Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 6:26
And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it.
26, 27. The Curse upon Jericho
26. adjured them ] i.e. “put an oath upon them.”
Cursed be the man ] A city, which was cherem or “devoted,” could not be rebuilt, Deu 13:15-17. Joshua therefore pronounces an imprecation on the foundation of Jericho. The words “have a rhythmical and antistrophical form; which was probably adopted for greater solemnity, and to impress them more deeply on the memories of the people.” Bp Wordsworth.
and buildeth ] So Agamemnon is said to have uttered a curse upon Ilium, and Scipio upon Carthage. Here the curse is to be understood as extending only to the walls and gates of Jericho, or a fortified place, on which, as bidding proud defiance to the host, the attention of Joshua, as a military leader, would chiefly fasten. Comp. 1Ki 15:17; 2Ch 11:5. He himself gave it to the Benjamites (Jos 18:21), and it was inhabited in the time of the Judges (Jdg 3:13; 2Sa 10:5).
he shall lay the foundation ] What the prophecy foretells is that the beginning of the building would be marked by the death of the builder’s eldest son, and the end of it by the death of his youngest. Comp. Jos. Antiq. 5:1. 8. In the ungodly reign of Ahab the prophecy was fulfilled; Hiel, a native of Bethel, “built Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua” (1Ki 16:34). Observe the incidents connected with Jericho in the life of the Antitype of the first Joshua. Here He entered into the house of Zacchus (Luk 19:5; Luk 19:9); here He healed blind Bartimus (Mar 10:46; Mar 10:52); He mentioned Jericho in the parable of “the Good Samaritan” (Luk 10:30); in the vicinity of the city He repeated the announcement of His coming sufferings (Luk 18:31).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Adjured – i. e. put an oath upon them; or, perhaps, actually caused them themselves to take an oath (compare Mat 26:63). The words of the oath have in the original a rhythmical character which would tend to keep them on the lips and in the memory of the people.
Buildeth this city – i. e. rebuilds the fortifications. Jericho was at once occupied by the Benjamites. Jos 18:21, and the natural advantages of the situation were such that it would not be likely to be left long desolate. Joshua speaks in the text as a warrior. He lays a ban on the re-erection of those lofty walls which had bidden defiance to Gods host, and been by Gods signal interposition overthrown. Hiel, the Bethelite, reckless of the prophecy recorded in our text, began and completed the circumvallation of the city a second time (see the marginal reference). Hiel did not found a new city but only fortified an existing one.
He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born – i. e. when he begins this work his eldest son shall die, when he completes it his youngest shall die (see 1Ki 16:34 note).
This chapter read in the light of the New Testament has indications of a further import and bearing than such as concerned Joshua and the Jews. As Joshua, the leader and captain of the Jewish theocracy, is a type of Christ, so is Jericho to be taken (with all Christian expositors) as a type of the powers opposed to Christ and His cause. The times which prepare for the close of Gods present dispensation are signified in the days during which the people obeyed and waited; as the number of those days, seven, the number of perfection, represents that fullness of time, known only to God, at which His dispensation will culminate and close. Thus the circumstances which lead up to the fall of Jericho are an acted prophecy, as was that fall itself, which sets forth the overthrow of all that resists the kingdom of which Christ is the head; and particularly the day of judgment, in which that overthrow will be fully and finally accomplished. Paul, in describing that day, seems to borrow his imagery from this chapter (see 1Th 4:16).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. And Joshua adjured them at that time] It appears that he had received intimations from God that this idolatrous city should continue a monument of the Divine displeasure: and having convened the princes and elders of the people, he bound them by an oath that they should never rebuild it; and then, in their presence, pronounced a curse upon the person who should attempt it. The ruins of this city continuing would be a permanent proof, not only of God’s displeasure against idolatry, but of the miracle which he had wrought in behalf of the Israelites; and for these reasons God willed that it should not be rebuilt: nevertheless, he left men to the operation of their own free will, and recorded the penalty which those must pay who should disobey him.
He shall lay the foundation thereof, c.] This is a strange execration but it may rather be considered in the light of a prediction. It seems to intimate that he who should attempt to rebuild this city, should lose all his children in the interim, from laying the foundation to the completion of the walls; which the author of 1Kg 16:34 says was accomplished in Hiel the Beth-elite, who rebuilt Jericho under the reign of Ahab, and laid the foundation of it in Abiram, his first-born, and set up its gates in his youngest son Segub: this was 550 years after Joshua pronounced the curse. But we are not sure that this means that the children either died a natural or violent death on this occasion for we may understand the history as relating to the slow progress of the work. Hiel having begun the work at the birth of his first-born, was not able to conclude before the birth of his last child, who was born many years after: and as their names are mentioned, it is very likely that the distance of time between the birth of each was well known when this history was written; and that the extraordinary length of time spent in the work, in which a multitude of vexatious delays had taken place, is that to which the prophetic execration relates. Yet the first opinion is the most probable. We must not suppose that Jericho had been wholly neglected from its overthrow by Joshua to the days of Hiel; if it be the same with the city of palm trees, mentioned De 34:3. We find it mentioned as an inhabited place in the beginning of Jdg 1:16, a short time after the death of Joshua: And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees, with the children of Judah, c. and this said city (if the same with the city of palm trees) was taken from the Israelites by Eglon king of Moab, Jdg 3:13. The ambassadors of David, who were disgracefully treated by Hanun king of the Ammonites, were commanded to tarry at Jericho till their beards should grow, 2Sa 10:4-5. It appears, therefore, that there was a city which went under this name long before the time of Hiel, unless we can suppose that the city of palm trees was a different place from Jericho, or that the name Jericho was given to some part of the circumjacent country after the city was destroyed, which is very probable.
