John Gill Commentary Joshua 7:21

"when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." — Joshua 7:21 (ASV)

When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment
One, as the Targum adds, for no more was taken; a garment made of Babylonish wool, as Jarchi; or a valuable garment made in Babylon, called "Shinar", for that is the word in the text, so Kimchi and Abarbinel; and Babylonian garments were in great esteem in other nations: Pliny says ^F3 Babylon was famous for garments interwoven with pictures of divers colours, and which gave name to them; and Plutarch

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and two hundred shekels of silver ;
which, if coined money, was near twenty five English pounds:

and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight :
or a "tongue of gold" ^F8 ; a plate of gold in the shape of a tongue, as Kimchi and Abarbinel; a piece of unwrought gold which weighed fifty shekels, and worth of our money about seventy five pounds, according to Brererwood ^F9 :

where he saw these, and from where he took them, is not said; according to some Jewish writers, these belonged to one of their idols; it is said {k}, he saw the Teraphim and the silver they offered before it, and the garment which was spread before it, and the tongue or wedge of gold in its mouth; and he desired them in his heart, and went and took them, and hid them in the midst of his tent: and the Samaritan Chronicle ^F12 makes him confess that he went into a temple in Jericho and found the above things there: and Masius conjectures that the wedge of gold was a little golden sword, with which the men of Jericho had armed their god, since an ancient poet ^F13 calls a little sword a little tongue:

then I coveted them, and took them ;
he is very particular in the account, and gradually proceeds in relating the temptation he was under, and the prevalence of it; it began with his eyes, which were caught with the goodliness of the garments, and the riches he saw; these affected his heart and stirred up covetous desires, which influenced and directed his hands to take them:

and, behold, they are [hid] in the earth in the midst of my tent ;
Josephus ^F14 says, he dug a deep hole or ditch in his tent, and put them there, that is, the Babylonish garment and the wedge of gold; which, as Ben Gersom gathers from (Joshua 7:25) , was wrapped up and hid within the garment; which is not improbable, since otherwise no account is given of that:

and the silver under it ;
the two hundred shekels of silver lay under the garment in which was the wedge of gold, and so it lay under them both.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.
• F8: (bhz Nwvl) "linguam auream", Montanus, Tigurine version, Masius; "lingulam auream", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F9: De Ponder. &. Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5.
• F12: Apud Hottinger, ut supra. (Smegm. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 505.)
• F13: Naevius apud A. Cell. Noct. Attic. l. 10. c. 25.
• F14: Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.)