Joshua 7:12

Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
could	יֻכְל֜וּ yukh.Lu	H3201	to be able · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
stand	לָקוּם֙ la.Kum	H6965	to rise (in various applications · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
enemies	אֹיְבֵיהֶ֔ם 'o.ye.vei.Hem	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
turned	יִפְנוּ֙ yif.Nu	H6437	to turn · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
backs	עֹ֗רֶף 'O.ref	H6203	the nape or back of the neck (as declining) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
enemies	אֹֽיְבֵיהֶ֔ם 'o.ye.vei.Hem	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
accursed	לְחֵ֑רֶם le.Che.rem	H2764	physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or fi… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
more	אוֹסִיף֙ 'o.Sif	H3254	to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
except	וְלֹ֨א ve.Lo'	H3808	not (the simple or abs. negation) · conjunction + negative particle
destroy	תַשְׁמִ֛ידוּ tash.Mi.du	H8045	to desolate · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
accursed	הַחֵ֖רֶם ha.Che.rem	H2764	physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or fi… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
among	מִֽקִּרְבְּכֶֽם Mi.kir.be.Khem	H7130	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 5:4-5 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Numbers 14:45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
Joshua 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make…
Judges 2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into…
Deuteronomy 7:26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou sh…
Haggai 2:13-14 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall…
Joshua 22:18-20 But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 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, Pro 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. I. God encourages Joshua against his present despondencies, and the black and melancholy apprehensions he had of the present…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 7:10

the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up--The answer of the divine oracle was to this effect: the crisis is owing not to unfaithfulness in Me, but sin in the people. The conditions of the covenant have been violated by the reservation of spoil from the doomed city; wickedness, emphatically called folly, has been committed in Israel (Psa 14:1), and dissimulation, with other aggravations of the crime, continues to be practised. The people are liable to destruction equally with the accursed nations of Canaan (Deu 7:26). Means must, without delay, be taken to discover and punish the perpetrator of this trespass that Israel may be released from the ban, and things be restored to their former state…

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Adam Clarke on Joshua 7:12

Because they were accursed - From this verse it appears that the nature of the execration or anathema was such, that those who took of the thing doomed to destruction fell immediately under the same condemnation. The inhabitants of Jericho and all that they had were accursed: therefore they and all their substance were to be destroyed. The Israelites took of the accursed thing, and therefore became accursed with it. This was certainly understood when the curse was pronounced: Every man who touches this property shall be involved in the same execration. Achan therefore was sufficiently aware of the risk he ran in taking any part of the anathematized thing; and when viewed in this light, the p…

The Church Fathers

For we find that some sins are also a punishment for other sins … as in the flight of the Israelites from the face of the enemy out of the city of Ai because fear was instilled into their hearts so that they fled. And this was done to punish their sin and to punish it as it deserved to be punished, which is why the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, "The children of Israel shall not be able to stand before their enemies." What is the meaning of "shall not be able to stand"? Why did they not use their free will to stand rather than take flight because their wills were thrown into confusion by fear? Was it not for the simple reason that God, as Master of people's wills, can in his anger instill fear into the hearts of whomsoever he pleases? Was it not of their own free choice that the enemies of the Israelites fought against God's own people when they had Joshua, son of Nun, as their leader? And yet the Scripture tells us that "it was by the will of the Lord that their hearts should be strengthened that they should fight against Israel … and should be destroyed."
— Augustine of Hippo, ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 20.41

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ark · .An oracle of God — .An oracle of God
Communion · .Joshua — .Joshua
Discipline · Of armies, for di — Of armies, for di
Dishonesty · .Achan hi — .Achan hi
Emergency · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Intercession · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Nation · Involved in the sins of other individuals, as Achan — Involved in the sins of other individuals, as Achan

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Joshua 7:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 7:10-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 7:10

Adam Clarke on Joshua 7:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Joshua 7:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 7:10-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 7:10

Adam Clarke on Joshua 7:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Joshua 7:12

John Calvin on Joshua 7:10-18

Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 7:10-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Joshua 7:12

Rashi on Joshua 7:10