Midrash su Giosuè 7:24

The Exilarch said to R. Huna: "It is written (Ib., ib. 24) And Joshua took Achan the son of Zerach, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his ass, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and all Israel were with him, and they brought them up into the valley of Achor. If, he had sinned, what was the crime of his sons and daughters?" He answered: "According to your theory, ask, if he had sinned, what was the fault of Israel? For it is written, and all Israel were with him. Hence it was only to warm them. The same answer could be given [regarding his sons and daughters]." And all Israel burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. Were they, then, punished with both? Rabina said: "Those things which were fit for burning — as silver, gold, and garments — were burned, and those which were fit for stoning — as oxen and other cattle — were stoned." (Ib., ib. 21) I saw among the spoil a handsome Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver. Rab said: "It was a cloak of fine wool." And Samuel said: "A cloak dyed with Alum." (Ib., ib. 23) And he laid them out before the Lord. R. Nachman said: "Joshua laid them down closely upon one another before the Lord, saying: 'Sovereign of the Universe! were these little things of such great importance that the majority of the Sanhedrin should be killed on account of them?'" As it is written (Ib., ib. 5) And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; and there is a Baraitha: Thirty-six men were slain. So said R. Juda. R. Nechemia said to him: "Is it then written thirty-six men? It is only written about thirty-six men. This refers to Ja'ir b. Menasseh, who was equal to the majority of the Sanhedrin, that was put to death."

