They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar. Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”
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Joshua 22:15-20 sits inside this longer paragraph.
The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at. The children of Israel heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar along the border of the land of Canaan, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the children of Israel.” When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest. With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were each head of their fathers’ houses among the thousands of Israel. They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar. Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
“The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh?
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh,
that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.
Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”
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And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,
Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
Show all 3 translations
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And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying:
'Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD: What treachery is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, to rebel this day against the LORD?
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves unto this day, although there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,
that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the LORD, that to-morrow He will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us; but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass concerning the devoted thing, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (70)
- Joshua 7:1 (vv18, 20) But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of…
- Numbers 16:22 (v18) They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the…
- Numbers 25:1-18 (v17) Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; for they called the people to the…
- Joshua 7:5 (v20) The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent.…
- Psalms 106:28-29 (v17) They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague…
Show all 64 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:3-4 (v17) Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for Yahweh your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among…
- Deuteronomy 12:13-14 (vv15–16) Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your…
- Ezra 9:13-14 (vv17–18) “After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities…
- Joshua 7:18 (v20) He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was…
- Joshua 7:24 (v20) Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle,…
- Joshua 18:1 (v19) The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land…
- Joshua 22:16 (v18) “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from…
- 1 Corinthians 10:6 (v20) Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
- 1 Corinthians 10:8 (v17) Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell.
- 1 Corinthians 10:11 (v17) Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
- Leviticus 17:8-9 (vv15, 19) “You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt…
- Deuteronomy 7:4 (vv15, 18) For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So Yahweh’s anger would be kindled against you, and…
- 2 Chronicles 25:27 (vv15, 18) Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish, but…
- Exodus 15:17 (v19) You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell…
- Exodus 32:8 (v15) They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and…
- Leviticus 5:19 (v15) It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before Yahweh.”
- Leviticus 18:25-28 (v19) The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. You therefore shall keep my statutes and…
- Leviticus 26:40 (v15) “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that…
- Numbers 5:6 (v15) “Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is…
- Numbers 14:43 (v15) For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh;…
- Numbers 32:15 (v15) For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
- Deuteronomy 12:4-6 (v15) You shall not do so to Yahweh your God. But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there,…
- Deuteronomy 12:5-6 (v19) But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you…
- Deuteronomy 30:17 (v15) But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them,
- Joshua 7:11 (v18) Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted…
- Joshua 7:21 (v18) When I saw among the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I…
- Joshua 22:12 (v15) When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up…
- Joshua 22:18 (v15) that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with…
- Joshua 22:20 (v18) Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t…
- 1 Samuel 12:14 (v18) If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then both you and also…
- 1 Samuel 12:20 (v18) Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet don’t turn away from following Yahweh, but serve…
- 1 Samuel 15:23 (v15) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has…
- 2 Samuel 24:1 (v18) Again Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”
- 1 Kings 9:6 (v18) But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but…
- 2 Kings 17:21 (v18) For he tore Israel from David’s house; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drove Israel from following Yahweh, and…
- 1 Chronicles 21:1 (v18) Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 21:3 (v15) Joab said, “May Yahweh make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why…
- 1 Chronicles 21:14 (v18) So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
- 2 Chronicles 10:19 (v15) So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day.
- 2 Chronicles 11:13 (v19) The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him out of all their territory.
