John Calvin on Joshua 7:9

9. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants, etc He mentions another ground of fear. All the neighboring nations, who, either subdued by calamities or terrified by miracles, were quiet, will now resume their confidence and make a sudden attack upon the people. It was indeed probable, that as the divine power had crushed their spirit and filled them with dismay, they would come boldly forward to battle as soon as they knew that God had become hostile to the Israelites. He therefore appeals to God in regard to the future danger, entreating him to make speedy provision against it, as the occasion would be seized by the Canaanites, who, though hitherto benumbed with terror, will now assume the aggressive, and easily succeed in destroying a panic-struck people.

It is manifest, however, from the last clause, that he is not merely thinking of the safety of the people, but is concerned above all for the honor of the divine name, that it may remain inviolable, and not be trampled under foot by the petulance of the wicked, as it would be if the people were ejected from the inheritance so often promised. We know the language which God himself employed, as recorded in the song of Moses, (Deuteronomy 32:26, 27)

“I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them cease among men; were it not that I feared the wrath (pride) of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord has not done all this.”

The very thing, then, which God declares that he was, humanly speaking, afraid of, Joshua wishes now to be timelessly prevented; otherwise the enemy, elated by the defeat of the people, will grow insolent and boast of triumphing over God himself.

Joshua 7:10-18

10. And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

10. Tunc dixit Jehova ad Josuam, Surge. Ut quid tu ita procidis super faciem tuam?

11. Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

11. Peccavit Israel, atque adeo transgressi sunt pactum meum quod praecepi illis, atque etiam tulerunt de anathemate, atque etiam furati sunt, atque etiam mentiti, atque etiam reposuerunt in vasa sua.

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 you destroy the accursed from among you.

12. Itaque non potuerunt filii Israel stare coram inimicis suis: cervicem vertent coram inimicis suis: The English version puts the verb in the past tense, and translates “turned their backs;” Calvin’s “vertent cervicem,” “will turn their neck;” making the expression not a declaration of what had taken place, but a denunciation of what was still to take place, is truer to the original, and has also the sanction of the Septuagint, which has αὐχένα ὑποστρέψουσιν. Luther even adds to the force of the expression by saying, “muffen ihren Feinven ven Ruden fehren;” “must turn the back on their enemies.” Calvin’s punctuation of the same verse is peculiar. By making a colon at enemies, he separates the words “quia sunt in anathema,” from the end of the first, and makes it the beginning of the second clause, which accordingly reads thus: “Because they are in anathema, (have taken of the accursed thing,) I will not continue to go with you,” etc. — Ed. quia sunt in anathema, non perseverabo esse vobiscum, nisi deleatis anathema e medio vestri.

13. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus says the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until you take away the accursed thing from among you.

13. Surge, sanctifica populum et dicas, Sanctificate vos in crastinum: sic enim dicit Jehova Deus Israel, Anathema est in medio tui Israel: non poteris stare coram inimicis tuis, donec abstuleris anathema e medio vestri.

14. In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.

14. Accedetis ergo mane per tribus vestras, et tribus quam deprehendet Jehvoa accedet per domos: et domus quam deprehendet Jehova accedet per viros.

15. And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has: because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has wrought folly in Israel.

15. Qui autem deprehensus fuerit in anathemate, comburetur igni, ipse, et omnia quae ejus sunt: quod transgressus fuerit pactum Jehovae, et quod fecerit nefas in Israel.

16. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:

16. Surrexit igitur Josue mane, et accedere fecit Israelem per tribus suas, et deprehensa est tribus Juda.

17. And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:

17. Tunc applicuit cognationes Juda, et deprehendit cognationem Zari, applicuit deinde familiam Zari per viros, et deprehensa est familia Zabdi.

18. And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

18. Et applicuit domum ejus per viros, et deprehensus est Achan filius Carmi, filii Zabdi, filii Zera, de tribu Juda.