Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Achan steals from the spoils of Jericho; therefore the Hebrews are slain by the men of Hai; then, at verse 7, as Joshua prays, God reveals Achan's theft by lot, and so Achan, having confessed the theft, at verse 20, is consumed by fire with his household.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 7:1-26
1. But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment and took from the anathema. For Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took something from the anathema, and the Lord was angry against the children of Israel. 2. And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is near Bethaven, to the east of the town of Bethel, he said to them: Go up and explore the land. And they, carrying out their orders, explored Hai. 3. And returning they said to him: Let not all the people go up, but let two or three thousand men go and destroy the city; why should all the people be troubled in vain against very few enemies? 4. So three thousand warriors went up. But immediately turning their backs, 5. they were struck by the men of the city of Hai, and thirty-six of them fell, and the adversaries pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim, and they fell as they fled down the slopes: and the heart of the people was terrified and became like water. 6. But Joshua tore his garments and fell prostrate on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, both he and all the elders of Israel: and they put dust upon their heads, 7. and Joshua said: Alas, Lord God! Why did You will to bring this people across the Jordan River, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites and destroy us? Would that we had been content to remain across the Jordan! 8. O my Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs to their enemies? 9. The Canaanites will hear, and all the inhabitants of the land, and gathering together they will surround us and blot out our name from the earth; and what will You do for Your great name? 10. And the Lord said to Joshua: Rise up, why do you lie prostrate on the ground? 11. Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant: they have taken from the anathema and stolen and lied, and hidden it among their goods. 12. Nor shall Israel be able to stand before its enemies, but shall flee from them: because it is polluted by the anathema. I will be with you no longer until you destroy the one who is guilty of this crime. 13. Rise up, sanctify the people, and say to them: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord God of Israel: The anathema is in your midst, O Israel; you shall not be able to stand before your enemies until the one contaminated by this crime is removed from you. 14. And you shall come forward in the morning, each by your tribes, and whichever tribe the lot finds, shall come forward by its clans, and the clan by its households, and the household man by man. 15. And whoever shall be found guilty of this crime shall be burned with fire, with all his substance: because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and committed wickedness in Israel. 16. So Joshua, rising in the morning, brought Israel forward by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was found. 17. And when it was presented by its families, the family of Zerah was found. And presenting it by households, he found Zabdi: 18. and dividing his household man by man, he found Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. 19. And Joshua said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and confess, and tell me what you have done; do not hide it. 20. And Achan answered Joshua and said to him: Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did. 21. For I saw among the spoils a very fine scarlet garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a golden bar of fifty shekels: and coveting them, I took them and hid them in the ground in the middle of my tent, and covered the silver with dug-up earth. 22. So Joshua sent servants, who running to his tent found everything hidden in the same place, and the silver as well. 23. And taking them from the tent, they brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and cast them before the Lord. 24. Then Joshua, taking Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the garment, and the golden bar, and also his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, and the tent itself and all his goods (and all Israel with him), they led them to the valley of Achor, 25. where Joshua said: Because you have troubled us, may the Lord trouble you on this day. And all Israel stoned him; and all that was his was consumed with fire. 26. And they heaped over him a great pile of stones, which remains to this day. And the fury of the Lord was turned away from them. And the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor, to this day.
Verse 1: The children of Israel transgressed
1. But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment and took from the anathema — that is, from the spoils of Jericho, which had been devoted by God to the anathema, that is, to destruction and fire. Note: Only one man, Achan, had done this; yet his single sin is attributed by synecdoche to the whole society and body, namely the people of Israel, of which he was a part, in order to show:
First, how hateful and abhorrent to God is sin, seeing that a sin committed by one man subjected so many to the wrath and vengeance of God.
Second, how powerful is good or bad companionship, since in a society there is, just as a sharing of common life and condition, so also a sharing of vices and virtues and of all actions.
