The Wheels of Justice

And it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the Lord, and because he has committed a disgraceful thingin Israel.   Joshua 7:15 NASB

Disgraceful thing – This is a very strange story.  Oh, it might not appear strange in translation but that’s because the translators have altered or added things to the text in order for it to make sense.  But the Hebrew is quite ambiguous.  We’re never quite sure what’s really happening or what Joshua is supposed to do about it until the end.  It’s almost as if the story needs to be read in reverse.  Let’s see why.

You will recall the events.  Joshua sends 3000 men to do battle with Ai, thinking that after the great victory at Jericho the Israelites are unstoppable.  But 36 men die and the people of Ai win the battle.  Joshua is dumbfounded.  How can this happen?  He appeals to God’s honor, asking for an explanation.  But God’s reply (“Get up!  Why are you on your face?”) implies that somehow Joshua should have known the cause of this disaster.  We suggested that, unlike Moses, Joshua did not accompany the men into battle.  Perhaps his lack of personal leadership was part of the problem.  God doesn’t say so.  He simply says that something has happened in Israel that has resulted in this disaster.  Then He gives Joshua instructions to determine the guilty party.  His instructions seem entirely unnecessary.  Since God clearly knows who the culprit is, why not just tell Joshua and be done with it?  Why involve the entire nation in some sort of mysterious revelation?  Furthermore, what is the nature of this offense that all Israel should be involved in this revelatory parade?

Our investigation starts with God’s declaration that someone has committed “a disgraceful thing” in Israel.  The root of the term is nābāl.  TWOT 1285 נָבַל (nābal) II, be senseless, foolish^[1]  1285b   נְבָלָה (nĕbālâ) folly^[2]  So it’s not exactly something shameful.  It’s also something senseless, something foolish.  And whatever it is, it has happened not merely in one household but rather “in Israel” בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל  (“in Israel”).   This is very strange because the prior wording clearly says “he,” that is, a single male, is at fault.  The commentators suggest that this offense was somehow related to all of Israel.  It was “in” Israel.  But how can this be true?  None of this seems to fit the requirements of justice.  Here are the issues:  First, 36 men die in the battle, but the fault is with only one.  Why should others die?  Second, Joshua gave the command about the forbidden things but no consequences were explained.  No one knew that defeat would happen because the crime was entirely secret.  Third, God was the one who allowed the men to be killed but He never warned them about the consequences of taking the forbidden things.  If God knew that disaster was on the horizon, why didn’t He say something.  Finally, even though God knows who the man is, He doesn’t tell Joshua.  Instead He instructs Joshua to go through a public parade without any description of how that is to be accomplished.

This is why another term in the translation must be questioned.  That term is found in the previous verse: “So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord selects by lot shall come forward by families, . .” (Joshua 7:14)  But the word for “selects by lot” doesn’t appear in the Hebrew text.  It has been added.  Why?  Because God’s instructions don’t actually tell Joshua what to do.  In Hebrew the verse simply says, “In the morning you shall come near by your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe that the Lord yilkeden,” from the root lākadwhich means “to seize, to capture.”[3]  But how will the Lord “seize” or “capture” the tribe?  The translators turn this into a lottery.  Rabbinic commentators say that the tribes had to pass by the ark and the tribe of the culprit would be “frozen” in place.  But none of these suggestions are in the text.  What Joshua is supposed to do with the tribes, the families, and the person is completely absent!

But the whole story is ambiguous.  Joshua doesn’t know what happened.  God doesn’t actually explain the procedure.  God tells Joshua how to determine who the man is but why the parade?  Why have everyone participate in this?  Why not just tell Joshua who it is? Does this imply that all Israel is somehow involved?  Or that others also doubted Joshua’s authority?  The parade demonstrates God’s endorsement of Joshua but only after the disaster.  Why?  How could it be a disgrace in Israel if no one knew about it?  Clearly Joshua didn’t know or else he would not have complained.  And now God tells him it is one person, so why involve the entire community unless there are others who were thinking the same way?

The whole story seems to be a kind of retroactive justice, that is, after the infraction then God determines the punishment.  Some important elements are simply missing.  They are added from the Oral Torah or the hand of the translator.

When someone tells you that the word of God is clear and unequivocal, point them to this story.  Without tradition it simply has too many holes.

Topical Index: justice, capture, lākad, nābāl, disgrace, folly, Joshua 7:15

^[1] Goldberg, L. (1999). 1285 נָבַל. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 547). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.

[3] Alter translates this as “lot,” but with the footnote: “The verb repeatedly used in this section also means ‘to catch’ or ‘to trap.’  What is involved in this process is an oracular device—most likely the Urim and the Thummim—that yields a binary yes/no answer, thus serving to select one from many.”  The Hebrew Bible: Volume 2 Prophets, p. 27.