Joshua 7:15

15 The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD and has done a horrible thing 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 “Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD . You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.

14 “In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the LORD will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the LORD will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the LORD will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one.

15 The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD and has done a horrible thing in Israel.”

16 Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the LORD, and the tribe of Judah was singled out.

17 Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out.