Third, how much governors and superiors ought to watch over each individual in the congregation over which they preside, lest the sin of one spread to the whole congregation, indeed creep forward by its contagion. For just as one sheep rubs its scab onto another sheep, so a neighbor rubs his crime onto his neighbor. So Origen here, homily 17. Hear St. Chrysostom, homily 1 on the words of Isaiah, "I saw the Lord": "Sin, he says, is a kind of plague; let it be made known and exposed to all through punishment, lest it corrupt all, so that when they have learned what great threats one transgression has produced, they may flee from punishment; otherwise eternal vengeance would have to be exacted from many."
Fourth, how solicitous each person ought to be for those in their midst out of charity; seeing that their virtue or vice is rewarded or punished by God not only in themselves but also in the whole congregation. For this reason St. Matthias the Apostle, as Clement of Alexandria testifies, book 3 of the Stromata, used to say: "If the neighbor of one of the elect has sinned, the elect one has sinned. For if he had conducted himself as the word or reason commands, his neighbor would have so revered his life as not to have sinned." Hence Scripture so often repeats: "Remove the evil from your midst."
For Achan, etc., took something from the anathema. — The Septuagint calls Achan "Achar," and he is so called by all in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, verse 7. Achan therefore was Achar, that is, "the troubler," because by his theft he troubled the whole camp of Israel, so that they were slain by the enemy men of Hai. Hence in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, verse 7, the reason why he is called Achar is given when it says: "Who troubled Israel." For the root achar means "to trouble." Hence the place of Achar's punishment was called the Valley of Achor, that is, the valley of trouble, as is clear from the last verse. Moreover, this temptation of Achan was human: for it is difficult to restrain a victorious soldier from enemy spoils; hence the same man often loses the victory which he has won. Hear St. Ambrose, book 1 of On Duties, chapter 39: "Frequently, when the enemy has been routed and the opposing battle line turned to flight, while the warrior seizes the spoils of the slain, he pitiably falls among the very men he struck down, and legions lured by their own triumphs, while occupied with spoils, have recalled against themselves the enemy who had fled." How often have we seen this among Christians routing the Turks?
The son of Zabdi. — In 1 Chronicles 2:7, he is called the son of Zamri. Achan's grandfather therefore had two names, and was called both Zabdi and Zamri. This therefore was his genealogy: Judah begot Perez and Zerah from Tamar, Zerah begot Zabdi, Zabdi begot Carmi, Carmi begot this Achan, who was accordingly fourth from Judah; and from Judah to the theft of Achan there were at least 260 years; therefore each of them must have begotten a son at the age of at least 63: for four times 65 makes 260, but this was common at that age.
Verse 2: Joshua sent men against Hai
2. And when Joshua sent men against Hai. — Adrichomius describes this city from St. Jerome, Josephus, and others in his Description of the Holy Land: "Hai, also called Chai, and by Josephus Ada or Aina, by Jerome Agai and Ai, a city once most beautiful, and situated in the highlands as Bredenbachius says, captured by Joshua and burned, with its king hanged and its people slain. In Isaiah it is called Aiath, as Benedictus notes, through which Sennacherib the king passed to attack Jerusalem, Isaiah chapter 10. It is also mentioned in Jeremiah 49:1; Ezra 2:2; Ezra 7. In Jerome's time scarcely small ruins remained, and only the site was pointed out. It is to the west of Bethel, not far from it."
Which is near Bethaven, to the east of the town of Bethel. — From this it is clear that Bethaven was a different place from Bethel. However, Bethel itself, that is, "the house of God," was also called Bethaven by Hosea, chapter 4 and following, that is, "the house of the idol and of iniquity," because of the golden calves placed there by Jeroboam, which Israel worshipped as idols.
Verse 5: Thirty-six of them fell
5. And thirty-six of them fell. — Behold, God punishes the theft of one Achan with the slaughter of thirty-six men and the flight of three thousand, who, since they were perhaps worse than others, as Procopius says, fittingly paid the penalty for their own offenses.
And the adversaries pursued them from the gate (of the city of Hai) as far as Shebarim. — Masius judges this place was called Shebarim from this slaughter and crushing of the Hebrews: for schabar means to break, shatter, crush. Moreover, the Septuagint and the Chaldean, reading with different vowel points hisbirum instead of Sabarim, translate: until they crushed them. Cajetan interprets Shebarim as "broken rocks," because the place was rocky, rugged, and precipitous.