After Hiel had rebuilt this city, it became of considerable consequence in the land of Judea: the courses of priests lodged there, who served in their turns at the temple; see Lu 10:30. There was a school of the prophets there, which was visited by Elijah and Elisha, 2Kg 2:4-5; 2Kg 2:18; and it was at this city that our Lord miraculously healed blind Bartimeus, Mr 10:46; Lu 18:35, &c. At present, Jericho is almost entirely deserted, having but thirty or forty miserable cabins in it, which serve for a place of refuge to some wretched Moors and Arabs, who live there like beasts. The plain of Jericho, formerly so celebrated for its fertility, is at present uncultivated, producing nothing but a few wild trees, and some very indifferent fruits. See Calmet.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Adjured them; or, made them to swear; caused the people, or some in the name of all, to swear for the present and succeeding generations, and to confirm their oath by a curse.
Before the Lord, i.e. from Gods presence, and by his sentence, as they are said to east lots before the Lord, Jos 18:8,10, i.e. expecting the decision from God. He intimates, that he doth not utter this in a passion, or upon a particular dislike of that place, but by Divine inspiration, as appears from 1Ki 16:34. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of Gods justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means.
That riseth up and buildeth, i.e. that shall attempt or endeavour to build it. So this curse is restrained to the builder, but no way belongs to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 2:18; Luk 19:1,5. The builder shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it by degrees, and the youngest in the close of it, when the gates use to be set up. This was fulfilled, 1Ki 16:34.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. Joshua adjured them at thattimethat is, imposed upon his countrymen a solemn oath,binding on themselves as well as their posterity, that they wouldnever rebuild that city. Its destruction was designed by God to be apermanent memorial of His abhorrence of idolatry and its attendantvices.
Cursed be the man . . . thatriseth up and buildeth this city Jerichothat is, makes thedaring attempt to build.
he shall lay the foundationthereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set upthe gates of itshall become childlessthe first beginningbeing marked by the death of his oldest son, and his only survivingchild dying at the time of its completion. This curse wasaccomplished five hundred fifty years after its denunciation (see on1Ki 16:34).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joshua adjured [them] at that time,…. When the city was burnt and spoiled; not that he adjured the people individually, or one by one, which was not very practicable, but in a general way:
saying, cursed [be] the man before the Lord; let him be cursed by him with the curses written in the book of the law; and let him be driven from him, from his presence, as Cain was:
that riseth up, and buildeth this city Jericho; that rises up in future time, and rebuilds it; for it cannot be thought that after such an adjuration anyone would start up quickly, and rebuild it:
he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it; that is, while he is laying, or as soon as he has laid the foundation of the city, his eldest son should die; and as he went on with the building, other sons of his, if he had more than two, should be taken away by death likewise; and by the time he has finished it, signified by setting up the gates of it, both for ornament and security, his youngest and last son should die also; so that his whole posterity should be taken alway, as a curse of God upon him for rebuilding the city; which was fulfilled in Hiel the Bethelite, the rebuilder of this city in the times of Ahab, five or six hundred years after this adjuration was made, when either it was forgotten, or, however, little regarded: Maimonides observes g, that this was made that the miracle might remain in perpetual memory, for whoever should see the wall sunk in the earth, it would be plain and clear to him that this was not the form of a building demolished, but that it fell by a miracle; and yet this city became a very flourishing one in later times; we soon hear of the school of the prophets in it, 2Ki 2:5; here, Strabo h says, was a royal palace, where, as Josephus i relates, Herod died, and who speaks of an amphitheatre and hippodrome in it; in this city sometimes the sanhedrim sat, and a great number of the stationary priests dwelt, even half a station, twelve thousand of them, all which is observed by Dr. Lightfoot k; our Lord himself honoured it with his presence,
Lu 19:1.
g Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 50. h Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. i Antiqu. l. 17. c. 8. sect. 1. 2. k Chorograph. Cent. c. 47.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jericho Cursed, vs. 26-27
Joshua’s adjuration was a solemn warning that the city of Jericho was never again to be restored as a walled community, on penalty that whoever should defy the Lord’s curse would lay its foundation in the loss of his firstborn son and raise the gates in the death of his youngest.
Some commentators think the implication is that all sons of the builder would perish during the course of its building. While Jericho had inhabitants very soon after the Israelites settled in the land it was not refortified and walled until the time of King Ahab, when a man, Hiel the Bethelite, ignored the adjuration, built the city walls and suffered the penalty (see 1Ki 16:34).
The success of Israel against Jericho, under Joshua’s captaincy, further enhanced his prestige before the people. His fame also spread throughout the country still facing defeat at the hands of Israel and their God, (1Co 15:58).
