Joshua 7:25
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“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
More than once we have found the affairs of Israel, even when they were in the happiest posture and gave the most hopeful prospects, perplexed and embarrassed by sin, and a stop thereby put to the most promising proceedings. The golden calf, the murmuring at Kadesh, and the iniquity of Peor, had broken their measures and given them great disturbance; and in this chapter we have such another instance of the interruption given to the progress of their arms by sin. But it being only the sin of one person or family, and soon expiated, the consequences were not so mischievous as of those other sins; however it served to let them know that they were still upon their good behaviour. We have here, I. The sin of Achan in meddling with the accursed thing (Jos 7:1). II. The defeat of Israel before Ai thereupon (Jos 7:2-5). III. Joshua's humiliation and prayer on occasion of that sad disaster (v. 6-9). IV. The directions God gave him for the putting away of the guilt which had provoked God thus to contend with them (v. 10-15). V. The discovery, trial, conviction, condemnation, and execution, of the criminal, by which the anger of God was turned away (v. 16-26). And by this story it appears that, as the laws, so Canaan itself, "made nothing perfect," the perfection both of holiness and peace to God's Israel is to be expected in the heavenly Canaan only.
Open source ↗7:25 Stoning was one prescribed means of execution (see, e.g., Exod 19:13).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.
The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things.
“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.
you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.