7:1. The name should probably be Achar. The narrative presents no difficulties till the end of the chapter, where Achan's punishment is recorded. Joshua 7:2. Ai: probably 2 miles SE. of Bethel (p. 31). Joshua 7:9. And what wilt thou do for (or on account of) THY GREAT NAME? The meaning is that if Israel is destroyed there will be none to worship Yahweh; an interesting example of the ancient belief in the close connexion between the deity and his worshippers. Joshua 7:19. GIVE. LORD: _ i.e_., tell the truth, _cf._...

ALAS. Figure of speech _Ecphonesis._ App-6 LORD GOD. _Adonai Jehovah_. See App-4. WHEREFORE. ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6. WOULD TO GOD. Hebrew "would that". No "to God "in Hebrew text....

The Defeat before Ai. Joshua's Prayer 6. _And Joshua rent his clothes_ in token of sorrow and distress (comp. Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10). The clothes were torn in front over the breast, yet for not more than a handbreadth. In Patriarchal times we read of Reuben _rending his clothes_, because "Joseph was not in the pit" (Genesis 37:29); of Jacob _rending his clothes_, and "mourning for his son many days" (Genesis 37:34); of Joseph's brethren that they _rent their clothes_, when they found the cup in Benjamin's sack (G

_VER._ 7. _AND JOSHUA SAID, ALAS! O LORD GOD, WHEREFORE,_ &C.— The heart-felt emotion and humiliation in which Joshua appears, thus prostrate on the ground, with his face directed towards the sanctuary, and addressing God in the following prayer, are no way unbecoming of his high character. The greatest men are the most susceptible of the feelings of humanity and compassion. Without attempting to deny absolutely that Joshua testified some weakness, and too much dejection, in the prayer which he addresses to God, his sentiments seem capable of a very noble turn: his expressions are not the bursts of complaint; the Scriptures nowhere reproach him with any thing like it; they are an acknowledgment of his ignorance respecting the causes of that fatal blow which struck the whole camp of Israel with terror; as much as if he had said, that he knew not what to think of the event which astonished...