Achan’s Sin and Israel’s Defeat
“And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath 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. 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. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow: for thus saith 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 ye take away the accursed thing from among you.” “That the example of Achan might excite the more general vigilance in Joshua, in the elders, and in every Israelite, they were given to understand that the guilt of an individual, in these atrocious crimes, would be accounted a national sin, until detected and punished; for they were all one body; nor could one part be infected with so dire a disease without the detriment and danger of the whole”—Scott’s Notes.