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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Joshua 7:1 - 7:9
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Israel's defeat at Ai
v. 1. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing, the sin of one man being regarded as compromising all and making the entire host of Israel guilty in the sight of God; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi (or Zimri, 1Ch_2:6), the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing, appropriated some of the booty of the city, all of which had been declared devoted to the Lord, for his own use; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel, it was fanned to a blaze, like a flame which shoots up with destructive force. Achan's sin had robbed the entire people of that purity and holiness which it was supposed to have in the sight of God, just as the impurity of a single member in the body infects all the members.
v. 2. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, northeast of Jericho and almost due north of Jerusalem, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. They were spies, entrusted with the task of obtaining the information necessary to send a successful expedition against the city. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
v. 3. And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people, the entire army, go up, but let about two or three thousand men, literally, "two thousand men or some three thousand men," go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few. The city having but 12,000 inhabitants, Jos_8:25, the number of able-bodied defenders probably did not exceed between two and three thousand, according to the estimate of the scouts.
v. 4. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men; and they fled before the men of Ai. They not only were unable to accomplish their purpose, but they were even put to shameful flight.
v. 5. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; for they chased them from before the gate, where the attack had been delivered, even unto Shebarim, stone quarries at some distance toward the south, and smote them in the going down, as they fled toward the valley of the Jordan; wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water, in utter discouragement and despondency.
v. 6. And Joshua rent his clothes, as a sign of the deepest distress and mourning, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, in a silent and yet eloquent appeal to the Lord, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads, another custom betokening the deepest mourning, 1Sa_4:12; 2Sa_1:2; 2Sa_13:19.
v. 7. And Joshua said, in a mournful complaint, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, the heathen nation in this part of Canaan, to destroy us? For the defeat of the small army was a sign that the Lord had withdrawn His assistance. Would to God we had been content and dwelt on the other side Jordan! literally, "Had we but made up our minds to remain on the east aide of Jordan!" It was the bold language of a faith battling with the Lord, unable to understand the ways of the Lord and including the most urgent appeal to the Lord to continue as the Ally of Israel. To this complaint is added an anxious question.
v. 8. O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies in shameful flight?
v. 9. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, completely surrounding them, and cut off our name from the earth, destroy them so completely that even their memory would be forgotten; and what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name? Joshua implies that the Lord had not had the due consideration of His honor in mind in permitting this misfortune to strike Israel, that it would now be a difficult matter to secure His honor against misunderstanding and blasphemy. Note: If any Christian congregation suffers a transgressor to remain in its midst, then all the members are guilty before the Lord.