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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:20
The taking of Jericho. The taking of Jericho is the first great victory of the Israelites over the Canaanites. It is a type of the victory of the people of God over their adversaries. We learn from it the secret and the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:20
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets, and it came to pass. Literally, and the people shouted, and they blew with the trumpets, and it came to pass as soon as the people heard the sound of the tr…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:20
Strongholds. When the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been compassed about seven days" (Hebrews 11:30), he sets his seal to the supernatural character o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:20
Delusive trust. "The wall fell down fiat." A strong city besieged; yet no trenches opened, no batteries erected against it, no engines of assault employed. Armed men in two divisions, separated by the ark and priests wh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:21
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city. For a discussion of the difficulties arising from this fulfilment of a stern decree, see Introduction. HOMILETICS
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:22-24
A city of destruction. If any city ever was such a "City of Destruction" as Bunyan fancied, it was Jericho. Itself and all within it were devoted to destruction, only Rahab, like another Noah, with her family escaping.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:22-27
EXPOSITION RAHAB'S DELIVERANCE. THE CURSE ON JERICHO.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:22
Had said. Here we have an instance of the use of the perfect as a pluperfect. We can hardly suppose, as Keil observes, that Joshua gave these orders in the midst of the turmoil and confusion attendant on the sack of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:22-27
Salvation: its Cause and Effects 1. The first lesson we learn from this portion of the narrative is salvation by faith. Had Rahab not believed in God, she would not have saved the sides; and had she not saved the spies,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:23
Brought out. Therefore the medieval legends concerning Rahab's house must be classed among superstitious fables. Rahab and her family and relations were saved, but her house shared the destruction which befel the rest o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:25
Unto this day. This may either be interpreted of herself, or, according to s common Hebrew idiom, of her family (cf. Joshua 17:14-18; Joshua 24:17). For a fuller discussion of the bearing of this passage on the date of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 6:26
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. Matthew 26:63). But it had also the le…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:16
The family of Judah. The expression מִשְׁפַתַת is remarkable. Many commentators would read מִשְׁפְחֹת, not without some MSS. authority. Keil objects that the Chaldee and Syriac have the singular. But the LXX. has κατὰ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:16-26
The detection. Objections have been raised to the morality of the whole narrative. We will deal first with this subject, and then turn to the religious and moral questions involved. I. WHY DID GOD NOT REVEAL THE OFFENDE…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:19
Sin confessed. A notable scene. The people of Israel assembled in solemn conclave. In silent excitement the national offender has been detected, and waits to hear his doom from the lips of the great commander. Whilst ev…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:19
My son. This is no mere hypocritical affectation of tenderness. Joshua feels for the criminal, even though he is forced to put him to death. So in cur own day the spectacle is not uncommon of a judge melted to tears as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:21
A goodly Babylonish garment. Literally, "a mantle of Shinar, one goodly one." Babylon was in the "land of Shinar" (see Genesis 11:2; Genesis 14:1; Isaiah 11:11; Zechariah 5:11). The אַדרֶת derived from אדר great, glorio…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:21
A sin of greed. Here we have much profitable study. Some sins are peculiar to certain ages or countries. But greed is found in all lands and times. It specially thrives in periods of wealth and of prosperity. It creeps…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:23
Laid them out before the Lord. This shows the directly religious nature of the proceeding. God had directed the lot, the offender was discovered, and now the devoted things are solemnly laid out one by one (for so the H…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:24
Took Achan, the son of Zerah. Great-grandson in reality (see Joshua 7:1; cf. 1 Kings 15:2, 1 Kings 15:10). And his sons and his daughters (see note, Joshua 7:15). Brought them. Hebrew, "brought them up." The valley of A…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:25
Stoned him with stones. The word here is not the same as in the last part of the verse. It has been suggested that the former word signifies to stone a living person, the second to heap up stones upon a dead one; and th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:26
And the Lord turned from the heat of His anger. There is no contradiction between this and such passages as 1 Samuel 15:29; James 1:17. It is not God, but we who turn. Our confession and restitution, by uniting our will…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 7:26
Sin punished. I. A TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT. Achan is stoned to death, and his goods are then burnt with fire. He lost not only that which he had stolen, but even his own property, and above all his life. Such is the sinner'…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:1-29
EXPOSITION THE CAPTURE OF AI.—