And the heart of the people was terrified. — In Hebrew: the heart of the people melted and became as water, became fluid, dissolved, trembling and feeble like water.
Verse 6: Joshua tore his garments
6. But Joshua tore his garments — from the public sense and grief of the calamity, which he as leader felt most keenly above all, indeed on behalf of all.
Moreover, the tearing of garments was a ceremony formerly customary in mourning, or at the atrocity of some event or crime. Thus Jacob, on account of his son Joseph being lost, tore his garments, Genesis 37:34. Caiaphas did the same on account of the appearance of blasphemy, as he thought, Matthew 26:65.
And they put dust upon their heads. — This is another sign of mourning, humility, and penitence, given first to Adam after the fall: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," Genesis 3:19. Thus Job in the last chapter, verse 6: "I do penance, he says, in dust and ashes." And David: "For I ate ashes like bread," Psalm 36. And Daniel, chapter 9, verse 3, began to "beseech God with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Thus the king of Nineveh, when Jonah preached, chapter 3, verse 6, doing penance "was clothed in sackcloth and sat in ashes." Judith also, chapter 9, verse 1, about to go to Holofernes, "putting on sackcloth, placed ashes upon her head." Esther did the same when about to go to Ahasuerus, chapter 14, verse 2, and Mordecai, chapter 4, verse 1. Hence many Saints, such as St. Martin, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. Francis, dying sprinkled with sackcloth and ashes, gave their souls back to God. Even now many of the faithful and religious do the same.
Verse 7: Alas, Lord God!
7. And Joshua said: Alas, Lord God! — Joshua, because he was the leader of the people, takes their disaster upon himself, and laments for them before the Lord, that he may obtain pardon and win safety and victory for the whole people. Let a Prince and Prelate do the same in public calamity: for such things must be deprecated and averted by the public person and Prince.
Would that we had been content to remain across the Jordan! — namely dwelling in Gilead, that is, in the kingdoms of Kings Og and Bashan. For thus we would have escaped this disaster which we have received after crossing the Jordan at the city of Hai.
Verse 8: O my Lord God
8. O my Lord. — In Hebrew bi Adonai, that is, "upon me, Lord," namely look, so that You may regard me and the whole people with the kind eyes of mercy, and be reconciled to us. It is a gentle and trusting address to God, which our translator most aptly renders: "O my Lord."
Verse 9: What will You do for Your great name?
9. They will blot out our name from the earth, and what will You do for Your great name? — That is to say: It is of little consequence that our humble name (for we are worthless little men and sinners) be blotted from the earth, but with it blotted out, Your name too, O Lord, which is great, will be blotted from the earth. For we almost alone know and worship it. The reason is that You promised to give us this land: but now when You permit us to be slain by its inhabitants, the nations will say that You cannot fulfill Your promises, and will take from You the name and title of Almighty; or at least that You were unwilling, and thus they will take from You the name of Holy and Faithful in Your promises. Again, since You have not made known Your great name JEHOVAH to others and to the Gentiles, and have revealed it only to Moses and the Israelites, so that it might be adored by them alone — if You destroy Israel, who will celebrate and worship Your name? If You are justly angry with us for our sins, and wish to chastise us, at least consult Your own glory and the sanctification of Your name, so that You do not destroy us, but protect us in Your accustomed way, and lead us into the possession of Canaan, as You promised, so that all nations may glorify Your name, and acknowledge, fear, and reverence You as almighty, faithful, and kind toward Your faithful ones.
This is an efficacious prayer, which, as it were, presses and compels God to have mercy, lest His holy name be ridiculed and blasphemed by the nations.
Verse 10: Rise up, why do you lie prostrate?