- 2 Chronicles 11:16-17 (v19) After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who set their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice…
- 2 Chronicles 26:18 (v15) They resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, “It isn’t for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but for the priests the sons of…
- 2 Chronicles 28:13 (v15) and said to them, “You must not bring in the captives here, for you intend that which will bring on us a trespass against Yahweh, to add to…
- 2 Chronicles 34:33 (v18) Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in…
- Ezra 9:2 (v15) For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples…
- Ezra 9:15 (v15) Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our…
- Psalms 78:8 (v15) and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was…
- Isaiah 63:10 (v15) But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
- Amos 7:17 (v19) Therefore Yahweh says: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your…
- Matthew 6:14-15 (v15) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses,…
- Matthew 18:17 (v15) If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax…
- Acts 10:14-15 (v19) But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” A voice came to him again the second time, “What…
- Acts 11:8-9 (v19) But I said, ‘Not so, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered into my mouth.’ But a voice answered me the second time out of…
- 1 Corinthians 1:10 (v15) Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions…
- 1 Corinthians 5:4 (v15) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Galatians 1:1-2 (v15) Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the…
- Hebrews 12:25 (v15) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
- 2 Peter 2:6 (v20) and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live…
- Jude 1:5-6 (v20) Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward…
64 distinct cross-references across this passage (70 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. Thus says the whole congregation, etc Just as…
16. Thus says the whole congregation, etc Just as if it had been known that this second altar was opposed to the one only altar of God, they begin with upbraiding them, and that in a very harsh and severe manner. They thus assume it as confessed, that the two tribes had built the altar with a view of offering sacrifices upon it. In this they are mistaken, as it was destined for a different use and purpose. Moreover, had the idea which they had conceived been correct, all the expostulation which they employ would have been just; for it was a clear case of criminal revolt to make any change in the Law of God, who values obedience more than all sacrifices, (1 Samuel 15:22) and there would have been perfect ground for condemning them as apostates, in withdrawing from the one only altar.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20 Not only of the princes, but also of the…
Not only of the princes, but also of the common people.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–20 Jos 22:15 And they came unto the children of…
Jos 22:15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,
Ver. 15. And they spake with them, saying.] Cuncta prius tentanda … Omne bellum sumitur facile: caeterum agerrime desinit, saith Sallust. {a} Therefore Philip of Macedon wrought more by treaties than by arms, as Polyaenus {b} observeth, and held it the far better way.
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{a} Sal., in Jugur.
{b} ουκ ελαττω δι ομιλιας η δια μαχης κατειργαζετο. - Polyaen. Strat., lib. iv.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–20 The whole congregation of the Lord, who do and…
The whole congregation of the Lord, who do and are resolved to cleave unto that God from whom you have revolted, and who speak this to you in the name of the Lord.
What trespass is this? how heinous a crime is this! To turn away this day, i.e. so soon after God hath obliged you by such wonderful favours, and when God is now conducting you home to reap the fruits of all your pains and hazards.
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That ye might rebel; with a design to revolt from and rebel against God, and against his express command of worshipping him at one only altar, Exo 20:24; Lev 17:8,9; Deu 12:5,11,13.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–20 Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord,.... By…
Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord,.... By whom they were sent, and whom they represented; and they do not call them the congregation of Israel, but of the Lord, because it was not on a civil but religious account they were come, and not to plead their own cause, but the cause of God; and not so much to show a concern for their own honour and interest as for the glory of God:
what trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel; they took it for granted that they had committed a sin, and that so great, they were not able to express the greatness of it in all its aggravated circumstances, and plainly suggest it was idolatry; which was too premature, when as yet they had not inquired into it; but their zeal for God, and his honour, hurried them into this hasty step:
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to turn away this day from following the Lord; they intimate, that they had begun a revolt from the worship of God, which is aggravated by their falling into it so soon, having received so many favours from God, and had so lately seen such wonderful appearances of his power and goodness, and had just had such excellent instructions, exhortations, and cautions given them by Joshua, when he dismissed them:
in that ye have built you an altar; which they supposed was to offer sacrifices upon; whereas there was to be but one altar, and that in the place which the Lord should choose to put his name in, and which he had now chosen, where all sacrifices were to be brought and offered up; see Exo 20:24,
that ye might rebel this day against the Lord? against the commandment of the Lord expressed in the places referred to, which they charge with rebellion against himself, a very high and heavy charge indeed! but they should first have inquired whether they were guilty of the trespass, or with what view they had built the altar, whether for sacrifice, or for some other use; but they took it for granted it was for sacrifice.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–20 The congregation - Who do and are resolved to…
The congregation - Who do and are resolved to cleave unto that God from whom you have revolted. What trespass - How heinous a crime is this! This day - That is, so soon after God hath obliged you by such wonderful favours, and when God is now conducting you home to reap the fruits of all your pains and hazards. Rebel - With a design to rebel against God, and against his express command of worshipping him at one only altar.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 20 Verse 17. Is the iniquity of Peor too little]…
Verse 17. Is the iniquity of Peor too little] See this history, Nu 25:3, c., and the notes there. Phinehas takes it for granted that this altar was built in opposition to the altar of God erected by Moses, and that they intended to have a separate service, priesthood, &c., which would be rebellion against God, and bring down his curse on them and their posterity and, in order to show that God is jealous of his glory, he refers to the business of Baal Peor, which took place in that very country they were now about to possess, the destructive consequences of which he, through his zeal for the glory of God, was the means of preventing.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16–20 Jos 22:16. Thus saith the whole congregation — Who…
Jos 22:16. Thus saith the whole congregation — Who do, and are resolved to cleave unto that God from whom you have revolted. What trespass is this that you have committed? — How heinous a crime! To turn away this day — That is, so soon after God hath obliged you by such wonderful favours, and when he is now conducting you home to reap the fruits of all your pains and hazards. In that you have builded you an altar — For sacrifice, as they supposed. That ye might rebel — With a design to rebel against God, and against his express command enjoining you to worship him at one only altar.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17, 19 From which we are not cleansed until this day…
From which we are not cleansed until this day - Phinehas, who had borne a conspicuous part in vindicating the cause of God against those who fell away to Baal-peor, means that terrible as the punishment had been, there were still those among them who hankered after Baal worship, and even practiced it in secret. (Compare Joshua’s words, Jos 24:14-23.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20 Lord. Thus Phinees shews that he speaks in the…
Lord. Thus Phinees shews that he speaks in the name of those who still continued faithful to the Lord. He imputes the crime of apostacy to Ruben, &c., that they may declare more openly for what reason they had built this altar. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–20 16. What trespass is this — The erection of…
16. What trespass is this — The erection of the altar is justly regarded as prima facie proof of violating the unity of divine worship, inasmuch as sacrifices offered in any other place than at the door of the tabernacle were strictly forbidden. Lev_17:7-8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20 16. that ye might rebel] See Num_14:9; Lev_17:8-9; Deu_12:13-14.
16. that ye might rebel] See Num_14:9; Lev_17:8-9; Deu_12:13-14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 20 (17) The iniquity of Peor.—A very natural subject for…
(17) The iniquity of Peor.—A very natural subject for reference on the part of Phinehas, who had distinguished himself by his zealous opposition to it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–20 Trespass. The Hebrew word signifies to act deceitfully or…
Trespass. The Hebrew word signifies to act deceitfully or faithlessly. It was an act of ingratitude towards the God who had established them in the good land in which they now found themselves. Such ingratitude and desertion of God was equivalent to rebellion, the term used immediately afterwards. The embassy clearly assumed that the fault had been committed, and that it would be necessary to proceed to extremities. Yet, deeply moved as they were, they did not refuse to listen to reason, and rejoiced that it was not necessary to inflict the fearful vengeance which otherwise would have been their duty. How great a contrast is this to the readiness, nay, even the eagerness, which many owning the Christian name have displayed to destroy the body, and the soul also, if that were possible, of their brethren in Christ, who have been overtaken, or have been supposed to be overtaken, in a similar fault!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v20 Achan . . . perished not alone in his…
Jos_22:20
Achan . . . perished not alone in his iniquity.
