Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
Parallel Translations
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Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
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And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
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And Joshua charged the people with an oath at that time, saying: 'Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city, even Jericho; with the loss of his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.'
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Joshua 6:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 16:34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
- Acts 19:13 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
- Numbers 5:19-21 The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell;
- 1 Samuel 14:24-46 The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground. When the people had come to the forest, behold, honey was dripping, but no one put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan didn’t hear when his father commanded the people with the oath. Therefore he put out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened. Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ ” So the people were faint. Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more, if perhaps the people had eaten freely today of the plunder of their enemies which they found? For now there has been no great slaughter among the Philistines.” They struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint; and the people pounced on the plunder, and took sheep, cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people are sinning against Yahweh, in that they eat meat with the blood.” He said, “You have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me today!” Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, ‘Every man bring me here his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and don’t sin against Yahweh in eating meat with the blood.’ ” All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there. Saul built an altar to Yahweh. This was the first altar that he built to Yahweh. Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines by night, and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let’s not leave a man of them.” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let’s draw near here to God.” Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he didn’t answer him that day. Saul said, “Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been today. For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Show the right.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen, but the people escaped. Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” Jonathan was selected. Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done!” Jonathan told him, and said, “I certainly did taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die.” Saul said, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn’t die. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.
- Matthew 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
- Malachi 1:4 Whereas Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places;” Yahweh of Armies says, “They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them ‘The Wicked Land,’ even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever.”
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 26. And Joshua adjured them, etc This adjuration, then,…
26. And Joshua adjured them, etc This adjuration, then, was not merely to have effect for one day, but to warn posterity through all ages that that city had been taken only by divine power. He wished, therefore, that the ruins and devastation should exist for ever as a kind of trophy; because the rebuilding of it would have been equivalent to an erasure effacing the miracle. In order, therefore, that the desolate appearance of the place might keep the remembrance of the divine power and favor alive among posterity, Joshua pronounces a heavy curse upon any one who should again build the ruined city. From this passage we gather that the natural torpidity of men requires the aid of stimulants to prevent them from burying the divine favors in oblivion; and hence this spectacle, wherein the divine agency was made conspicuous to the people, was a kind of indirect censure of their ingratitude.
The substance of the imprecation is, that if any one ever attempt to rebuild Jericho he may be made sensible by the unpropitious and mournful result that he had done a cursed and abominable work. For to lay the foundations in his first-born, were just as if he were to cast forth his son to perish, crushed and buried beneath the mass of stones; and to set up the gates in his younger son, is the same thing as to plan an edifice which could not be erected without causing the death of a son. Thus he who should dare to make the insane attempt is condemned in his own offspring. Nor did Joshua utter this curse at his own suggestion; he was only the herald of celestial vengeance.
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This makes it the more monstrous that among the people of God a man should have been found, whom that fearful curse, couched in formal terms, could not restrain from sacrilegious temerity. In the time of Ahab (1 Kings 16:34) arose Hiel, a citizen of Bethel, who dared, as it were avowedly, to challenge God in this matter; but the Sacred History at the same time testifies, that the denunciation which God had pronounced by the mouth of Joshua did not fail of its effect; for Hiel founded the new Jericho in Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates in his younger son Segub, and thus learned in the destruction of his offspring what it is to attempt anything against the will and in opposition to the command of God.
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 He shall build it to the destruction of all…
He shall build it to the destruction of all his stock, which thing was fulfilled in Hiel of Bethel, 1 Kings 16:34.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured [them] at that time,…
Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it.
Ver. 26. Cursed be the man.] And yet there was found a man that durst rebuild it, {1Ki 16:34} as if he would despitefully spit in the face of Heaven, wrestle a fall with the Almighty.
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In his firstborn.] God’s hand was very heavy upon William the Conqueror in his issue, for his depopulations in New Forest. {a}
{a} Speed, p. 445.
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 Adjured them; or, made them to swear; caused the…
Adjured them; or, made them to swear; caused the people, or some in the name of all, to swear for the present and succeeding generations, and to confirm their oath by a curse.
Before the Lord, i.e. from God’s presence, and by his sentence, as they are said to east lots before the Lord, Jos 18:8,10, i.e. expecting the decision from God. He intimates, that he doth not utter this in a passion, or upon a particular dislike of that place, but by Divine inspiration, as appears from 1Ki 16:34. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of God’s justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means.
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That riseth up and buildeth, i.e. that shall attempt or endeavour to build it. So this curse is restrained to the builder, but no way belongs to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 2:18; Luk 19:1,5. The builder shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it by degrees, and the youngest in the close of it, when the gates use to be set up. This was fulfilled, 1Ki 16:34.