10. Rise up, why do you lie prostrate on the ground? — Joshua had therefore prostrated his whole self face down on the ground, in order to humble himself to the utmost before God, and to show Him the greatest reverence as well as penitence. For lying prostrate he was, as it were, offering his back to God for blows, as if to say: Behold, I offer myself to You as the guilty one on behalf of the people: what they have sinned, I will pay for. Remove therefore Your scourges from them, and turn and redirect them onto my back as much as You please. Hence God, moved by this prayer: "Rise up, He says, why do you lie there?" as if to say: Rise up, do not afflict yourself any longer; I know what you want, and I will cause you to know what needs to be done to repair the disaster your people have suffered: for I cannot despise your contrite and humbled heart, but am, as it were, compelled by My own mercy to look upon it kindly.
Verse 11: Israel has sinned
11. Israel has sinned — one man from Israel, namely Achan, who breathed his guilt and disgrace upon all Israel.
They have lied. — Achan lied; for he had professed that he would keep My covenant and the law and the sentence of anathema thundered by Me against Jericho: but he lied not in word but in deed, stealing and seizing My anathema for himself.
Verse 13: Rise up, sanctify the people
13. Rise up, sanctify the people — that is, command the people to sanctify themselves, that is, to cleanse and purify themselves by washing their garments and especially by abstaining from marital relations, namely to wash their garments and abstain from their wives, and thus be stirred to mourning and penitence. See what was said at chapter 3, verse 5, and Exodus 19:10: so that by this lustration they may be prepared for discovering and punishing this hidden anathema, and thus be reconciled to Me.
The anathema is in your midst, O Israel — as if to say: O Israel! You are a traitor to your duty and your covenant, since you steal My consecrated things and have them and hide them in your midst. Therefore "you shall not be able to stand before your enemies until the one contaminated by this crime is removed from you." Let Princes and Prelates hear this, that they may remove anathemas, that is, sacrileges and crimes, from the people, if they are striving to placate God and to avert the public calamities of war, famine, and plague sent by Him. Let them hear Emperor Leo commanding his general about the day of battle in the Tactics, chapter 14, number 1: "This above all must be enjoined: that your army be pure and holy, and that on the evening before, efficacious and prolonged prayers be offered, and all be consecrated to God, and be persuaded by words and deeds that they have God as their helper, and thus proceed to war pure, sincere, and eager."
Verse 14: Come forward by your tribes
14. And you shall come forward in the morning, each by your tribes, and whichever tribe the lot finds shall come forward by its clans, and the clan by its households, and the household man by man. — First, therefore, the lot was cast among the twelve tribes, and the tribe of Judah was found guilty. Second, it was cast among all the clans descending from Judah, and the clan of Zerah was found guilty. Third, it was cast among all the households and families descended from Zerah, and the household or family of Zabdi was found. Fourth, the lot was cast among all who were of the family of Zabdi, and Achan was found guilty of the anathema, that is, of theft and sacrilege, as is evident from verse 16 and following.
Whichever the lot finds — that is, whoever shall be discovered by the lot given or cast. In Hebrew it reads: whom the Lord shall take. The Hebrews explain this as referring to the ark of the covenant. For the Talmudists affirm that all the Israelites were ordered to pass by the ark; and while the rest passed freely and without hindrance, the guilty one alone was, as if seized by a hand from the ark, so held back that he could not move a foot further.
Rabbi Solomon thinks Achan was discovered through the Rational of the High Priest, in which were twelve gems inscribed with the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel; for he believes that all the tribes passed by the Rational, and when the tribe of Judah passed, the emerald gem on which the name of Judah was written became darkened, and by its darkness and blackness indicated that the tribe of Judah was guilty.
Third, Achan was truly discovered by lot, which was carried out in this or a similar manner: individual names of those who were in the household of Zabdi were written on individual slips, and these were placed in an urn, so that whoever's slip was drawn first would be considered guilty; and then Joshua, drawing the first slip, found on it the name of Achan, who was accordingly held to be guilty. This is proven first because our translator expressly says he was discovered by lot. Second, the same is asserted by Josephus, Rabbi Levi, Rabbi Gersonides, and the Interpreters. Third, because to be "taken by the Lord" is to be taken by a lot commanded and directed by the Lord, as is evident from 1 Kings 10:20, where Saul was chosen king by lot. For "lots are cast into the lap, but their every decision is from the Lord," Proverbs 16, last verse.
