Joshua 7:15

15 Then the man who is taken with the cursed thing is to be burned, with everything which is his; because he has gone against the agreement of the Lord and has done an act of shame in Israel.

Joshua 7:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 7:15

And it shall be, [that] he that is taken with the accursed
thing shall be burnt with fire
He that is taken by lot, and the accursed thing found with him, this should be the death, burning, one of the four capital punishments with the Jews: this was ordered in this case, because the city of Jericho, accursed or devoted, was burnt with fire, ( Joshua 6:24 ) ;

he and all that he hath;
the particulars of which are enumerated, ( Joshua 7:24 ) ;

because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord;
(See Gill on Joshua 7:11);

and because he hath wrought folly in Israel;
as all sin and every transgression of the law is, and was the cause of Israel's turning their backs on their enemies; which, as Abarbinel says, was folly, and made the people of Israel look foolish, mean, and contemptible: the word has also the signification of a dead carcass, and may possibly have respect, to the thirty six men whose death he was the occasion of, ( Joshua 7:5 ) , and therefore justly ought to die himself.

Joshua 7:15 In-Context

13 Up! make the people holy; say to them, Make yourselves holy before tomorrow, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, There is a cursed thing among you, O Israel, and you will give way before your attackers in the fight till the cursed thing has been taken away from among you.

14 So in the morning you are to come near, tribe by tribe; and the tribe marked out by the Lord is to come near, family by family; and the family marked out by the Lord is to come near, house by house; and the house marked out by the Lord is to come near, man by man.

15 Then the man who is taken with the cursed thing is to be burned, with everything which is his; because he has gone against the agreement of the Lord and has done an act of shame in Israel.

16 So Joshua got up early in the morning, and made Israel come before him by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken;

17 Then he made Judah come forward, and the family of the Zerahites was taken; and he made the family of the Zerahites come forward man by man; and Zabdi was taken;