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 And Joshua adjured them at that time,.... When the…
And Joshua adjured them at that time,.... When the city was burnt and spoiled; not that he adjured the people individually, or one by one, which was not very practicable, but in a general way:
saying, cursed be the man before the Lord; let him be cursed by him with the curses written in the book of the law; and let him be driven from him, from his presence, as Cain was:
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that riseth up, and buildeth this city Jericho; that rises up in future time, and rebuilds it; for it cannot be thought that after such an adjuration anyone would start up quickly, and rebuild it:
he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it; that is, while he is laying, or as soon as he has laid the foundation of the city, his eldest son should die; and as he went on with the building, other sons of his, if he had more than two, should be taken away by death likewise; and by the time he has finished it, signified by setting up the gates of it, both for ornament and security, his youngest and last son should die also; so that his whole posterity should be taken alway, as a curse of God upon him for rebuilding the city; which was fulfilled in Hiel the Bethelite, the rebuilder of this city in the times of Ahab, five or six hundred years after this adjuration was made, when either it was forgotten, or, however, little regarded: Maimonides observes (g), that this was made that the miracle might remain in perpetual memory, for whoever should see the wall sunk in the earth, it would be plain and clear to him that this was not the form of a building demolished, but that it fell by a miracle; and yet this city became a very flourishing one in later times; we soon hear of the school of the prophets in it, Kg2 2:5; here, Strabo (h) says, was a royal palace, where, as Josephus (i) relates, Herod died, and who speaks of an amphitheatre and hippodrome in it; in this city sometimes the sanhedrim sat, and a great number of the stationary priests dwelt, even half a station, twelve thousand of them, all which is observed by Dr. Lightfoot (k); our Lord himself honoured it with his presence, Luk 19:1.
(g) Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 50. (h) Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. (i) Antiqu. l. 17. c. 8. sect. 1. 2. (k) Chorograph. Cent. c. 47.
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 Adjured them - Or, made them to fear; caused…
Adjured them - Or, made them to fear; caused the people, or some in the name of all, to swear for the present and succeeding generations, and to confirm their oath by a curse. Before the Lord - That is, from God's presence, and by his sentence, as they are said to cast lots before the Lord, chap. xviii, 8, 10, that is, expecting the design from God. He intimates, that he doth not utter this upon a particular dislike of that place, but by divine inspiration. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of God's justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means. Buildeth - That is, that shall attempt to build it. So this curse is restrained to the builder, but no way belongs to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2 Kings iv, 18 Luke xix, 1, 5. In his youngest son - That is, he shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it by degrees, and the youngest in the close of it, when the gates use to be set up. This was fulfilled, 1 Kings xvi, 34.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. And Joshua adjured them at that time]…
Verse 26. And Joshua adjured them at that time] It appears that he had received intimations from God that this idolatrous city should continue a monument of the Divine displeasure: and having convened the princes and elders of the people, he bound them by an oath that they should never rebuild it; and then, in their presence, pronounced a curse upon the person who should attempt it. The ruins of this city continuing would be a permanent proof, not only of God's displeasure against idolatry, but of the miracle which he had wrought in behalf of the Israelites; and for these reasons God willed that it should not be rebuilt: nevertheless, he left men to the operation of their own free will, and recorded the penalty which those must pay who should disobey him.
He shall lay the foundation thereof, c.] This is a strange execration but it may rather be considered in the light of a prediction. It seems to intimate that he who should attempt to rebuild this city, should lose all his children in the interim, from laying the foundation to the completion of the walls; which the author of 1Kg 16:34 says was accomplished in Hiel the Beth-elite, who rebuilt Jericho under the reign of Ahab, and laid the foundation of it in Abiram, his first-born, and set up its gates in his youngest son Segub: this was 550 years after Joshua pronounced the curse. But we are not sure that this means that the children either died a natural or violent death on this occasion for we may understand the history as relating to the slow progress of the work. Hiel having begun the work at the birth of his first-born, was not able to conclude before the birth of his last child, who was born many years after: and as their names are mentioned, it is very likely that the distance of time between the birth of each was well known when this history was written; and that the extraordinary length of time spent in the work, in which a multitude of vexatious delays had taken place, is that to which the prophetic execration relates. Yet the first opinion is the most probable. We must not suppose that Jericho had been wholly neglected from its overthrow by Joshua to the days of Hiel; if it be the same with the city of palm trees, mentioned De 34:3. We find it mentioned as an inhabited place in the beginning of Jdg 1:16, a short time after the death of Joshua: And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees, with the children of Judah, c. and this said city (if the same with the city of palm trees) was taken from the Israelites by Eglon king of Moab, Jdg 3:13. The ambassadors of David, who were disgracefully treated by Hanun king of the Ammonites, were commanded to tarry at Jericho till their beards should grow, 2Sa 10:4-5. It appears, therefore, that there was a city which went under this name long before the time of Hiel, unless we can suppose that the city of palm trees was a different place from Jericho, or that the name Jericho was given to some part of the circumjacent country after the city was destroyed, which is very probable.