Many lessons may be gleaned from this chapter: 1) God has a plan by which His work is to be done, and success will come to those who abide by it; 2) God’s plan is to be followed, even though it may seem logical, and right to men to do it some other way; 3) the Lord’s vanquishment of His enemies will ultimately be final and complete; 4) those who have entrusted themselves to the Lord will surely be delivered, even in perilous times; 5) God’s warnings are not to be flouted, for to do so will bring down on the head of the violator His wrath.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
26. And Joshua adjured them, etc This adjuration, then, was not merely to have effect for one day, but to warn posterity through all ages that that city had been taken only by divine power. He wished, therefore, that the ruins and devastation should exist for ever as a kind of trophy; because the rebuilding of it would have been equivalent to an erasure effacing the miracle. In order, therefore, that the desolate appearance of the place might keep the remembrance of the divine power and favor alive among posterity, Joshua pronounces a heavy curse upon any one who should again build the ruined city. From this passage we gather that the natural torpidity of men requires the aid of stimulants to prevent them from burying the divine favors in oblivion; and hence this spectacle, wherein the divine agency was made conspicuous to the people, was a kind of indirect censure of their ingratitude.
The substance of the imprecation is, that if any one ever attempt to rebuild Jericho he may be made sensible by the unpropitious and mournful result that he had done a cursed and abominable work. For to lay the foundations in his first-born, were just as if he were to cast forth his son to perish, crushed and buried beneath the mass of stones; and to set up the gates in his younger son, is the same thing as to plan an edifice which could not be erected without causing the death of a son. Thus he who should dare to make the insane attempt is condemned in his own offspring. Nor did Joshua utter this curse at his own suggestion; he was only the herald of celestial vengeance.
This makes it the more monstrous that among the people of God a man should have been found, whom that fearful curse, couched in formal terms, could not restrain from sacrilegious temerity. In the time of Ahab (1Kg 16:34) arose Hiel, a citizen of Bethel, who dared, as it were avowedly, to challenge God in this matter; but the Sacred History at the same time testifies, that the denunciation which God had pronounced by the mouth of Joshua did not fail of its effect; for Hiel founded the new Jericho in Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates in his younger son Segub, and thus learned in the destruction of his offspring what it is to attempt anything against the will and in opposition to the command of God. (68)
(68) This rebuilding by Hiel on the very site of the ancient city, took place, according to the ordinary chronology, 520 years after Joshua pronounced the curse. It would seem, however, that another Jericho had been built at a much earlier period, not actually on the former site which, while the memory of the curse remained, was probably avoided, but at no great distance from it. Of this fact, the mention made of Jericho in Jos 18:21, as one of the cities of Benjamin, is not decisive, because it may have been intended to indicate merely a locality, and not an actually existing city, nor is it absolutely certain that the “city of palm trees” which Eglor captured, (Jud 3:13) was a rebuilt Jericho, though by that name Jericho was generally known. Its existence, however, at least a century before Hiel, is clearly established by the directions given to David’s ambassadors, after their insulting treatment by the king of Ammon, “to tarry at Jericho.” (2Sa 10:5) It may be worth while briefly to glance at the subsequent history of Hiel’s sacrilegious city. As if the penalty of rebuilding had been fully paid by the exemplary punishment inflicted on the founder, the curse appears to have been withdrawn, and in the course of about twenty years we learn that it had not only been selected as a school of the prophets, (2Kg 2:5,) but received a very important addition to its other attractions as a residence by the miraculous cure of its waters by Elisha. (2Kg 2:18.) Its inhabitants, on the return from the Babylonish captivity, are mentioned as having assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (Neh 3:2) At a later period Jericho was fortified by the Syrian general Bacchides, or rather received from him additions to its previously existing fortifications, (1Ma 9:50) but does not seem to have acquired very much importance till the time of Herod the Great, who, after capturing and sacking it, rebuilt it in a much more magnificent form, and erected in it a splendid palace, where he often resided and ultimately died. It also became a favorite residence of his son but by the display of his miraculous agency. It appears in the latter period of the Roman empire to have ranked as one of the chief cities of Palestine. The general devastation of the country on the dissolution of that empire effected its final ruin, and its site is now only doubtfully represented by a miserable village called Riha, containing from 200 to 300 souls. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Jos. 6:26. Cursed be the man that buildeth this city Jericho. It is exceedingly difficult to accept the generally received view, and to believe that this curse relates merely to the rebuilding of the city walls, and to the restoration of the fortifications.
(1.) The old city seems to have been burnt, and utterly destroyed (Jos. 6:24).
(2.) A new city of some extent appears to have been built within the next seven, or at latest, within the next twenty-five years (Jos. 6:21; Jdg. 1:16). Within the next century, Jericho became of sufficient importance for Eglon to make war against Israel by attacking it, and the fall of the city was accepted as the defeat of the Hebrew nation (Jdg. 3:13-14). It is therefore fair to suppose that even within the first quarter of a century after its overthrow by Joshua, Jericho began to assume considerable importance.
(3.) This new city would perhaps have been even more easily built on a new site than on the old site. It is not likely that it would be wholly rebuilt on any site during the earlier years of the war: a few houses on a new site would be accessible, whereas a few houses on the old site would be almost unapproachable. In any case, there is no improbability in supposing a new site not far removed from the former city.
(4.) It is quite natural to suppose that a new city on an adjacent site would take the old names.
(5.) If Jericho were rebuilt in the time of Joshua, or within a few years of his death, it is almost impossible to believe that the people of those days would build on the old site. (a) Joshuas curse was no caprice of his own; he was bound to pronounce it by the law of Moses (Deu. 13:16-17). (b) The curse on a devoted city was irrespective of whether it had any fortifications or not; the city itself was to be a heap for ever. (c) Though the law was ignored during the wicked times of the Judges, Joshua and the people of his day were too pious and too loyal to God to have set at defiance a law which Joshua had reiterated himself, and in the awful solemnity of which that generation had received such long and terrible instruction.
