John Calvin Commentary Joshua 7:19

"And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me." — Joshua 7:19 (ASV)

And Joshua said to Achan, etc. Although Achan was identified only by lot, which seems to happen by chance, he is completely caught. Yet, because God had declared that He would point out the guilty party as if with His finger, Joshua questions him without any doubt. When the discovery is made, he urges Achan to confess. Indeed, it is probable that this was the usual form of solemn charge, as we read in John’s Gospel (John 9:24) that the scribes and priests used the same words in solemnly charging the blind man, whose sight our Savior had restored, to answer concerning the miracle.

However, there was a special reason why Joshua urged Achan to give God the glory: by denying or being evasive, he might have damaged the credibility of the decision. The matter had already been determined by lot. Therefore, Joshua simply orders him to accept the divine sentence and not worsen his crime with pointless denials.

He calls him son, not ironically or hypocritically, but truly and sincerely declares that he felt like a father toward him, even though he had already condemned him to death. By this example, judges are taught that while they punish crimes, they should moderate their severity so as not to discard feelings of humanity. On the other hand, they should be merciful without being careless and negligent. In short, they should be like parents to those they condemn, without substituting excessive mildness for the sternness of justice.

Many, through flattering kindness, throw wretched criminals off their guard by pretending they intend to pardon them. Then, after a confession has been obtained, they suddenly deliver them to the executioner, while the criminals were deceiving themselves with the hope of impunity. But Joshua, satisfied with having summoned the criminal before the tribunal of God, does not flatter him at all with a false hope of pardon. He is thus more at liberty to pronounce the sentence that God has commanded.