6 (Numb. 34:2) “This is the land that shall fall to you as your portion”: And does the land fall? But is it not written (in Eccl. 1:4), “but the land stands forever?” It is simply that when the spies came and put out slander on the land, Moses got angry. [Then] all of Israel said, “Moses, our teacher, if these spies were two [or] three, it would be correct for us to trust [them], as stated (Deut. 17:6), ‘By the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ And behold, they are ten, (as in Deut. 1:28), ‘To where shall we go up; our kinsmen have taken the heart out of us, saying, “We saw there a people stronger and taller than we.”’” As it were, [they were complaining that] the Master of the house is not able to remove his vessels (the inhabitants) from there. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took the ministering angel of the land and bound him and put him down in front of them, as stated (Deut. 1:21), “See the Lord, your God, has placed in front of you....” And was [the land] in front of them? It is simply that He put down its ministering angel. And He said to them (in Deut. 1:21, cont.), “Go up and possess..., do not fear and do not tremble,” not from the Nephilim and not from the numerous people. (Ezek. 45:1) “When you allot the land as an inheritance....”: This text is related (to Ps. 16:6), “Portions of land fell to me in pleasantness, even a beautiful inheritance for me.” “Portions of land fell to me”: These are the twelve tribes, since the land was divided to the twelve tribes, as stated (in Ezek. 47:13), “Thus said the Lord God, ‘These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel.’” “In pleasantness,” in the merit of the Torah, about which it is stated (in Prov. 22:18), “As it is pleasant that you should store them in your belly [...].” There is a man who is handsome but his clothing is ugly, and one who is ugly but his clothing handsome. But [regarding] Israel, they adorn the land and the Land adorns them. Hence it is stated (in Ps. 16:6), “Even a beautiful inheritance for me.” And so too is it stated (in Job 29:14), “I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me.” It is written (in Josh. 7:19), “Then Joshua said unto Achan, ‘My son, please give glory to the Lord God of Israel [and make a confession to Him; please tell me what you have done, do not hide it from me.]’” Achan said to him, “Am I to die because of this thing that you are saying?” When Achan saw [the situation], he said in his heart, “Now I shall be entrapped by the lot. Then I shall be found untrue (rt.: 'mn) and deemed a liar before Joshua.” At that moment Achan said to Joshua, “Why are you casting lots between me and my house? Let me cast lots between you and Phinehas! If the lot does not come up for both of you, I also shall believe (rt.: 'mn) [in it].” At that moment (according to Josh. 7:19) Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make a confession to Him. Please tell me what you have done.” Achan said to him, “You also tell me what you have done.” Immediately discord broke out in Israel, so that [Achan's] tribe of Judah arose in strife and killed one group in Israel after another. When Achan saw this, he said in his heart, “If anyone saves a single life in Israel, it is as though he had saved the entire world; yet in my case, it has been through me that several people in Israel have been killed. I am a sinner and one who causes [others] to sin. It is better [for me] to confess my transgression before the Holy One, blessed be He, and before Joshua, so that no calamity come about through me.” What did Achan do? He arose and made his voice heard, so that the whole congregation turned to him. He said to Joshua (in vs. 20), “’(Truly) I am the one who sinned before the Lord God of Israel; thus and so (literally, like this and like this) is what I have done.’ So it was not this alone, but I have already misappropriated other [things].”⁶See Gen. R. 85:14, according to which Achan had acted dishonestly in the person of his great grandfather, Zerah, the son of Judah by Tamar. Joshua said to him, “Indeed I also knew that you were responsible for the situation; (Josh. 7:19,) ‘please tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me.’” (Vs. 21) “I saw among the spoils”: [He said,] “I have seen what is written in the Torah (in Deut. 20:14), ‘you may eat the spoils of your enemies.’” (Josh. 7:21, cont.) “A fine shinar mantle”: [He continued,] “Now do not say that I am poor and in need, for there is no one in the tribe [of Judah] wealthier than I. Immediately (there follows vs. 22), “Then Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent and behold buried in his tent was the silver […].” For what reason did Joshua send them? So that the tribe of Judah would not steal them (i.e., the stolen articles) and continue in the discord. Joshua therefore sent quickly, and (according to vs. 23) “they brought them unto Joshua and unto all the Children of Israel; and they spread them out before the Lord.” What is the significance of “and they spread them out?” Joshua said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, is it because of these that You have been angry with Your children? Here they are set before you.” Immediately [we read] (in vs. 24), “Then Joshua took Achan ben Zerah, the silver, the mantle, and the wedge of gold, together with his sons and his daughters,” [the latter] in order to teach them a lesson; “his ox, his ass, […] and his tent,” for burning. (Vs. 24, cont.) “And all Israel [Joshua took] with him,” to see his punishment so that they would not become accustomed to acting in this way. (Vs. 24, cont.) “And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor (akhor; rt.: 'kr).” (Vs. 25) “Then Joshua said, ‘Just as you have afflicted (rt.: 'kr) us, [may the Lord afflict (rt.: 'kr) you] this day:’”⁷Without the bracketed words, the verse would read: HOW YOU HAVE AFFLICTED US THIS DAY! This day [only] is he to be afflicted ('akhur; rt.: 'kr), but he will have a share in the world to come. (Vs. 25, cont.) “Then all Israel pelted him with stones,” him alone; “and they burned them with fire”: The text is speaking of his wealth, for so it had been told [Joshua] by the Almighty (in vs. 15), “And it shall come to pass that the one who has been seized with what has been proscribed shall be burned with fire....” If so, what do we learn from the verse (vs. 15, cont.), “him, and all that he has?” [This passage] is only to teach you that Achan had confessed that he had stolen them on the Sabbath, when he took them out of Jericho and buried them in the midst of his tent. Thus he was stoned for profaning the Sabbath and burned because he had transgressed the ban. And where is it shown? You find that the Holy One, blessed be He, said so to Joshua (in Josh. 6:2–4), “See, I have given Jericho into your hands, along with its king and the mighty warriors. So you shall go around the city with all the men of war to encompass the city one time, thus shall you do for six days. [… but on the seventh day you shall go around the city seven times].” [This passage serves] to teach you that Jericho was conquered on the Sabbath. Now Joshua did this thing on his own, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave his consent. Joshua said (to himself), “The Sabbath is holy, as stated (in Exod. 31:14), ‘You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.’ And whatever we conquer shall be holy.” It is so stated (in Josh. 6:19), “But all the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord.” And where is it shown that he received consent? Where it is stated (in Josh. 6:17), “The city and everything in it are to be proscribed for the Lord.” At that time (according to Josh. 7:26) “the Lord turned from His burning anger.” Concerning [this matter], it is stated (in Prov. 16:14), “The king's anger is like messengers of death, and whoever is wise will appease it.” This refers to Joshua, who caused the burning anger of the Lord to turn away from Israel.

Joshua went and rent his garments, and fell upon his face to the ground before the Ark of the Covenant of God, and he sought (to effect) repentance, and the Holy One, blessed be He, was appeased by him, and He said to him: Joshua ! Israel has trespassed the sin of trespass in the matter of the devoted things, as it is said, "Israel hath sinned" (Josh. 7:11). Joshua gazed at the twelve || stones which were upon the High Priest, which correspond to the twelve tribes. Every tribe that had done some transgression, the light (of its stone) became dim, and he saw the stone of the tribe of Judah, the light of which became dim. And he knew that the tribe of Judah had transgressed in the matter of the devoted thing. He cast lots, and Achan was taken, as it is said, "And he brought near his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, was taken" (Josh. 7:18). Joshua took Achan, the son of Zerach, with the silver and the mantle and the tongue of gold, and his sons and his daughters, and all that he had, and he brought them up into the valley of Achor. And it is written, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers" (Deut. 24:16). But because they were cognizant of the matter, and did not report it, he stoned them and burnt them. If there was a burning, why (was there) a stoning, and if a stoning, why a burning? But the stoning was because they knew of the matter and did not report it; burning (was inflicted) because thirty-six righteous men died through him, as it is said, "And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men" (Josh. 7:5).