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Achan and his punishment
Where could I allege Scripture so wonderful to show the mystery of Gods justice, lest we speak unadvisedly with our lips: Why art Thou so wrath with the sheep of Thy pasture? Strike once upon this rock of justice, and I dare promise a fountain will issue out from thence of fear and reverence not to provoke the Lord by sins and trespasses; for if He threaten, shall He seem as one that mocks? First, We must put the cause foremost, the cause of all the wrath that follows, and that both general: it is iniquity, and with an instance his iniquity. The subject, Achan, but not alone; the affliction, that he perished. Now let not any man make it a fallacy to deceive his own soul. Doth not the cause deserve severe arraignment? Then blaspheme not as the wicked do: He seeketh an occasion to punish. Sin in its essence is confederate with death and punishment. Thus much for the cause in general. But what offence his iniquity did give, the sin of Achan will ask a peculiar and a larger trial. You are deceived if you think it was but larceny or greedy pilfering. But heinous was the fact of Achan, first in scandal, that an Israelite, preserved so long in the wilderness, one that fought the Lords battles, and came always home with victory, that he should be the first that trespassed among the Canaanites, the heathen that would blaspheme the living God. Secondly, In disobedience: that Joshua, his noble general, made the head of all the tribes by Gods appointment, and Moses good liking, and Eleazars unction, could not command to be obeyed. Thirdly, In faithless covetousness. That since manna did fall no more from heaven about their tents, the Lord did heed His people no longer, every man must catch what come to his hands, so Achan took the accursed, &c. Here is scandal to them that were without; within themselves contempt of the Lord and His servant Joshua, in his own heart an inordinate desire to grow rich and sumptuous. Now turn to the punishment of this man. Behold Achan, the son of Zerah, that man perished not alone in his iniquity. Achan that had outlived the corruption of his young years, and was grown in age able to go to warfare, to have many children, to know how to steal from God, and dissemble with Joshua, doth his hoary head go down with peace into the grave? Like the web of Penelope, all that hath been wrought in the year may be ravelled out in a night. Secondly, He that was spared among all the dangers of the wilderness is consumed in the city; he that could escape the pilgrimage of forty years is doomed to die in Canaan; he that was not devoured in the fire of Taberah is burnt in the valley of Achor. As Aristotle speaks of Homers poetry, when he set up walls for Troy in one book, and plucked them down in another. They that walk in the night preserve the flame of their torch or candle from winds and casualties abroad, which notwithstanding they put out when they return to their home. So Achan that walked over the sea, when the bridge was under water, and lived among scorpions, and was not consumed in the sedition of Dathan, nor slain in the battles of Moab, yet the vessel is not cast away in the ocean sea, but in the haven, and his light is put out at home in the long-expected Canaan. Note this, thirdly, in Achans person, mischief did light upon him, not in the hunger and thirst of the wilderness, not in his poverty, but having compiled much riches together, enough to purchase a good fee-simple in Canaan if the Lord had not given him his portion. Men think themselves nowadays past the law and penalties of death, when they have sinned so much that they are grown wealthy in iniquity; because, if need be, they can buy the favour of the judge. But this man, when he was furnished to live sumptuously, then he is cut off, that, as Solomon says, the remembrance of death may be bitter to that man, who thought it pleasant to live. This was St. Austins rule when he was old and had learnt the world: I fear no hurt from the world when it goes against me, and casts a froward look upon my fortunes, but my danger is near at hand, when it smiles and flatters me, as if all were happy. The sponges that swell with liquors are most likely to be pressed and emptied. Now recollect these three qualities of Achan, who was more likely to prosper than a soldier in the flower of his age, a joyful man at his journeys end in the land of his peace, a wealthy man in the plenty of his riches. Take it to thought, all you that have the world tied unto you with a threefold cord of health and peace and prosperity, which men dream as if it could not be broken; for it broke like tow among the sparks. I have many theorems to propound