682 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the city shall be accursed,.... Or, be a "cherem", devoted to the Lord, as it follows: [even] it and all that [are] therein, to the Lord; the city and the inhabitants of it should be devoted to destruction, and the riches and spoil of it dedicated to sacred uses, and not become the property of the Israelites; for as this was the first city in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And you in any wise keep [yourselves] from the accursed thing,.... From laying hold on, secreting, and enjoying as their own, what was devoted to another use: lest ye make [yourselves] accursed; or a "cherem", also devoted to destruction: when ye take of the accursed thing; any part of it, be it what it will, gold or any other metal, or raiment,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, [are] consecrated to the Lord,.... Or rather, "for all the silver", c. as the particle here used sometimes signifies, and is so rendered (d): each of these metals, and whatsoever were made of them, were set apart for the Lord, and dedicated to sacred uses, and might not be converted to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So the people shouted when [the priests] blew with the trumpets,.... As Joshua had charged them, Joshua 6:16; and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout; that is, gave a loud shout, on hearing the long blast of the trumpets blown by the priests the seventh time, as they were no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city,.... All the inhabitants of it, by the direction of Joshua, and according to the order of the Lord, Deuteronomy 7:1; being guilty of capital crimes, which deserved death, as idolatry, incest, c. both men and women, young and old neither sex nor age were spared: and ox, and sheep, and ass, with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country,.... Whom he had sent on that errand, Joshua 2:1; and what follows he had said unto them before the people entered into the city, and perhaps before the walls of it fell; and indeed from Joshua 6:16, it appears to have been said at the time he gave the people orders to shout: go...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab,.... Not only went into the city, but into Rahab's house, which they knew again by the scarlet thread hung out at the window of it. But here a difficulty occurs, how they could be said to go into her house, when it was built on the town wall, Joshua 2:15; and that was now fallen down...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein,.... As Babylon the great, of which this city was an emblem, as has been observed, [See comments on Joshua 6:20]; will be burnt with fire also, Revelation 18:8; only the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord; [See...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive,.... From perishing by the sword, as the rest of the inhabitants did. Kimchi says, some interpret it of his giving her food, and an inheritance by which she might live; and Josephus (f) intimates the same: he says, he gave her fields, and had her in great honour and esteem; and it is the notion of some...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So the Lord was with Joshua,.... Counselling and directing him what to do, prospering and succeeding him in all that he engaged; the Targum is, "the Word of the Lord was for the help of Joshua;'' the essential Word, Christ the Son of God, called the Captain of the Lord's host, Joshua 5:14; and who, continued with him speaking to him and giving him...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Joshua 7 For the trespass of Achan the children of Israel were smitten and put to flight by the men of Ai, Joshua 7:1; which gave him and the elders of the people great concern, both for Israel and for the name of the Lord, which was expressed by Joshua in prayer to God, Joshua 7:6; when the Lord informed him of the reason of it,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing,.... Or concerning it, with respect to it, by taking part of what was devoted to another use, and forbidden theirs: this was done, not by the whole body of the people, only by one of them; but it not being discovered who it was, it was imputed to the whole, on whom it lay to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,.... Which was the next city of importance, though not so large as Jericho, and was, as the Jews say (l), three miles distant from it; Abarbinel says (m) four miles, and so Bunting (n); Jerom (o) says, that in his times very few ruins of it appeared, only the place was shown where it stood: which [is] beside...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they returned unto Joshua, and said unto him, let not all the people go up,.... After they had reconnoitred the place, they came back to their general, and gave it as their opinion, that there was no need for the whole army to go up against the city: but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; such a number they judged were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men,.... Joshua detached from the army the largest number proposed, that there might be strength enough to take the place; and those he sent under proper officers to Ai, who went up to the very gate of the city, as appears from Joshua 7:5: and they fled before the men of Ai; for upon...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men,.... In the pursuit of them, which were but few, but a sufficient rebuke of Providence; their loss was but small, but their shame and disgrace great: for they chased them [from] before the gate; the gate of the city of Ai: [even] unto Shebarim; not that there was a place of this name before,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua rent his clothes,.... As was usual in those ancient times, on hearing bad news, and as expressive of grief and trouble (r); see Genesis 37:29; and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord, until the eventide; in a posture of adoration and prayer, in which he continued till even; how long that was cannot be said, since...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua said, alas! O Lord God,.... What a miserable and distressed condition are we in! have pity and compassion on us; who could have thought it, that this would have been our case? wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us: who are mentioned either for the whole...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O Lord, what shall I say,.... For the comfort and encouragement of the people of Israel, in vindication of thy power and faithfulness, and against the charge of weakness in thyself, unfaithfulness to thy promises, and unkindness to thy people, brought by our enemies: when Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies? or after they have done...