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After Hiel had rebuilt this city, it became of considerable consequence in the land of Judea: the courses of priests lodged there, who served in their turns at the temple; see Lu 10:30. There was a school of the prophets there, which was visited by Elijah and Elisha, 2Kg 2:4-5; 2Kg 2:18; and it was at this city that our Lord miraculously healed blind Bartimeus, Mr 10:46; Lu 18:35, &c. At present, Jericho is almost entirely deserted, having but thirty or forty miserable cabins in it, which serve for a place of refuge to some wretched Moors and Arabs, who live there like beasts. The plain of Jericho, formerly so celebrated for its fertility, is at present uncultivated, producing nothing but a few wild trees, and some very indifferent fruits. See Calmet.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 6:26. Joshua adjured them at that time —…
Jos 6:26. Joshua adjured them at that time — Hebrew, ישׁבע, jashbang, he made them to swear. As soon as the city was destroyed, it seems, he convened the heads of the tribes, to signify to them that it was the will of God this idolatrous city should never be rebuilt, and then engaged them to take an oath that they would leave it in ruins. And they doubtless bound the people in like manner not to rebuild it, on pain of the divine malediction. Cursed be the man before the Lord — That is, from God’s presence, and by his sentence, as Joshua is said (Jos 18:8; Jos 18:10) to cast lots before the Lord, expecting the decision from God. He intimates that he does not utter this of himself, or in consequence of any particular dislike of that place; but from Jehovah, and by divine inspiration. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of his justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means. Thus Maimonides, the Jewish rabbi: “Joshua pronounced a curse against those who should build up Jericho, that the remembrance of the miracle which God had wrought by destroying it might never be effaced; for all who looked on these ruins, thus sunk into the earth,” (he thought the walls were swallowed up rather than overthrown,) “clearly saw them to be the ruins of a city destroyed by a miracle, and not by the hand of men.” Cursed be the man that buildeth this city — That is, that shall attempt to build it. So this curse was restrained to the builder, but no way belonged to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 2:18; Luk 19:5. In his youngest son — That is, he shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it, and the youngest in the close, when the gates were wont to be set up. This was exactly fulfilled, as we read, (1Ki 16:34,) Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, who died in the beginning of the work, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, who died when it was finished, and the gates were setting up.
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 Adjured - i. e. put an oath upon them;…
Adjured - i. e. put an oath upon them; or, perhaps, actually caused them themselves to take an oath (compare Mat 26:63). The words of the oath have in the original a rhythmical character which would tend to keep them on the lips and in the memory of the people.
Buildeth this city - i. e. rebuilds the fortifications. Jericho was at once occupied by the Benjamites. Jos 18:21, and the natural advantages of the situation were such that it would not be likely to be left long desolate. Joshua speaks in the text as a warrior. He lays a ban on the re-erection of those lofty walls which had bidden defiance to God’s host, and been by God’s signal interposition overthrown. Hiel, the Bethelite, reckless of the prophecy recorded in our text, began and completed the circumvallation of the city a second time (see the marginal reference). Hiel did not found a new city but only fortified an existing one.
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He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born - i. e. when he begins this work his eldest son shall die, when he completes it his youngest shall die (see 1Ki 16:34 note).
This chapter read in the light of the New Testament has indications of a further import and bearing than such as concerned Joshua and the Jews. As Joshua, the leader and captain of the Jewish theocracy, is a type of Christ, so is Jericho to be taken (with all Christian expositors) as a type of the powers opposed to Christ and His cause. The times which prepare for the close of God’s present dispensation are signified in the days during which the people obeyed and waited; as the number of those days, seven, the number of perfection, represents that “fullness of time,” known only to God, at which His dispensation will culminate and close. Thus the circumstances which lead up to the fall of Jericho are an acted prophecy, as was that fall itself, which sets forth the overthrow of all that resists the kingdom of which Christ is the head; and particularly the day of judgment, in which that overthrow will be fully and finally accomplished. Paul, in describing that day, seems to borrow his imagery from this chapter (see 1Th 4:16).
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 Cursed, &c. Jericho, in the mystical sense, signifies iniquity;…
Cursed, &c. Jericho, in the mystical sense, signifies iniquity; the sounding of the trumpets by the priests, signifies the preaching of the word of God; by which the walls of Jericho are thrown down, when sinners are converted; and a dreadful curse will light on them who build them up again. (Challoner) --- Gates. Some copies of the Septuagint insert here that the curse fell upon Azan (Hiel) of Bethel, 3 Kings xvi. 34. Before his time, there was a city of palm-trees, or Jericho, built in the neighbourhood. (Josephus, Jewish Wars v. 4.) Though Hiel was so severely punished, no one made any scruple to live there. Elias and Jesus Christ himself honoured the place with their presence. The city is now almost in ruins, and the territory uncultivated. Ancient history mentions similar imprecations against obnoxious cities. Thus the Romans cursed the rebuilders of Carthage, and Agamemnon followed "the ancient custom," says Strabo, (xiii.) laying a curse upon those who should rebuild the city of Troy. The Ionians and Greeks forbad those temples to be re-established, which the Persians had destroyed, that they might remain eternal monuments of the impiety of the latter, and of the hatred which subsisted between the two nations. (Pausanias in Phoc.) (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE REBUILDER OF JERICHO CURSED. (Jos 6:26-27)
THE REBUILDER OF JERICHO CURSED. (Jos 6:26-27)
Joshua adjured them at that time--that is, imposed upon his countrymen a solemn oath, binding on themselves as well as their posterity, that they would never rebuild that city. Its destruction was designed by God to be a permanent memorial of His abhorrence of idolatry and its attendant vices.
