Joshua's first victory was the wonderful capture of Jericho. The whole
of the city was declared anathema, because it had been conquered on the
Sabbath day. Joshua reasoned that as the Sabbath is holy, so also that
which conquered on the Sabbath should be holy. (22) The brilliant
victory was followed by the luckless defeat at Ai. In this engagement
perished Jair, the son of Manasseh, whose loss was as great as if the
majority of the Sanhedrin had been destroyed. (23) Presently Joshua
discovered that the cause of the defeat was the sinfulness of Israel,
brought upon it by Achan, who had laid hands on some of the spoils of
Jericho. Achan was a hardened transgressor and criminal from of old.
During the life of Moses he had several times appropriated to his own
use things that had been declared anathema, (24) and he had committed
other crimes worthy of the death penalty. (25) Before the Israelites
crossed the Jordan, God had not visited Achan's sins upon the people as
a whole, because at that time it did not form a national unit yet. But
when Achan abstracted an idol and all its appurtenances from Jericho,
(26) the misfortune of Ai followed at once.
Joshua inquired of God, why trouble had befallen Israel, but God
refused to reply. He was no tale-bearer; the evil-doer who had caused
the disaster would have to be singled out by lot. (27) Joshua first of
all summoned the high priest from the assembly of the people. It
appeared that, while the other jewels in his breastplate gleamed
bright, the stone representing the tribe of Judah was dim. (28) By lot
Achan was set apart from the members of his tribe. Achan, however,
refused to submit to the decision by lot. He said to Joshua: "Among all
living men thou and Phinehas are the most pious. Yet, if lots were cast
concerning you two, one or other of you would be declared guilty. Thy
teacher Moses has been dead scarcely one month, and thou has already
begun to go astray, for thou hast forgotten that a man's guilt can be
proved only through two witnesses."
Endued with the holy spirit, Joshua divined that the land was to be
assigned to the tribes and families of Israel by lot, and he realized
that nothing ought to be done to bring this method of deciding into
disrepute. He, therefore, tried to persuade Achan to make a clean
breast of his transgression. (29) Meantime, the Judeans, the tribesmen
of Achan, rallied about him, and throwing themselves upon the other
tribes, they wrought fearful havoc and bloodshed. This determined Achan
to confess his sins. (30) The confession cost him his life, but it
saved him from losing his share in the world to come. (31)
In spite of the reverses at Ai, (32) the terror inspired by the
Israelites grew among the Canaanitish peoples. The Gibeonites planned
to circumvent the invaders, and form an alliance with them. Now, before
Joshua set out on his campaign, he had issued three proclamations: the
nation that would leave Canaan might depart unhindered; the nation that
would conclude peace with the Israelites, should do it at once; and the
nation that would choose war, should make its preparations. If the
Gibeonites had sued for the friendship of the Jews when the
proclamation came to their ears, there would have been no need for
subterfuges later. But the Canaanites had to see with their own eyes
what manner of enemy awaited them, and all the nations prepared for
war. The result was that the thirty-one kings of Palestine perished, as
well as the satraps of many foreign kings, who were proud to own
possessions in the Holy Land. (33) Only the Girgashites departed out of
Palestine, and as a reward for their docility God gave them Africa as
an inheritance. (34)
The Gibeonites deserved no better fate than all the rest, for the
covenant made with them rested upon a misapprehension, yet Joshua kept
his promise to them, in order to sanctify the name of God, by showing
the world how sacred an oath is to the Israelites. (35) In the course
of events it became obvious that the Gibeonites were by no means worthy
of being received into the Jewish communion, and David, following
Joshua's example, excluded them forever, a sentence that will remain in
force even in the Messianic time. (36)