John Calvin Commentary Joshua 7:1

"But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the children of Israel." — Joshua 7:1 (ASV)

But the children of Israel committed, etc. Reference is made to the crime, indeed the secret crime, of one individual, whose guilt is transferred to the whole people; and not only that, but punishment is at the same time inflicted upon several who were innocent. However, it seems very unaccountable that a whole people should be condemned for a private and hidden crime of which they had no knowledge.

I answer that it is not new for the sin of one member to be visited upon the whole body. If we are unable to discover the reason, it should be more than enough for us that transgression is imputed to the children of Israel, while the guilt is confined to one individual.

But as it very often happens that those who are not wicked foster the sins of their brethren by conniving at them, a part of the blame is justly laid upon all those who by concealment become implicated in it as partners. For this reason Paul (1 Corinthians 5:4–6) upbraids all the Corinthians for the private enormity of one individual, and inveighs against their pride in presuming to glory while such a stigma attached to them.

But here it is easy to object that all were ignorant of the theft, and that therefore there is no room for the maxim that he who allows a crime to be committed when he can prevent it is its perpetrator. I certainly admit it is not clear why a private crime is imputed to the whole people, unless it is that they had not previously been sufficiently careful to punish misdeeds, and that possibly because of this, the person actually guilty in the present instance had sinned with greater boldness.

It is well known that weeds creep in stealthily, grow quickly, and produce noxious fruits if not speedily torn up. The reason, however, why God charges a whole people with a secret theft is deeper and more abstruse. He wished by an extraordinary manifestation to remind posterity that they might all be held accountable for the act of an individual, and thus induce them to pay more diligent attention to the prevention of crimes.

Nothing, therefore, is better than to keep our minds in suspense until the books are opened, when the divine judgments, which are now obscured by our darkness, will be made perfectly clear. Let it be enough for us that the whole people were infected by a private stain, for so it has been declared by the Supreme Judge, before whom it is fitting for us to stand silent, as we will one day appear at his tribunal.

The lineage from which Achan was descended is narrated for the sake of increasing and, as it were, propagating the ignominy, just as if it were said that he was the disgrace of his family and all his race. For the writer of the history goes back as far as the tribe of Judah.

By this we are taught that when anyone connected with us behaves basely and wickedly, a stigma is in a way impressed upon us through him, so that we may be humbled—not that it can be just to insult all the relatives of a wicked man, but first, that all relatives may be more careful in applying mutual correction to each other, and secondly, that they may be led to recognize that either their connivance or their own faults are punished.

A greater occasion of scandal, fitted to produce general alarm, was offered by the fact that the crime was detected in the tribe of Judah, which was the flower and glory of the whole nation. It was certainly owing to the admirable counsel of God that a pre-eminence which fostered the hope of future dominion resided in that tribe.

But when, near the very outset, this honor was foully stained by the act of an individual, the circumstance might have occasioned no small disturbance to weak minds. The severe punishment, however, wiped away the scandal that might otherwise have existed. From this we gather that when an occasion has been given to the wicked to blaspheme, the Church has no fitter means of removing the opprobrium than that of visiting offences with exemplary punishment.