Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy
face?
The answer of the Lord, which was addressed to Joshua directly and not through the
high priest, breathed anger against the sin of Israel. The question, "Wherefore liest
thou upon thy face?" ("fallest," as in Deut 21:1) involved the reproof that Joshua had
no reason to doubt the fidelity of the Lord. Instead of seeking for the cause of the
calamity in God, he ought to seek it in the sin of the people.
Verse 11. Israel had sinned, and that very grievously. This is affirmed in the clauses
which follow, and which are rendered emphatic by the repetition of gam (OT:1571) as
an expression of displeasure. The sin of one man was resting as a burden upon the
whole nation in the manner explained above (on v. 1). This sin was a breach of the
covenant, being a transgression of the obligation into which the people had entered in
their covenant with the Lord, to keep His commandments (Ex 19:8; 24:7); yea, it was
a grasping at the ban, and a theft, and a concealment, and an appropriation of that
which was stolen to their own use. The first three clauses describe the sin in its
relation to God, as a grievous offence; the three following according to its true
character, as a great, obstinate, and reckless crime. "They have put it among their own
stuff" (house furniture), viz., to use and appropriate it as their own property. As all that
had been stolen was a property consecrated to the Lord, the appropriation of it to
private use was the height of wickedness.
Verse 12. On account of this sin the Israelites could not stand before their foes,
because they had fallen under the ban (cf. Josh 6:18). And until this ban had been
removed from their midst, the Lord would not help them any further.
Verse 13-15. Joshua was to take away this ban from the nation. To discover who had
laid hands upon the ban, he was to direct the people to sanctify themselves for the
following day (see at Josh 3:5), and then to cause them to come before God according
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