Note from St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae II-II, Question 95, article 8, that there are three kinds of lots. The first is divisory, by which something, e.g., an inheritance among heirs, is divided by lot. The second kind is consultory, when through it in doubtful matters what should be done is decided. The third kind is divinatory, by which the truth of a hidden or future matter is sought. The first two kinds of lots are lawful, as St. Augustine teaches, book 2 of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 28. The third kind, namely the divinatory lot, is unlawful and superstitious, unless it is cast at God's open command or interior prompting, as was done here; and then it is not only lawful but also certain and divine.
Verse 16: Joshua brought Israel forward
16. So Joshua, rising in the morning, brought Israel forward by their tribes. — "Brought forward," that is, presented them to the lot, or gave them lots, and this before the Lord, that is, before the ark of the covenant, because this casting of lots was done at God's command, and because the promised direction of the lot toward the one who was truly guilty of the hidden sacrilege committed was expected from God.
Verse 19: My son, give glory to the Lord
19. And Joshua said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel — that is to say: Give the honor of truth and truthfulness to the First and Eternal Truth, that is, to the divine judgment shown by this lot, by confessing that this judgment of God upon you is right and true, and that you are truly culpable, guilty, and charged with sacrilege, so that you may look after and benefit both us and all Israel, and yourself and your eternal salvation, through penitence and confession: confess therefore the truth, which is not at all hidden from God, and indicate to me, who act in God's place and who question you juridically and press you, what you have done: for thus, if by confessing you reveal the truth and your true sacrilege, which lies hidden, you will glorify God. For you will show that God truly designated you as guilty through the lot, and from Him you will easily obtain pardon for the guilt and the eternal punishment. You will show likewise that God is truly just and holy, and therefore the avenger of sacrileges and crimes, as well as faithful in His promises: all of which will redound to the great glory of God, and will cause all to fear and reverence Him.
Therefore the confession of the guilty one glorifies God whom he has offended. Hear St. Bernard, letter 413 to the virgin Sophia: "Love, he says, confession, if you desire beauty. To confession is joined beauty, joined comeliness. You have put on confession and beauty, Psalm 108:2. Truly where there is confession, there is beauty, there is comeliness. If there are sins, they are washed away in confession: if there are good works, they are commended by confession. Confession is a good ornament of the soul, which both purifies the sinner and renders the just person more pure. Without confession the just person is judged ungrateful, and the sinner is reckoned as dead. Confession, therefore, is the life of the sinner, the glory of the just."
And hear St. Augustine on Psalm 94: "Why does it especially pertain to the praise of God when you confess your sins? Because the more desperate the sick person, the more the physician is praised. Confess therefore your sins: for the greater the aggravation of the confessing sinner, the greater is the praise of the one who pardons."
Verse 20: Truly I have sinned
20. Truly I have sinned against the Lord (against the Lord, by violating His command to beware of the anathema), and this is what I did — recounting the things he had stolen from Jericho, as follows. It seems therefore that Achan repented, and through penitence and the satisfaction of stoning escaped the eternal punishment and attained salvation: for by a bodily and temporal burning he redeemed the eternal burning of his soul in hell, like Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5. For he did not wish to hide himself and escape this burning, but courageously offered himself to it.
Therefore, although Cassian and the Council of Aachen under Pepin assert that he was damned, the Rabbis, Cajetan, Masius, Serarius, Magalianus, and Abulensis, Question 55, judge that he was saved. Hear Abulensis: "It does not seem, he says, that he was eternally damned, because he bore a fitting punishment for his sin here; therefore it did not seem that he would have to be punished after death, especially because Achan seems to have grieved for his sin and confessed it humbly, saying: Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel." St. Augustine, however, expresses doubt, whose words I shall cite at verse 25.
Morally, learn here how great is the power of penitence, about which Tertullian, in the book On Penitence, chapter 9, says: "Confession, he says, alleviates an offense as much as concealment aggravates it. For confession is the plan of satisfaction, concealment is that of obstinacy. By satisfaction confession is prepared, from confession penitence is born, by penitence God is appeased."