(6.) Finally, though city gates probably suppose walls, Hiels children are said to have been slain, not because of fortifying an old city by re-erecting the walls, but because he did build Jericho. Both the curse and its fulfilment are said to have regard to building the city, and not merely the walls of the city.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jos. 6:26-27
THE RUINS OF JERICHO
Reasons have already been given for the conclusion that Joshuas curse was pronounced against the man who should rebuild the city of Jericho on its original site, rather than against him who should re-enclose any newly built city with a wall. The very nature and object of the curse (cf. Deu. 13:16) are so entirely lost sight of by the latter conjecture, that this alone seems sufficient to render the opinion untenable. The place could not be called a heap for ever, and thus stand as a memorial of Divine reprobation, merely because it lacked a wall. Strabos allusion to similar curses pronounced in connection with the rebuilding of Carthage, Troy, and Sidene, is well known. In the case of Jericho, the curse was doubtless intended to keep the memorial of desolation before the eyes of coming generations. The ruins of the city would go on speaking vividly for ages, while a new city on the old site would obliterate the traces, and thus also the memory of this judgment of God.
I. The ruined city a permanent memorial of Gods hatred of idolatry. There would be sermons in stones, which the Israelites could hardly fail to read. God made the vision of His anger so plain upon the tables of these dismantled walls, that he who read might well run from the desolating influences and issues of idolatry.
II. The ruined city a lasting monument of miraculous help from heaven. The Israelites would have other conflicts, in the future. Their future soldiers might come and see these walls as God had left them, and thus learn, that no enemies were strong enough, and no fortifications sufficiently solid, to resist the people whose helper was the Lord. The ruins would themselves take up the Divine word to Joshua, and continually preach, Be strong and of a good courage.
III. The ruined city a constant appeal to Israel not to trust in an arm of flesh. Jericho was a stronghold of the land, and a key to its possession. The old inhabitants could not stand with the fortress. The Israelites, with the Lord on their side, could take the city without lifting a single weapon against its walls. God meant His children to learn here how to sing, in all future emergencies, the song of after years, I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. The generations to come were to see that they were never to trust in their own strength, and never to doubt the sufficient power of the Lord.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos. 6:26. THE FAITHFUL WORD.
About five hundred and thirty years after this curse was pronounced, a Bethelite named Hiel rebuilt this city, and suffered the exact penalty here predicted. It cannot be doubted that Hiel knew of Joshuas curse, knew that the city had been made cherem, and that, according to the law of Moses, it was to remain a heap for ever. Hiel would probably be as well acquainted with the curse as the writer of the history in the book of Kings. The very tone and manner in which the transgression is mentioned, seem also to indicate that this Bethelite knew that he was doing that which was forbidden. This record in Joshua, taken in connection with 1Ki. 16:34, suggests the following thoughts:
I. The easy path to unbelief of God. The law itself might have assured Hiel that the curse was no mere utterance of Joshuas vindictive or excited feelings, but the mind and will of Jehovah. Assuming that the man knew of the curse, it is impossible to think that he believed it would come true. No father would have thus recklessly sacrificed his children. It is interesting, and should be instructive, to place ourselves mentally in the position of this Bethelite, and endeavour to ascertain by what process of reasoning he might be led to conclude that the curse would not take effect.
1. Hiel might have thought that time had rendered the curse null and void. Nearly five centuries and a half had rolled away since the fall of the ancient city; and it would be easy to hope, and presently get to feel, that the curse must have lost all its vitality during that long period. It is not difficult for men to persuade themselves that the threatenings of the Bible are very old, and to treat them as correspondingly weak. Men read of sins penalty on Eli, on David, on Gehazi, on Ananias and Sapphira, and see that sin was punished; and they are told that God still is angry with the wicked. Then they remember that the Scriptures are not merely five hundred, but some eighteen hundred, years old; and forthwith they persuade themselves that time must have rusted away the edge from the sword of Divine threatenings. So Hiel might have thought, but, for all that, Abiram dies, and Segub also. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2. Hiel might have reasoned, It is unlike the mercy of God to deal with me thus severely, even if this be a trespass. Think of this man as sitting down to study the character of God: he would find mercy in Egypt, mercy in the wilderness, and mercy in the after-history of Canaan; and might presently conclude, It is altogether unlike God to punish my innocent children, even though my act might be guilty in His sight. Nevertheless, this mans children died. Life is everywhere vicarious, and God seems to have chosen this way to teach very emphatically that no man can sin without doing wrong to his fellows, and especially to his own children. Meanwhile we are left to see that our reasoning on Divine mercy never alters facts.
3. Hiel might have said, I can see no reason for this strange command. He might have thought it of little consequence in heaven whether he should build on a hundred acres lying towards his right hand, or on a hundred other acres lying on his left. It is not enough that we can call Gods commandments strange: this is no sufficient reason for disobedience, or for unbelief. The ordinances of the Old and New Testaments may not be after the pattern of human fancy; they were given, nevertheless, for faithful observance. The cross is strange, and salvation through faith not less so, but if God be gracious enough to save us, it ill becomes us to cavil at the method.