unto you, but all shall end in this doctrine, that excepting the first Adam, the root of our corrupt nature, and excepting the second Adam, who, being without spot or sin, gave Himself to the death of the Cross for the sins of all the world, these two excepted, every man dies for his own iniquity. First, I do presume that you will consent unto me that the heart of man is only evil continually, and that we may call it, as Theodorus did revile Tiberius, mud tempered with pollution. Then, it is confessed, that the wages of sin is death. Give me your credit but to one thing more. You are bound to answer to as painful and severe a death as Gods vengeance shall inflict upon you. Observe these points, then. First, If the disobedience of one sinner is enough to consume many persons, Lord whither will a multitude of iniquity send one man headlong? Sufficient are our evil days wherein we have walked too much before after the vanity of our mind. Secondly, As the greatest unity of the triumphant Church above doth consist in the glory which they enjoy together in the sight of God, so our unity of the militant Church below is to suffer and die together. It is that which must combine the souls of Christians. Thirdly, Shall not this make me as careful to prevent every mans sins as mine own? Shall I not offer myself to be my brothers keeper? Like watch men that compass the city in the night, not only for the safety of their own house, but lest any mansion take fire about them. Thus is the brief sum of the second part of my text, man perished in iniquity. Secondly, That man Achan, a branch of the olive tree, even Israel which God had planted. But an evil branch is evil though the stock were a cedar of Libanus. Is it any glory for the dead branches to boast they were vine branches, and not heythorn, since they are cut off and cast away? Lastly, He fell down like the tower of Siloam, and brained all that were about him. I have but one short part to dispatch, his execution, that man perished, &c. To search much into Achans punishment were not the way to be more learned, but more tormented. Briefly thus, Every man in the rank of a subject lives under the authority of three commanders--
1. Under the conscience of his own heart.
2. Under the laws of his king.
3. Under the commandments of God.
And if we displease either God or the king, or our own conscience, vengeance meets us on every side. Conscience hath a worm in store, nay, a cockatrice to sting us; the magistrate bears a sword to divide us; but especially it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. In an evil conscience we die unto all joy and comfort; in our trespass against the laws of man we die unto men; in breaking the statutes of God we die unto heaven: surely he deserved not to die but one death that offended three. Some, perchance, will go a thought further, and pronounce a fearful sentence that this man was wiped for ever out of the book of the living. Nothing should make me mistrustful and doubt of his salvation but his too late repentance. Is this a time to leave off sin when we must leave off life and can sin no more? Do you then come to play the huxters for mercy, as if the market were cheapest at the latter end of the day? (Bp. Hacket.)
Achans sin, and Achans end
I. The perpetration of sin. Iniquity is the common characteristic of all mankind: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. But there is before us a reference to one particular act of sin, which, while proceeding from the depraved heart possessed by the perpetrator in common with others, appears to us in prominent and isolated distinction of enormity.
1. The iniquity of Achan was heinous, on account of its intrinsic nature. It was an act of covetousness. He was beguiled by a greedy and unprincipled desire after the attainment and preservation of wealth.
2. The iniquity of Achan was perpetrated against the Divine command, distinctly expressed and amply known.
3. The iniquity of Achan was heinous on account of its attendant dissimulation and attempted concealment.
II. The infliction of punishment. The punishment of the transgressor himself: That man perished in his iniquity. The terms of our text appear to justify the implication, that his iniquity was not repented of, and that therefore it was not cleansed or forgiven; he confessed, but he was not contrite; and the whole spirit of the narrative must be regarded as justifying the view which now is expressed. So that you perceive the death of his body was the sign of the ruin of his soul. And it is true with regard to every impenitent sinner, in every age of the world, who dies in iniquity, that thus he must perish. They shall utterly perish in their own corruption. They die the second death.