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Cursed be the man . . . that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho--that is, makes the daring attempt to build.
he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it--shall become childless--the first beginning being marked by the death of his oldest son, and his only surviving child dying at the time of its completion. This curse was accomplished five hundred fifty years after its denunciation (see on Kg1 16:34).
Next: Joshua Chapter 7
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain JOSHUA’S ADJURATION AND FAME, Jos_6:26-27.
JOSHUA’S ADJURATION AND FAME, Jos_6:26-27.
26. And Joshua adjured them — Bound them with an oath; caused them to swear. This solemn charge, attended with all the solemnity of an adjuration, was designed to prevent Israel and his posterity from erecting again the walls which had been thrown down by the power of Jehovah. Joshua would have these prostrate defences of the wicked city a perpetual and impressive memorial of punished sin, and of the power and justice of Jehovah. We do not understand that the oath bound the Hebrews not to erect houses, but simply the walls and gates: for we find, in Jdg_3:13, the city of palms — the usual appellation of Jericho — spoken of as inhabited. Also, that in 2Sa_10:5, David orders his outraged embassy to “tarry in Jericho until their beards be grown.”
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Cursed be the man before the Lord — That is, Jehovah beholding and being judge. The curse is pronounced by divine sanction, and will fall at his command upon the daring man who shall attempt to restore these fallen walls, and thereby destroy their monumental significance.
In his firstborn — That is, at the expense of his life. The meaning, evidently, of this strong poetic expression is, that the builder of the walls would suffer the loss of all his offspring, from the oldest to the youngest. [The words of the curse are in the form of poetic parallelisms, and may be rendered thus:
Cursed be the man before Jehovah,
Who rises up and builds this city of Jericho.
In his firstborn shall he lay its foundation,
And in his younger son shall he set up its gates.
Possibly this rhythmical passage, like that cited in Jos_10:13, was taken from the book of Jasher.] For a striking fulfilment of this prophetic curse, see 1Ki_16:34, where we find that Hiel accomplished this work, and suffered the penalty predicted five hundred and fifty years before.
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 26, 27. The Curse upon Jericho
26, 27. The Curse upon Jericho
26. adjured them] i.e. “put an oath upon them.”
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Cursed be the man] A city, which was cherem or “devoted,” could not be rebuilt, Deu_13:15-17. Joshua therefore pronounces an imprecation on the foundation of Jericho. The words “have a rhythmical and antistrophical form; which was probably adopted for greater solemnity, and to impress them more deeply on the memories of the people.” Bp Wordsworth.
and buildeth] So Agamemnon is said to have uttered a curse upon Ilium, and Scipio upon Carthage. Here the curse is to be understood as extending only to the walls and gates of Jericho, or a fortified place, on which, as bidding proud defiance to the host, the attention of Joshua, as a military leader, would chiefly fasten. Comp. 1Ki_15:17; 2Ch_11:5. He himself gave it to the Benjamites (Jos_18:21), and it was inhabited in the time of the Judges (Jdg_3:13; 2Sa_10:5).
he shall lay the foundation] What the prophecy foretells is that the beginning of the building would be marked by the death of the builder’s eldest son, and the end of it by the death of his youngest. Comp. Jos. Antiq. 5:1. 8. In the ungodly reign of Ahab the prophecy was fulfilled; Hiel, a native of Bethel, “built Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua” (1Ki_16:34). Observe the incidents connected with Jericho in the life of the Antitype of the first Joshua. Here He entered into the house of Zacchæus (Luk_19:5; Luk_19:9); here He healed blind Bartimæus (Mar_10:46; Mar_10:52); He mentioned Jericho in the parable of “the Good Samaritan” (Luk_10:30); in the vicinity of the city He repeated the announcement of His coming sufferings (Luk_18:31).
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) Cursed be the man . . . that…
(26) Cursed be the man . . . that . . . buildeth this city Jericho.—As the marginal reference indicates, the curse of Joshua was not incurred until Hiel the Bethelite built the city, in the reign of Ahab. But the “city of palm-trees” is (somewhat doubtfully) identified with Jericho, and this was occupied by the Moabites under Eglon, not very long after the time of Joshua (Jdg_3:13, &c.), and seems to have been Eglon’s residence, where he was slain by Ehud.