4. Hiel might have persuaded himself, This curse, after all, may be merely a tradition; or it may be the curse of Joshua, and not the utterance of God. Hiel ought to have known the law of Moses; but probably the neglect of God, common at this period, was accompanied by neglect of Gods word. The man, if he much wished to build the city, might not find it difficult to treat the reported history as a tradition, or to consider the curse as the outcome of Joshuas excitement in the hour of victory. Men may treat the Scriptures as uninspired, calling this Gospel the book of a man named John, and another a history by a Jew named Mat hew, and the Epistles so many different letters by various writers; but when men have succeeded in taking all thoughts of Divine inspiration out of their creed, the inspiration of the Scriptures remains exactly as it was before. The promises are as precious as ever, and the threatenings as terrible.
5. Most likely, however, Hiel built Jericho without troubling himself to think upon the curse with any earnest consideration whatever. While he probably knew of the history, and had most likely heard of the curse, and possibly loved his children, he might proceed in a sort of careless hope that no harm would follow. More men are lost by careless unbelief than by deliberate disbelief. Where intelligent and honest scepticism slays its tens, carelessness destroys its millions.
II. The absolute and unfailing truthfulness of Gods words. Not one jot or tittle of this curse passed away. Abiram and Segub both died, the one at the laying of the foundation, the other at the setting up of the gates of the city. History shews an unbroken fulfilment of the Scriptures. It cannot be denied that much learning and enmity have for many years been arrayed against the Bible: it is something to say that no serious attempt has ever been made by infidels to prove it guilty of broken promises.
III. The bad influences of unholy associations. It was in the days of Ahab that Hiel built Jericho, and the man himself was a Bethelite, In the city where Jeroboam had set up his calf, making the place a metropolis of idolatry; and during the reign of Ahab, who did more to provoke the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him; there and then did Hiel build Jericho. This single sentence of history is one of Gods many and everlasting monuments, erected in solemn protest against our association with wicked men; and from north, south, cast, and west there looks out from the grim column this inscription, Stand not in the way of sinners.
IV. The power of unbelief, when it is once seriously entertained. When Abiram died, it might have been thought that Hiel would have desisted; the curse was seen to be effective: yet this miserable man appears to have gone on building, losing, as some think, other children while the work was proceeding, and seeing his youngest child expire when he had set up the gates of the city. What must have been his feelings while disobedience and death were thus working together? We do not know; this we know, the early death, or deaths, did not prevent the continuation of the work. It is hard to win men from carelessness; it is still harder to rescue them from cultivated unbelief.
The imprecation upon Jericho;
(1) a well-deserved sentence; hence
(2) fulfilled as a prophetic word, when Hiel again built the city.
Rather bless than curse, because we are Christians. Men not to be cursed, but only sin. [Lange.]
The curse on Jericho, though fulfilled on Hiel and his children, seems to have been absolutely and definitely removed in the time of Elisha, and by that prophet, about twenty-two years after the city was rebuilt (cf. 2Ki. 2:19-22). The school of the prophets at Jericho (cf. 2Ki. 2:5) may not have been in the Jericho that Hiel built, but in the city which we have supposed to have been built on an adjacent site, and assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos. 18:21). If this were so, there was no recognition by God, or by godly men, of the city which Hiel built on the original site, until after the curse was removed by Divine direction. After the curse was thus removed, the city became again famous, and was conspicuous as the scene of several of our Lords miraculous works. Taken in this light, the history suggests the following important subject:
THE CURSE OF SIN AND ITS DIVINE REMOVAL
I. The occasion of sins curse.
1. The curse of sin ever comes by man. It is not arbitrary. God does not pronounce it on men because He has any pleasure in human pain and death. He swears by His own existence that this is not the case: As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. So far from that, the Scriptures represent God as grieved on account of human sin and woe. Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, weeps at the grave of Lazarus, and over the coming desolation of Jerusalem. As we have been told, God is
Not in blessedness supernal,
Sitting easy on a throne,
Dealing sorrow out to others,
With no sorrow of His own.
Rather let us remember that In all our afflictions He is afflicted.
2. The curse of sin is only pronounced after plain warnings. It was so in Eden: God said, In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, before He spake the curse which followed the fall. It was so with these Canaanites, who had been warned solemnly and often.
3. The curse of sin is, after all, full of mercy. Sin could have no severer curse than to remain uncursed. Not only of necessity, but also of love, sin worketh death. Death is within sin, as fruit is within the plant: that being so, Divine Love itself could do nothing more gentle, and nothing more kind, than to threaten punishment, and sometimes to inflict it from without.
II. The fulfilment of sins curse (cf. 1Ki. 16:34). This fulfilment is:
1. Sometimes long delayed. Hiels punishment was five hundred and thirty years after Joshuas execration.
2. Exceeding bitter. Hiels punishment seems more painful than if he had himself died.
3. Falls on men not only directly, but representatively. This, in the case of Hiels children, was only symbolical of the usual and essential consequence of sin: By one man sin entered into the world, and so death passed upon all men. If the children of this Bethelite died in infancy, we who believe that the infants of both dispensations are saved, can think of no greater mercy to them. The chastisement is on the father, who wronged himself, and, in an earthly sense, wronged them also; while the children are taken from the evil to come to a Father who wipes all tears from the eyes of all who dwell with Him.
