John Calvin Commentary Joshua 7:10

"And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face?" — Joshua 7:10 (ASV)

And the Lord said to Joshua, etc. God does not reprimand Joshua absolutely for lying prostrate on the ground and lamenting the overthrow of the people, since the true method of obtaining pardon from God was to fall down suppliantly before Him, but for giving himself up to excessive sorrow. The censure, however, ought to be referred to the future rather than to the past. For He tells him to put an end to his wailing, just as if He had said that he had already lain too long prostrate, and that all sloth must now be abandoned, as a different remedy was needed.

But He first shows the cause of the evil and then prescribes the way to remove it. He therefore informs him that the outcome of the battle was disastrous because He was offended by the wickedness of the people and had cast off their defense.

We previously explained why the punishment for a private sacrilege is transferred to all. Although they were not held guilty in their own judgment or that of others, God's judgment, which involved them in the same condemnation, had hidden reasons. While it may be lawful to inquire into these reasons soberly, it is not lawful to search with prying curiosity.

At the same time, we have a rare example of clemency in the fact that while the condemnation verbally extends to all, punishment is inflicted only on a single family actually polluted by the crime. What follows tends to show how enormous the crime was, and accordingly the particle גם is repeated, and not without emphasis, as they might otherwise have extenuated its atrocity.

Hence, when it is said that they have also transgressed the covenant, the meaning is that they had not sinned slightly. The name of covenant is applied to the prohibition that, as we saw, had been given, because a mutual stipulation had been made, assigning the spoils of the whole land to the Israelites, provided He received the first fruits.

Here, then, He does not allude to the general covenant, but complains that He was defrauded of what had been specially set apart.

He accordingly adds immediately after, by way of explanation, that they had taken from the devoted thing, and this not without sacrilege, inasmuch as they had stolen what He claimed as His own.

The term lying is used here, as in many other passages, for frustrating a hope entertained, or for deceiving.

The last thing mentioned, though many might at first sight think it trivial, is set down, not without good cause, as the crowning act of guilt: namely, that they had deposited the forbidden thing among their vessels.

Persons who are otherwise not wholly wicked are sometimes tempted by a love of gain. However, in the act of hiding the thing and laying it up among other goods, a more obstinate perseverance in evil doing is implied, as the party shows himself to be untouched by any feelings of compunction.

In the last part of Joshua 7:12, the term anathema is used in a different sense for execration, because it was on account of the stolen gold that the children of Israel were cursed and almost devoted to destruction.