The curse, fulfilled upon Hiel and his family, appears to have been finally removed by the intercession of Elisha (2Ki_2:18-22), at the request of the inhabitants.
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 And Joshua adjured them. Caused them to swear, i.e.,…
And Joshua adjured them. Caused them to swear, i.e., bound them by an oath, as the Hiphil implies here. This was the strict meaning of "adjure" at the time our version was made. (cf. Mat_26:63) But it had also the less definite meaning which it now has, of solemnly warning a person to do something or to leave it undone. (see 1Ki_22:16 Mar_5:7 Act_19:13) The object of this solemn adjuration (see above) was to preserve Jericho as a spot devoted to God for ever; and for this reason a curse was pronounced upon any one who should attempt to found a city upon the devoted spot (cf. Deu_13:16, "It shall not be rebuilt. This curse actually fell on the reckless Hiel, (1Ki_16:34; cf. Josephus, "Antiq.," V 1:8) and he saw the laying of its foundations marked by the death of his eldest son, while the death of his youngest followed its completion. It does not seem that it was forbidden to build habitations on the spot, far Jericho is frequently mentioned in the New Testament, and the house of Zacchaeus (Luk_19:5) was there. What seems to have been forbidden was the erection of a fortified city there (see Hengstenberg, "Geschichte des Reiches Gottes," p. 214). The mention of Jericho in Jos_18:21 does not imply that it was an inhabited city, but simply that the site of Jericho fell within the border of the tribe of Benjamin. For Jerusalem is also mentioned, and we know that it did not become theirs until the time of David. Whether the "city of palm trees" (Jud_1:3:13) is Jericho, may be questioned. But in 2Sa_10:5 and in 2Ki_2:5 express mention is made of Jericho, the last time as the site of the school of the prophets. Some commentators have endeavoured to restrict the sense of the word hnb used here to the building of fortifications. But this is unduly to restrict its meaning, for it is constantly used also of houses and altars. (see Gen_2:22 Gen_8:20 1Ki_8:27) But the mention of gates clearly implies a fortified city. Commentators cite as parallel instances the curse of Agamemnon on Troy, of Croesus on Sidene (so Grotius from Strabo, lib. 13 de Ilio), and of Scipio upon Carthage, and it is observed that when Augustus rebuilt Carthage he carefully avoided the old site. In his first born. B is often used of the price paid for a thing, as in Gen_29:18 Isa_7:23. And in his youngest son. The commentators have remarked on the rhythmical parallelism here, and Keil and others have supposed the passage to be an extract from an old Hebrew songbook, such as that of Jasher. (Jos_10:13) But this parallelism is not only a characteristic of poetry, but of all solemn and impassioned utterances in the language. (See, for instance, 2Sa_18:32 1Ki_17:14 1Ki_21:19) Masius, Munsterus, and others interpret the passage that the eldest son died when the foundation was laid; all the rest, but the youngest, in the interim; the youngest when the gates were set up.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jos_6:26. Cursed be the man … that buildeth this…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Jos_6:26. Cursed be the man … that buildeth this city Jericho. It is exceedingly difficult to accept the generally received view, and to believe that this curse relates merely to the rebuilding of the city walls, and to the restoration of the fortifications.
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(1.) The old city seems to have been burnt, and utterly destroyed (Jos_6:24).
(2.) A new city of some extent appears to have been built within the next seven, or at latest, within the next twenty-five years (Jos_6:21; Jdg_1:16). Within the next century, Jericho became of sufficient importance for Eglon to make war against Israel by attacking it, and the fall of the city was accepted as the defeat of the Hebrew nation (Jdg_3:13-14). It is therefore fair to suppose that even within the first quarter of a century after its overthrow by Joshua, Jericho began to assume considerable importance.
(3.) This new city would perhaps have been even more easily built on a new site than on the old site. It is not likely that it would be wholly rebuilt on any site during the earlier years of the war: a few houses on a new site would be accessible, whereas a few houses on the old site would be almost unapproachable. In any case, there is no improbability in supposing a new site not far removed from the former city.
(4.) It is quite natural to suppose that a new city on an adjacent site would take the old names.
(5.) If Jericho were rebuilt in the time of Joshua, or within a few years of his death, it is almost impossible to believe that the people of those days would build on the old site. (a) Joshua’s curse was no caprice of his own; he was bound to pronounce it by the law of Moses (Deu_13:16-17). (b) The curse on a devoted city was irrespective of whether it had any fortifications or not; the city itself was to “be a heap for ever.” (c) Though the law was ignored during the wicked times of the Judges, Joshua and the people of his day were too pious and too loyal to God to have set at defiance a law which Joshua had reiterated himself, and in the awful solemnity of which that generation had received such long and terrible instruction.
