6 Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
Then the king got up in great grief, stretching himself out on the earth: and all his servants were by his side, with their clothing parted.
Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
Now when Mordecai saw what was done, pulling off his robe, he put on haircloth, with dust on his head, and went out into the middle of the town, crying out with a loud and bitter cry.
And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste.
But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,
The responsible men of the daughter of Zion are seated on the earth without a word; they have put dust on their heads, they are clothed in haircloth: the heads of the virgins of Jerusalem are bent down to the earth.
Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,
Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?
And hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled. Then everyone who went in fear of the words of the God of Israel, because of the sin of those who had come back, came together to me; and I kept where I was, overcome with grief, till the evening offering. And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,
So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.
And till evening they gave themselves to sorrow and weeping, and took no food, weeping for Saul and for Jonathan, his son, and for the people of the Lord and for the men of Israel; because they had come to their end by the sword.
And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 7
Commentary on Joshua 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
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,
Jos 7:1-5
The story of this chapter begins with a but. The Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was noised through all that country, so the foregoing chapter ends, and it left no room to doubt but that he would go on as he had begun conquering and to conquer. He did right, and observed his orders in every thing. But the children of Israel committed a trespass, and so set God against them; and then even Joshua's name and fame, his wisdom and courage, could do them no service. If we lose our God, we lose our friends, who cannot help us unless God be for us. Now here is,
Jos 7:6-9
We have here an account of the deep concern Joshua was in upon this sad occasion. He, as a public person, interested himself more than any other in this public loss, and is therein an example to princes and great men, and teaches them to lay much to heart the calamities that befal their people: he is also a type of Christ, to whom the blood of his subjects is precious, Ps. 72:14. Observe,
Jos 7:10-15
We have here God's answer to Joshua's address, which, we may suppose, came from the oracle over the ark, before which Joshua had prostrated himself, v. 6. Those that desire to know the will of God must attend with their desires upon the lively oracles, and wait at wisdom's gates for wisdom's dictates, Prov. 8:34. And let those that find themselves under the tokens of God's displeasure never complain of him, but complain to him, and they shall receive an answer of peace. The answer came immediately, while he was yet speaking (Isa. 65:24), as that to Daniel, Dan. 9:20, etc.
Jos 7:16-26
We have in these verses,