4. Faithful to the Divine word. Hiels punishment tells how not one jot or one tittle of what God says passes away until all is fulfilled.
III. The removal of sins curse (cf. 2Ki. 2:19-22). The people who lived in the city which Hiel rebuilt seem to have suffered severely till God annulled the curse through Elisha. When God removes the curse of sin, He makes it as though no curse had ever been. He takes it away entirely. He forgets that it has ever been: Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. The Saviour throughout His ministry treats this city as though it had never known the curse. Here Jesus healed blind Bartimus and his fellow-sufferer; there Zacchus was told of Him who had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and heard his Lord say to him personally, This day is salvation come to thine house. Not least, it was on an incident occurring on the way down to Jericho that our Lord founded the parable of the Good Samaritan. Thus graciously does God take away the curse of sin, and enable His servants to say, Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Although quite unsuitable for homiletical purposes, the reader is referred to the article on Barrenness in Calmets Dictionary, for an exposition of the passage in 2Ki. 2:19-22; and also to the remarks of Josephus, Wars, iv. 8. 3. It will be noticed that Josephus plainly distinguishes between the old city, which Joshua took the first of all the cities of the land, and an adjacent Jericho, thus supporting the remarks previously made on this verse.
Jos. 6:27. When the Lord is with His servants,
(1) Their methods of service will appear singular to the world (Jos. 6:9-16);
(2) Their triumphs will be manifest, notwithstanding all obstacles (Jos. 6:20);
(3) Their obedience will be complete, even where difficult (Jos. 6:21);
(4) Their mercy and integrity will be conspicuous in the midst of indignation (Jos. 6:22-23);
(5) Their consecration will be thorough in the presence of temptation (Jos. 6:22);
(6) Their fame will eventually be as apparent as their faithfulness (Jos. 6:27). They will say with Paul, Thanks be to God who leads me on from place to place in the train of His triumph, to celebrate the victory over the enemies of Christ; and by me sends forth the knowledge of Him, a steam of fragrant incense throughout the world. For Christs is the fragrance which I offer up to God, whether among those in the way of salvation (as with Rahab), or among those in the way of perdition (as with the Canaanites); but to these it is an odour of death, to those of life. [Conybeares Paraphrase, 2Co. 2:14-16.]
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(26) Cursed be the man . . . that . . . buildeth this city Jericho.As the marginal reference indicates, the curse of Joshua was not incurred until Hiel the Bethelite built the city, in the reign of Ahab. But the city of palm-trees is (somewhat doubtfully) identified with Jericho, and this was occupied by the Moabites under Eglon, not very long after the time of Joshua (Jdg. 3:13, &c.), and seems to have been Eglons residence, where he was slain by Ehud.
The curse, fulfilled upon Hiel and his family, appears to have been finally removed by the intercession of Elisha (2Ki. 2:18-22), at the request of the inhabitants.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
JOSHUA’S ADJURATION AND FAME, Jos 6:26-27.
26. And Joshua adjured them Bound them with an oath; caused them to swear. This solemn charge, attended with all the solemnity of an adjuration, was designed to prevent Israel and his posterity from erecting again the walls which had been thrown down by the power of Jehovah. Joshua would have these prostrate defences of the wicked city a perpetual and impressive memorial of punished sin, and of the power and justice of Jehovah. We do not understand that the oath bound the Hebrews not to erect houses, but simply the walls and gates: for we find, in Jdg 3:13, the city of palms the usual appellation of Jericho spoken of as inhabited. Also, that in 2Sa 10:5, David orders his outraged embassy to “tarry in Jericho until their beards be grown.”
Cursed be the man before the Lord That is, Jehovah beholding and being judge. The curse is pronounced by divine sanction, and will fall at his command upon the daring man who shall attempt to restore these fallen walls, and thereby destroy their monumental significance.
In his firstborn That is, at the expense of his life. The meaning, evidently, of this strong poetic expression is, that the builder of the walls would suffer the loss of all his offspring, from the oldest to the youngest. [The words of the curse are in the form of poetic parallelisms, and may be rendered thus:
Cursed be the man before Jehovah,
Who rises up and builds this city of Jericho.
In his firstborn shall he lay its foundation,
And in his younger son shall he set up its gates.
Possibly this rhythmical passage, like that cited in Jos 10:13, was taken from the book of Jasher.] For a striking fulfilment of this prophetic curse, see 1Ki 16:34, where we find that Hiel accomplished this work, and suffered the penalty predicted five hundred and fifty years before.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before YHWH who rises up, and builds this city Jericho. He will lay the foundation of it with the loss of his firstborn, and with his youngest son he will set up the gates of it.” ’
Having devoted everything to YHWH Joshua now devoted the mound itself to YHWH. He put on it a curse, that a city should not be rebuilt on it (Deu 13:16), in the strongest terms he could think of. The loss of a firstborn and of a youngest son were both seen as appalling tragedies, the former especially to a man, the latter to a woman. This later remarkably came to fruition over four hundred years later when someone did rebuild it (1Ki 16:34). (This was unlikely to refer to a recognised sacrificial ritual otherwise it would not have been seen as unusual). Indeed Joshua may have intended it to be seen as signifying that the man’s whole progeny would be destroyed one by one as the building progressed, from eldest to youngest.
Such a curse on a ‘devoted’ city was seen as having great effect well beyond the bounds of Israel. The same happened to Troy and Carthage which were deliberately left desolate. It is ‘the wicked man’ who ‘dwells in cities that have been cut off, in houses which no man will inhabit’ (Job 15:28).