2. Observe the punishment of the transgressor, in relation to the interests of others. That man perished not alone in his iniquity. Men by their iniquity often associate themselves with the ruin of the souls of their fellow-men. It is probable that no person can long continue in a state of alienation from God without exerting (although he attempts it not) some baneful influence on the character and the interests of others; and there are, we have reason to fear, numerous instances in which men by bad example, or even by direct efforts for that purpose, make others partakers of their evil deeds and lead them down to hell. How horrible, how thrice horrible, to lead others into the prison I to lash around others the fetters! to administer to others the poison! to enwrap others in the flame! Deeds at which hell itself may wonder and fiend may point with amazement to his fellow fiend That man perished not alone in his iniquity; there is the seducer, and there are his victims--all victims now! Lessons--
1. There ought to be anxious application for the pardon of our transgressions perpetrated in past times.
2. There ought to be the determined repudiation and avoidance of sin for the time to come.
3. There ought to be diligent endeavour to bring our fellow-men to salvation. Some are not alone in their iniquity; it must be our ambition not to be alone in our salvation. (James Parsons.)
The history of Achan improved
I. The nature of the iniquity which he committed. He transgressed the plain command of God, and thus sinned against Him. He no doubt sinned also against his own soul, against his family, and against his people. But no notice is taken of this. What is dwelt upon is, that he sinned against the Lord. His iniquity was a transgression of the command and law and covenant of his God. It implied the basest ingratitude for the mercies he had received, as well as a secret disbelief of the Divine omniscience, power, holiness, righteousness, and truth. Was this sin peculiar to Achan? Are there not many others who are virtually guilty of the same thing? Are there not many who apply to their own use what has been dedicated to God? Are there not many who retain in their own possession gold and silver which they ought to consecrate to Him? Are there not many who rob Him of the time which He has set apart for His immediate worship and service? Are there not many who by no entreaty can be prevailed upon to glorify Him in their body, and in their spirit, which are His? What incited Achan to commit sacrilege, and thus to sin against God, was avarice--an inordinate desire of money, an eagerness of gain. And are there not many who, under the influence of the same sordid spirit, act like him, and thus sin against God and their own souls? Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.
II. The way in which the iniquity of Achan was brought to light.
1. The Lord hates and abhors sin. It is an enemy within the camp which is sure to betray us into the hands of those that are without, and ultimately make us their prey.
2. The Lord sees our sins, however secretly they may be committed.
3. God is able to bring our sins to light even now, and that He frequently does bring them, to our utter confusion. By such visitations in time the Lord warns us of what we are to expect in eternity.
III. The confession which Achan made of his iniquity. Had Achan made this confession sooner, there would have been room to hope that he truly repented of his iniquity; but as he deferred his acknowledgment of his guilt till the lot actually pointed him out, there is reason to fear that it proceeded at last from no real change of heart; that, in fact, it was constrained and not voluntary.
1. How he was led to commit his iniquity. Mark here the way in which men are frequently led to sin against God. The temptation makes its insidious approach by means of the eyes, or one of the other senses; then there arises in the heart an evil desire for the thing seen; and desire, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin. It is necessary, therefore, that we should make a covenant with our eyes, that we should watch against temptation, that we should guard against the first approaches of iniquity, that we should stop every avenue by which sin can enter.
2. How full of fear and disquietude is the life of a sinner. Achan, having taken the accursed thing, hid it in the earth in the midst of his tent. Why? Because he was afraid some one would see it; and in this fear he must have lived day after day, until his iniquity was brought to light. Such always is sin, every sin, and especially the sin of theft or sacrilege. It deludes those who are under its dominion. It promises them much, but pays them little but wretchedness and misery. It fills them with fears and anxieties, and often causes them to flee when no man pursueth.
IV. The punishment which followed the iniquity of Achan.
1. As to Achan himself, condign punishment speedily overtook him: He perished in his iniquity. He suffered death as the due reward of his crime. And such is the wages which every sinner is sure to receive unless he obtains deliverance through the death of Christ, who died that we might live.