St. Ambrose on Psalm 37: "A modest confession, he says, greatly helps the guilty one, and the punishment we cannot avoid, we lighten by shame."
St. Augustine on Psalm 66: "Just as the wounds of our sins can never be absent from us, so also the remedies of confession ought never to be absent. For God does not wish us to confess our sins because He Himself cannot know them; but because the devil desires to find what he may object against us before the tribunal of the Eternal Judge. But our God, on the contrary, because He is merciful, wishes us to confess them in this life, lest we be confounded by them in the next. For if we confess, He pardons; if we acknowledge, He forgives."
St. Chrysostom, in the sermon On Penitence and Confession: "In worldly courts, he says, after confession comes shame and punishment; in the divine, virtue, justice, reward, and absolution."
Origen, homily 2 on Psalm 37: "Just as those, he says, who have within them undigested food, or a quantity of humor or phlegm pressing heavily and painfully on the stomach, if they vomit are relieved: so also those who have sinned, if they conceal and retain their sin within themselves, are pressed from within and are nearly suffocated by the phlegm or humor of sin: but if a person becomes his own accuser, while he accuses himself and confesses, he simultaneously vomits forth the offense and digests every cause of the disease." Thus Serapion by confession expiated not only his theft but also the desire to steal, as Cassian narrates, Conference 2, chapter 11.
Verse 21: A scarlet garment and a golden bar
21. For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment. — In Hebrew: a garment of Shinar, that is, Babylonian. For Babylon was in the land of Shinar, Genesis 10:2. So the Chaldean, Masius, Cajetan, Vatablus, and others. Our translator and some Hebrews render it as scarlet or purple. For that the Persians and neighboring nations were accustomed to display their luxury in this way is evident from the fact that when Susa was captured by Alexander the Great, ten thousand pounds, or talents, of Hermionian purple were found there, as Plutarch testifies in his Life of Alexander. Josephus calls it a royal cloak, entirely woven with gold. For the garment of kings was purple.
And a golden bar of fifty shekels. — In Hebrew: a golden tongue of fifty shekels, that is, a golden plate or bar, cast or extended in the shape of a tongue, which weighed and was worth two hundred gold pieces. For a gold shekel weighed four Attic drachmas, that is, four gold pieces, or half an ounce of gold. Therefore a gold shekel was worth twelve silver shekels, as can be gathered from 1 Chronicles 21:25 compared with 2 Kings 24:24. For Plato in the Hipparchus teaches that gold is twelve times the value of silver. Therefore the entire matter of Achan's sacrilege did not exceed the value of four hundred gold pieces, and yet it brought such great offense and wrath to God, and such great calamity to public affairs.
In the middle of my tent. — In Hebrew: in the midst of my tent.
Morally, learn here how greedy, rapacious, and unbridled avarice is, and therefore how much easier it was for Joshua to halt the sun and moon than to restrain avarice. Hear St. Ambrose, book 2 of On Duties, chapter 26: "Joshua the son of Nun, he says, who was able to halt the sun from advancing, was not able to halt the avarice of men from creeping forward. At his voice the sun stood still, but avarice did not stand still. Therefore while the sun stood still, Joshua achieved his triumph; but with avarice advancing, he nearly lost the victory."
23. And they cast them before the Lord — that is, before the ark and the tabernacle, which was like the house and throne of God dwelling among the Hebrews. There therefore they cast down these sacrilegious objects, so that they might be returned to the Lord, which Achan had sacrilegiously taken away and claimed for himself.
Verse 24: The Valley of Achor
24. To the valley of Achor — which shortly afterward was called "Achor," that is, "of trouble," because Achan, the troubler of Israel, was there cast out of life, as is evident from the last verse.
Verse 25: May the Lord trouble you
25. Because you have troubled us, may the Lord trouble (in Hebrew: shall trouble) you — out of the camp of Israel and out of life, that is, may He punish you as guilty, stone and burn you. Joshua speaks as a judge pronouncing sentence upon Achan who is guilty and has confessed, not as one calling down destruction. Hence he seems to limit it to the death of the present life, so as to avoid the eternal death in hell.