This does not mean that no one ever lived there, for settlement did possibly take place there (Jdg 1:16; Jdg 3:13 – although these may have been in tents at the oasis – Jos 18:21; 2Sa 10:5; 1Ch 19:5), but the idea was that it was not to be rebuilt as a city. (For the record New Testament Jericho was not situated on the old site).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 26. And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, &c. As soon as the city of Jericho was razed and destroyed, Joshua convened the chiefs and elders of the tribes, to signify to them the divine intention that this idolatrous city should never be rebuilt. Accordingly, he engaged them by oath never to raise it again; and these, certainly, bound the people in like manner, on pain of the divine malediction. This prudent general thought himself unable to erect a monument better adapted to the greatness of God, than to leave Jericho for ever buried in its ruins, thereby to announce to posterity his justice against wicked and incorrigible idolaters, and his beneficent power in favour of his people, whom he had caused to triumph over the inhabitants of Jericho in the most miraculous manner.
Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho! It is not of himself, but in the name and by the order of Jehovah, that Joshua here pronounces an anathema upon whoever shall dare to raise again the walls of Jericho. The view in which we have placed this command was pointed out by Maimonides. Joshua, says he, pronounced a curse against those who should build up Jericho, that the remembrance of the miracle which God had wrought by destroying it might never be effaced; for all who looked on these ruins thus sunk into the earth, clearly saw them to be the ruins of a city destroyed by a miracle, and not by the hand of men. More Nev. p. ii. c. 5. We may see from this passage, that Maimonides thought the walls of Jericho were swallowed up by the earth, rather than overthrown. In ancient history we meet with repeated instances of like imprecations and prohibitions to rebuild cities, whose perfidy or violence it was intended to punish, and whose power it was feared should be again revived. Thus Agamemnon cursed every one who should dare to build again the walls of Troy, Strabo, lib. xiii. p. 898; Croesus those who should rebuild Sidena. Ibid. and Scipio Africanus those who should attempt to repair Carthage. Zonar. Annal. lib. ix. p. 149. Cicero de Leg. Agr. Orat. 2.
He shall lay the foundation, &c. i.e. “All the children of such a man, from the greatest even to the least, shall be smitten with a premature death before the enterprise be finished; his first-born shall die when he begins to rear up the walls of this city, and his younger when he setteth up the gates thereof!” This prophetic malediction was literally accomplished about five hundred and fifty years after, in the person of Hiel, the Beth-elite, who, under the reign of Ahaz, laid the foundation of Jericho, in Abiram his first-born; and set up the gate, thereof, in his youngest son Segub. When, tempted by the situation of the territory in which Jericho lay, Hiel had ventured, through a criminal ignorance of Joshua’s prediction, or rather through unbelief, to rebuild this city at a small distance from the spot where it was originally placed, no one made any scruple of settling there; and the design of God seemed not to have been for prohibiting it. We see there a college of prophets; Elijah and Elisha frequented it (2Ki 2:15-18.); and after that our Saviour honoured it with his presence and miracles. Luk 19:1; Luk 19:48. Long before Hiel’s time, some one had already raised some of the ruins of Jericho. We should at least apprehend so, if Jericho was the same as the city of palm-trees; for this last subsisted in the time of Eglon, Jdg 3:13.; and it was at Jericho that David ordered his ambassadors to remain till their beards, which had been cut off by the command of king Hanun, were grown again; 2Sa 10:4-5. Jericho, at present, is almost entirely deserted; having but thirty or forty little houses in it, which serve as a retreat for some poor Moors and Arabs who live there like the beasts. The plain of Jericho produces hardly any thing more than some few wild trees, and bad fruit, which grow spontaneously without cultivation. We must not, however, pass over the roses of Jericho, or its oil, so excellent for wounds, which they extract from a fruit called by the Arabs za-cho-ne.
REFLECTIONS.Now is the hour of Jericho’s destruction come. At Joshua’s command, the hosts of Israel shout aloud; at the signal given by the trumpet’s long blast, and according to their faith, this proud city’s walls fall down before them. Such will be the triumphant shout of the Israel of God, when, under the conduct of the divine Joshua, they shall, in the last hour of their warfare, see all their foes laid low before them, and with their expiring breath triumph over death, their last enemy, and march through the breaches of the grave to the possession of the city of the living God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Evidently Joshua acted in this adjuration, under the immediate influence of the Spirit of the Lord. The event proves it, for in after ages, when Hial, the Bethelite, built Jericho, what Joshua had predicted came to pass: see 1Ki 16:34 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it.
Ver. 26. Cursed be the man. ] And yet there was found a man that durst rebuild it, 1Ki 16:34 as if he would despitefully spit in the face of Heaven, wrestle a fall with the Almighty.
In his firstborn.
a Speed, p. 445.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 6:26-27
26Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates. 27So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
Jos 6:26 and then Joshua made them take an oath at that time This oath would involve calling YHWH’s name into play on someone who acted in the way that was cursed. We learn from 1Ki 16:34 that this curse was literally fulfilled in the life of Hiel, the Bethelite.
Jos 6:27 This refers to the fear of the Canaanite population (their hearts melted).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. What is significant about the unusual military procedure used to capture Jericho?