2. Others also suffered for the iniquity of Achan: That man perished not alone in his iniquity. Who, then, perished besides him? Many had perished before him, and perished too for his iniquity, namely, the thirty-and-six men who were smitten by the men of Ai. It is also probable that all his family were put to death with him for the same sin. Such were the dreadful consequences occasioned by the iniquity of this man. And is not sin, even in our own day, frequently followed by similar consequences? How often do we see children suffering for the sins of their parents and parents for the sins of their children? How often do we see thieves and murderers, adulterers, drunkards, and such like, involving their wives and families, and perhaps other relations also, in poverty and disgrace, in troubles and anxieties, in wretchedness and misery, if not in still more awful calamities? How often, also, has one order of society to bear the ill consequences arising from the misconduct of another?
Lessons:
1. How wonderful is the patience of God towards the world we live in. In the conduct of Achan we may see, as in a glass, what is the conduct of hundreds and thousands who are now living on the earth. How astonishing, then, is the patience of God! How wonderful that He should still bear with us, that He should still give us space for repentance, that He should still be unwilling theft we should perish! Oh, let us not despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering!
2. The patience of God, however great and wonderful, will not last for ever. (D. Rees.)
Fellowship in Achans fall
If indeed, says Dr. South, a man could be wicked and a villain to himself alone, the mischief would be so much the more tolerable. But the case, as he goes on to show, is much otherwise; the guilt of the crime lights upon one, but the example of it sways a multitude; especially if the criminal be of any note or eminence in the world. For the fall of such an one by any temptation (be it never so plausible) is like that of a principal stone or stately pillar, tumbling from a lofty edifice into the deep mire of the street; it does not only plunge and sink into the black dirt itself, but also dashes or bespatters all that are about it or near it when it falls. Well may the note of exclamation follow: how strange, yet how inevitable, the tie which may link our uneventful life with the stormy passions of numbers far away! More wonderful than even the Atlantic cable is declared to be that unknown fibre, along which, from other mens sins, responsibility may thrill even to our departed souls: a chain whose links are formed perhaps of idle words, of forgotten looks, of phrases of double meaning, of bad advice, of cynical sentiment hardly seriously meant; yet carried on through life after life, through soul after soul, till the little seed of evil sown by you has developed into some deed of guilt at which you shudder, but from participation in responsibility for which you cannot clear yourself. Every sin, we are in fine reminded, may waken its echo; every sin is reduplicated and reiterated in other souls and lives. A distinguished French preacher has a striking discourse on what he entitles the solidarity of evil; and lie, too, dilates upon the mysterious links which connect together persons and acts that appear to have nothing in common--suggesting melancholy examples of the contagion of guilt and its consequences, of the expansive power of corruption and its almost boundless results. Very forcibly Mr. Isaac Taylor warns us that in almost every event of life the remote consequences vastly outweigh the proximate in actual amount of importance; and he undertakes to show, on principles even of mathematical calculation, that each individual of the human family holds in his hand the centre lines of an interminable webwork, on which are sustained the fortunes of multitudes of his successors; the implicated consequences, if summed together, making up therefore a weight of human weal or woe that is reflected back with an incalculable momentum upon the lot of each. The practical conclusion is that every one is bound to remember that the personal sufferings or peculiar vicissitudes or toils through which he is called to pass are to be estimated and explained only in an immeasurably small proportion if his single welfare is regarded, while their full price and value are not to be computed unless the drops of the morning dew could be numbered. (F. Jacox, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17, 19 The whole assembly of Yahweh says this
The whole assembly of Yahweh says this
All the people of Israel are spoken of together in the singular as if they were one person. AT: "All the other Israelites are asking"
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translationWords
Yahweh
faithful
rebel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 16, 17, 19, 20 22:15-20 The direct and hard-hitting statements and questions of…
22:15-20 The direct and hard-hitting statements and questions of the delegation made sure that God’s wrath would not come upon the nation because of rebellion like Achan’s (7:1-15) or the episode at Peor (Num 25).
22:15 The delegation crossed the Jordan River to meet the leaders of the eastern tribes in the land of Gilead, probably in southern Gad.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.