And all Israel stoned him. — You may ask how the Hebrews stoned the sacrilegious Achan, when God at verse 15 had commanded him to be burned with fire as an anathema? St. Augustine here, Question 9, understands by fire the stoning, because through it, as through fire, all the guilt of the sacrilege was expiated. "Two reasons, he says, occur to me, on account of one of which Joshua did not burn this Achan. For either he truly repented, and thus was not worthy of the fire of hell, and therefore Jesus (Joshua) did not wish to burn him with fire; or he did not truly repent, and thus was to be tormented with eternal fire. Therefore Joshua reserved that punishment of fire for the Lord, and himself inflicted another punishment, namely stoning."
But the easier and plainer answer is that Achan was both stoned and burned. For while the pyre was being built, lit, and mounted at God's command, the people, indignant at the crime and the criminal, and eager to appease the Deity and to drive Achan away from themselves as a kind of scapegoat and common plague of Israel, could not keep their hands from stones, but stoned him as a sacrilegious man devoted to the anathema: then after stoning they handed him over to the fire.
And all that was his was consumed with fire. — "All," namely the oxen, sheep, donkeys, tent, goods, and indeed also the sons and daughters: for he named all these at verse 24. Hence it is clear that together with Achan his sons and daughters too, and add his wife, were burned. For Achan was Israel's anathema, which had to be completely destroyed with all his household. So Abulensis here, Question 68.
You will say: By what right, when the father sins, are his sons and daughters punished with him? For God decreed in Ezekiel 18: "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father." I answer: it is likely that the older sons and daughters of Achan consented to and cooperated in their father's theft, by hiding the things taken by him through theft, out of greed and avarice. So Procopius. If any of his sons and daughters were small children and infants, and therefore innocent and free from the theft, these too were justly ordered by God to be killed together with the guilty father, because God is the absolute Lord of the life and death of all, even of the innocent.
Hear St. Augustine, Question 8, weighing the deep judgments of God here and assigning three causes for this punishment. The first is: "For nothing different, as far as concerns the governance of the whole world, happens to mortals when they die, who would someday die anyway; and yet among those who fear such things, discipline is established, so that each person in the people does not care only for himself, but they may exercise diligence toward one another, and as members of one body and one person, each may be solicitous for the others." The second cause: "At the same time it is shown how great the interconnection of the whole body is in the society of the people, so that individuals are regarded not as existing in themselves alone, but also as parts in a whole." And the third: "At the same time it was signified how great an evil it would be if that whole congregation had sinned, since not even one person could be judged in such a way that the rest could be safe from him."
Morally, learn here how severely God is accustomed to avenge sacrileges. Thus Heliodorus, attempting to carry off the temple's money, was scourged by Angels and barely escaped death through the prayers of the High Priest Onias, 2 Maccabees 3:26. Read of the horrible death of the sacrilegious Antiochus Epiphanes, 2 Maccabees chapter 9, verse 5 and following. Leo, the son of Constantine Copronymus, was indeed a religious and pious Emperor from the beginning; but when he wore the crown of the Church donated by Maurice, he was struck with the disease of carbuncle, and finally perished of a burning fever. Peter, king of Aragon, invading the Church of Tarragona, was struck with a slap by St. Thecla, its protectress, appearing to him, and gradually wasted away. The Prince of Capua, a plunderer of the goods of the Church of the monastery of Monte Cassino, was struck with blindness in the year of the Lord 1078.
Moreover, religious who, contrary to their vow of poverty, steal goods common to the monastery and appropriate them to themselves are guilty of the same anathema and sacrilege: for it is not lawful for a religious to have private property, and such persons are to be expelled as anathemas.
Verse 26: A great heap of stones
26. They heaped over him a great pile of stones. — This stoning is different from the one mentioned in verse 25; for that one was done to Achan while alive, this to him when dead: namely so that through it a heap of stones might be raised as a perpetual monument of the previous stoning and the sacrilege that had been avenged.