(6.) Finally, though city gates probably suppose walls, Hiel’s children are said to have been slain, not because of fortifying an old city by re-erecting the walls, but because he did “build Jericho.” Both the curse and its fulfilment are said to have regard to building the city, and not merely the walls of the city.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jos_6:26-27
THE RUINS OF JERICHO
Reasons have already been given for the conclusion that Joshua’s curse was pronounced against the man who should rebuild the city of Jericho on its original site, rather than against him who should re-enclose any newly built city with a wall. The very nature and object of the curse (cf. Deu_13:16) are so entirely lost sight of by the latter conjecture, that this alone seems sufficient to render the opinion untenable. The place could not be called “a heap for ever,” and thus stand as a memorial of Divine reprobation, merely because it lacked a wall. Strabo’s allusion to similar curses pronounced in connection with the rebuilding of Carthage, Troy, and Sidene, is well known. In the case of Jericho, the curse was doubtless intended to keep the memorial of desolation before the eyes of coming generations. The ruins of the city would go on speaking vividly for ages, while a new city on the old site would obliterate the traces, and thus also the memory of this judgment of God.
I. The ruined city a permanent memorial of God’s hatred of idolatry. There would be “sermons in stones,” which the Israelites could hardly fail to read. God made the vision of His anger so plain upon the tables of these dismantled walls, that he who read might well run from the desolating influences and issues of idolatry.
II. The ruined city a lasting monument of miraculous help from heaven. The Israelites would have other conflicts, in the future. Their future soldiers might come and see these walls as God had left them, and thus learn, that no enemies were strong enough, and no fortifications sufficiently solid, to resist the people whose helper was the Lord. The ruins would themselves take up the Divine word to Joshua, and continually preach, “Be strong and of a good courage.”
III. The ruined city a constant appeal to Israel not to trust in an arm of flesh. Jericho was a stronghold of the land, and a key to its possession. The old inhabitants could not stand with the fortress. The Israelites, with the Lord on their side, could take the city without lifting a single weapon against its walls. God meant His children to learn here how to sing, in all future emergencies, the song of after years, “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” The generations to come were to see that they were never to trust in their own strength, and never to doubt the sufficient power of the Lord.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos_6:26. THE FAITHFUL WORD.
About five hundred and thirty years after this curse was pronounced, a Bethelite named Hiel rebuilt this city, and suffered the exact penalty here predicted. It cannot be doubted that Hiel knew of Joshua’s curse, knew that the city had been made cherem, and that, according to the law of Moses, it was to remain a heap for ever. Hiel would probably be as well acquainted with the curse as the writer of the history in the book of Kings. The very tone and manner in which the transgression is mentioned, seem also to indicate that this Bethelite knew that he was doing that which was forbidden. This record in Joshua, taken in connection with 1Ki_16:34, suggests the following thoughts:—
I. The easy path to unbelief of God. The law itself might have assured Hiel that the curse was no mere utterance of Joshua’s vindictive or excited feelings, but the mind and will of Jehovah. Assuming that the man knew of the curse, it is impossible to think that he believed it would come true. No father would have thus recklessly sacrificed his children. It is interesting, and should be instructive, to place ourselves mentally in the position of this Bethelite, and endeavour to ascertain by what process of reasoning he might be led to conclude that the curse would not take effect.
1. Hiel might have thought that time had rendered the curse null and void. Nearly five centuries and a half had rolled away since the fall of the ancient city; and it would be easy to hope, and presently get to feel, that the curse must have lost all its vitality during that long period. It is not difficult for men to persuade themselves that the threatenings of the Bible are very old, and to treat them as correspondingly weak. Men read of sin’s penalty on Eli, on David, on Gehazi, on Ananias and Sapphira, and see that sin was punished; and they are told that God still is angry with the wicked. Then they remember that the Scriptures are not merely five hundred, but some eighteen hundred, years old; and forthwith they persuade themselves that time must have rusted away the edge from the sword of Divine threatenings. So Hiel might have thought, but, for all that, Abiram dies, and Segub also. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
2. Hiel might have reasoned, It is unlike the mercy of God to deal with me thus severely, even if this be a trespass. Think of this man as sitting down to study the character of God: he would find mercy in Egypt, mercy in the wilderness, and mercy in the after-history of Canaan; and might presently conclude, It is altogether unlike God to punish my innocent children, even though my act might be guilty in His sight. Nevertheless, this man’s children died. Life is everywhere vicarious, and God seems to have chosen this way to teach very emphatically that no man can sin without doing wrong to his fellows, and especially to his own children. Meanwhile we are left to see that our reasoning on Divine mercy never alters facts.