2. Why is Rahab such a wonderful example of God’s grace?
3. Describe holy war.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
man. Hebrew. ish App-14.
buildeth this city i.e. its walla and gates (Jos 6:26), for Joshua himself gave it to the Benjamltes, Jos 18:12. Compare 2Sa 10:5. See note on Jos 6:20.
he shall lay. Prophecy fulfilled in Hiel the Beth-elite. 1Ki 16:34.
in = in [the death of] his firstborn.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
adjured: This is to be regarded as a prediction, that he who rebuilded this city should lose all his children in the interim between the laying of the foundation to the completion of the walls. Num 5:19-21, 1Sa 14:24-46, 1Ki 22:16, Mat 26:63, Act 19:13
Cursed: 1Ki 16:34, Mal 1:4
Reciprocal: Gen 27:7 – before the Lev 27:28 – no devoted Num 5:21 – an oath Num 21:2 – I will Deu 13:16 – an heap Deu 13:17 – the Lord Jos 16:7 – Jericho Jdg 9:57 – upon them 2Ki 2:4 – Jericho 2Ki 2:19 – the water Dan 2:5 – made Hab 2:12 – him Luk 19:1 – Jericho Act 23:12 – under a curse
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 6:26. Joshua adjured them at that time Hebrew, , jashbang, he made them to swear. As soon as the city was destroyed, it seems, he convened the heads of the tribes, to signify to them that it was the will of God this idolatrous city should never be rebuilt, and then engaged them to take an oath that they would leave it in ruins. And they doubtless bound the people in like manner not to rebuild it, on pain of the divine malediction. Cursed be the man before the Lord That is, from Gods presence, and by his sentence, as Joshua is said (Jos 18:8; Jos 18:10) to cast lots before the Lord, expecting the decision from God. He intimates that he does not utter this of himself, or in consequence of any particular dislike of that place; but from Jehovah, and by divine inspiration. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of his justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means. Thus Maimonides, the Jewish rabbi: Joshua pronounced a curse against those who should build up Jericho, that the remembrance of the miracle which God had wrought by destroying it might never be effaced; for all who looked on these ruins, thus sunk into the earth, (he thought the walls were swallowed up rather than overthrown,) clearly saw them to be the ruins of a city destroyed by a miracle, and not by the hand of men. Cursed be the man that buildeth this city That is, that shall attempt to build it. So this curse was restrained to the builder, but no way belonged to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 2:18; Luk 19:5. In his youngest son That is, he shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it, and the youngest in the close, when the gates were wont to be set up. This was exactly fulfilled, as we read, (1Ki 16:34,) Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, who died in the beginning of the work, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, who died when it was finished, and the gates were setting up.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:26 And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: {q} he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it.
(q) He will build it to the destruction of all his stock, which was fulfilled in Hiel of Beth-el, 1Ki 16:34.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The curse on the person tempted to rebuild Jericho (Jos 6:26) would have discouraged anyone from fortifying again this city that was a symbol of military power. God wanted His people to trust in Him for their security and not to rely on physical defenses primarily (cf. Jos 11:6). We could interpret building the city as building the fortifications of the city rather than as building houses on the site. The Israelites may have rebuilt and inhabited Jericho again during the period of the judges (Jos 18:21; Jdg 1:16; Jdg 3:13; 2Sa 10:5), but they may not have fortified it until much later. God executed Joshua’s curse on Hiel when he rebuilt Jericho’s fortifications during the reign of King Ahab of Israel (1Ki 16:34). Another explanation may be that Canaanites rebuilt Jericho but Hiel was the first Israelite to do so.
The miraculous victory over Jericho brought great honor to Joshua as Israel’s leader (Jos 6:27).
"Nothing can more raise a man’s reputation, nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God’s presence with him." [Note: Matthew Henry, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, p. 34.]
Keil and Delitzsch explained the reason for the miraculous defeat of Jericho as follows.
". . . Jericho was not only the first, but the strongest town of Canaan, and as such was the key to the conquest of the whole land, the possession of which would open the way to the whole, and give the whole, as it were, into their hands. The Lord would give His people the first and strongest town of Canaan, as the first-fruits of the land, without any effort on their part, as a sign that He was about to give them the whole land for a possession, according to His promise; in order that they might not regard the conquest of it as their own work, or the fruit of their own exertions, and look upon the land as a well-merited possession which they could do as they pleased with, but that they might ever use it as a gracious gift from the Lord, which he had merely conferred upon them as a trust, and which He could take away again, whenever they might fall from Him, and render themselves unworthy of His grace. This design on the part of God would of necessity become very obvious in the case of so strongly fortified a town as Jericho, whose walls would appear impregnable to a people that had grown up in the desert and was so utterly without experience in the art of besieging or storming fortified places, and in fact would necessarily remain impregnable, at all events for a long time, without the interposition of God." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 68.]
All the aspects of the battle at Jericho strengthened Israel’s faith in Yahweh. God’s people learned His strength and ability to overcome all their obstacles by personal experience here. They acted in faith, obeying His Word and trusting in the outcome He had promised. This day Israel reached a high water mark in her spiritual history. We should learn the same things from this record, as well as from the supernatural victories God has given each of us. Israel also became a nation among nations in the ancient Near East with this victory. [Note: See Eugene H. Merrill, "The Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Transition and the Emergence of Israel," Bibliotheca Sacra 152:606 (April-June 1995):145-62.]