3. Hiel might have said, I can see no reason for this strange command. He might have thought it of little consequence in heaven whether he should build on a hundred acres lying towards his right hand, or on a hundred other acres lying on his left. It is not enough that we can call God’s commandments strange: this is no sufficient reason for disobedience, or for unbelief. The ordinances of the Old and New Testaments may not be after the pattern of human fancy; they were given, nevertheless, for faithful observance. The cross is strange, and salvation through faith not less so, but if God be gracious enough to save us, it ill becomes us to cavil at the method.
4. Hiel might have persuaded himself, This curse, after all, may be merely a tradition; or it may be the curse of Joshua, and not the utterance of God. Hiel ought to have known the law of Moses; but probably the neglect of God, common at this period, was accompanied by neglect of God’s word. The man, if he much wished to build the city, might not find it difficult to treat the reported history as a tradition, or to consider the curse as the outcome of Joshua’s excitement in the hour of victory. Men may treat the Scriptures as uninspired, calling this Gospel the book of a man named John, and another a history by a Jew named Mat hew, and the Epistles so many different letters by various writers; but when men have succeeded in taking all thoughts of Divine inspiration out of their creed, the inspiration of the Scriptures remains exactly as it was before. The promises are as precious as ever, and the threatenings as terrible.
5. Most likely, however, Hiel built Jericho without troubling himself to think upon the curse with any earnest consideration whatever. While he probably knew of the history, and had most likely heard of the curse, and possibly loved his children, he might proceed in a sort of careless hope that no harm would follow. More men are lost by careless unbelief than by deliberate disbelief. Where intelligent and honest scepticism slays its tens, carelessness destroys its millions.
II. The absolute and unfailing truthfulness of God’s words. Not one jot or tittle of this curse passed away. Abiram and Segub both died, the one at the laying of the foundation, the other at the setting up of the gates of the city. History shews an unbroken fulfilment of the Scriptures. It cannot be denied that much learning and enmity have for many years been arrayed against the Bible: it is something to say that no serious attempt has ever been made by infidels to prove it guilty of broken promises.
III. The bad influences of unholy associations. It was in the days of Ahab that Hiel built Jericho, and the man himself was a Bethelite, In the city where Jeroboam had set up his calf, making the place a metropolis of idolatry; and during the reign of Ahab, “who did more to provoke the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him;” there and then did Hiel build Jericho. This single sentence of history is one of God’s many and everlasting monuments, erected in solemn protest against our association with wicked men; and from north, south, cast, and west there looks out from the grim column this inscription, “Stand not in the way of sinners.”
IV. The power of unbelief, when it is once seriously entertained. When Abiram died, it might have been thought that Hiel would have desisted; the curse was seen to be effective: yet this miserable man appears to have gone on building, losing, as some think, other children while the work was proceeding, and seeing his youngest child expire when he had set up the gates of the city. What must have been his feelings while disobedience and death were thus working together? We do not know; this we know, the early death, or deaths, did not prevent the continuation of the work. It is hard to win men from carelessness; it is still harder to rescue them from cultivated unbelief.
“The imprecation upon Jericho;
(1) a well-deserved sentence; hence
(2) fulfilled as a prophetic word, when Hiel again built the city.
“Rather bless than curse, because we are Christians. Men not to be cursed, but only sin.” [Lange.]
The curse on Jericho, though fulfilled on Hiel and his children, seems to have been absolutely and definitely removed in the time of Elisha, and by that prophet, about twenty-two years after the city was rebuilt (cf. 2Ki_2:19-22). The school of the prophets at Jericho (cf. 2Ki_2:5) may not have been in the Jericho that Hiel built, but in the city which we have supposed to have been built on an adjacent site, and assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_18:21). If this were so, there was no recognition by God, or by godly men, of the city which Hiel built on the original site, until after the curse was removed by Divine direction. After the curse was thus removed, the city became again famous, and was conspicuous as the scene of several of our Lord’s miraculous works. Taken in this light, the history suggests the following important subject:—
THE CURSE OF SIN AND ITS DIVINE REMOVAL
I. The occasion of sin’s curse.
1. The curse of sin ever comes by man. It is not arbitrary. God does not pronounce it on men because He has any pleasure in human pain and death. He swears by His own existence that this is not the case: “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” So far from that, the Scriptures represent God as “grieved” on account of human sin and woe. Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, weeps at the grave of Lazarus, and over the coming desolation of Jerusalem. As we have been told, God is
“Not in blessedness supernal,
Sitting easy on a throne,
Dealing sorrow out to others,
With no sorrow of His own.”
Rather let us remember that “In all our afflictions He is afflicted.”
2. The curse of sin is only pronounced after plain warnings. It was so in Eden: God said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” before He spake the curse which followed the fall. It was so with these Canaanites, who had been warned solemnly and often.
3. The curse of sin is, after all, full of mercy. Sin could have no severer curse than to remain uncursed. Not only of necessity, but also of love, “sin worketh death.” Death is within sin, as fruit is within the plant: that being so, Divine Love itself could do nothing more gentle, and nothing more kind, than to threaten punishment, and sometimes to inflict it from without.
II. The fulfilment of sin’s curse (cf. 1Ki_16:34). This fulfilment is:
1. Sometimes long delayed. Hiel’s punishment was five hundred and thirty years after Joshua’s execration.
2. Exceeding bitter. Hiel’s punishment seems more painful than if he had himself died.
3. Falls on men not only directly, but representatively. This, in the case of Hiel’s children, was only symbolical of the usual and essential consequence of sin: “By one man sin entered into the world, and so death passed upon all men.” If the children of this Bethelite died in infancy, we who believe that the infants of both dispensations are saved, can think of no greater mercy to them. The chastisement is on the father, who wronged himself, and, in an earthly sense, wronged them also; while the children are taken from the evil to come to a Father who wipes all tears from the eyes of all who dwell with Him.
4. Faithful to the Divine word. Hiel’s punishment tells how not one jot or one tittle of what God says passes away until all is fulfilled.
III. The removal of sin’s curse (cf. 2Ki_2:19-22). The people who lived in the city which Hiel rebuilt seem to have suffered severely till God annulled the curse through Elisha. When God removes the curse of sin, He makes it as though no curse had ever been. He takes it away entirely. He forgets that it has ever been: “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” The Saviour throughout His ministry treats this city as though it had never known the curse. Here Jesus healed blind Bartimæus and his fellow-sufferer; there Zacchæus was told of Him who had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and heard his Lord say to him personally, “This day is salvation come to thine house.” Not least, it was on an incident occurring on the way down to Jericho that our Lord founded the parable of the Good Samaritan. Thus graciously does God take away the curse of sin, and enable His servants to say, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Although quite unsuitable for homiletical purposes, the reader is referred to the article on “Barrenness” in Calmet’s Dictionary, for an exposition of the passage in 2Ki_2:19-22; and also to the remarks of Josephus, Wars, iv. 8. 3. It will be noticed that Josephus plainly distinguishes between “the old city, which Joshua took the first of all the cities of the land,” and an adjacent Jericho, thus supporting the remarks previously made on this verse.
Jos_6:27. When the Lord is with His servants,
(1) Their methods of service will appear singular to the world (Jos_6:9-16);
(2) Their triumphs will be manifest, notwithstanding all obstacles (Jos_6:20);
(3) Their obedience will be complete, even where difficult (Jos_6:21);
(4) Their mercy and integrity will be conspicuous in the midst of indignation (Jos_6:22-23);
(5) Their consecration will be thorough in the presence of temptation (Jos_6:22);
(6) Their fame will eventually be as apparent as their faithfulness (Jos_6:27). They will say with Paul, “Thanks be to God who leads me on from place to place in the train of His triumph, to celebrate the victory over the enemies of Christ; and by me sends forth the knowledge of Him, a steam of fragrant incense throughout the world. For Christ’s is the fragrance which I offer up to God, whether among those in the way of salvation (as with Rahab), or among those in the way of perdition (as with the Canaanites); but to these it is an odour of death, to those of life.” [Conybeare’s Paraphrase, 2Co_2:14-16.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Cursed is the man in Yahweh's sight who rebuilds
Cursed is the man in Yahweh's sight who rebuilds
Being cursed in Yahweh's sight represents being cursed by Yahweh. AT: "May Yahweh curse the man who rebuilds" (See: Metaphor)
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At the cost of his firstborn son, he will lay the foundation
The consequence of a man laying a new foundation for Jericho is that his firstborn son would die. This is spoken of as if it were a cost that the man would pay. AT: "If he lays the foundation, he will lose his firstborn son" or "If he lays the foundation, his firstborn son will die" (See: Metaphor)
at the cost of his youngest son, he will set up its gates
The consequence of a man setting up new gates for Jericho is that his youngest son would die. This is spoken of as if it were a cost that the man would pay. AT: "If he sets up its gates, he will lose his youngest son" or "If he sets up it gates, his youngest son will die" (See: Metaphor)
his fame spread throughout the land
This refers to Joshua's fame, not Yahweh's. Becoming known among the people throughout the land is spoken of as if his fame spread. AT: "Joshua became famous throughout the land" or "people throughout the land learned about Joshua" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Joshua
command
oath
curse
Yahweh
Jericho
firstborn
found
gate
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 6:26 Joshua placed a curse upon the site because…
6:26 Joshua placed a curse upon the site because Jericho was the first Canaanite town to resist God’s purposes in bringing Israel into the land. Jericho was also the first town to experience God’s judgment upon Canaan’s great wickedness. As the firstfruits of Israel’s conquest of Canaan, it belonged to God (Exod 13:2; 23:19). God executed Joshua’s curse on the first man to defy it (1 Kgs 16:34; cp. Josh 7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.