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he should steal from the things dedicated to the Lord God and destroy us from the earth. Dangerous is the commandment, great is the strictness of both God who commands and of Joshua who legislates. For how was it possible in so great a multitude that this law not be transgressed, when there were many things pushing toward this? For either the instability and the love of gain of the people, or the fact that not all were obedient to the commandment that had been set forth, or the variety of the spoils set forth like a bait and enticing the covetous, would easily have incited them to transgression. But nevertheless this law was established, and over their head the danger of its transgression was hung. What then after this? The walls fell, and all the things of the city came into the hands of the besiegers. Therefore, while all the people were observing this commandment, the transgression of one man kindled the wrath of God against the whole multitude. "For," it says, "the children of Israel committed a great trespass, and stole and took from the devoted thing; and Achan son of Carmi took from the devoted thing, and the Lord was angered with wrath against the children of Israel." And yet it was one who had trespassed. How then, it says, did "the children of Israel trespass" and "the Lord was angered with the children of Israel"? Do you see how the sin of one man brought punishment upon all the people? how it made God an enemy to the multitude? Since, then, the unlawful deed was done and no one was aware, except only God who knows secret things, the punishment was impending, and the one who did this, even if he seemed to be hidden, was nevertheless being consumed by his conscience as by fire. Therefore the time came both for the threat and for the sin to become manifest. "For," it says, "Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. And about three thousand men went up there and they fled from the face of the men of Ai, and they killed thirty-six men from them and drove them away and crushed them, and the heart of the people was dismayed and became like water." 1.6 See the penalty for one sin, see the inconsolable blow. One man trespassed, and death and cowardice fell upon all the people. What is this, O good Master? You alone are just and your judgments are upright. You assign judgment to each according to his own works. You said, O lover of mankind, that each would die in his own sin and another would not be punished for another. What then is this just verdict of yours? All your things are good, Lord, and very good, and administered for our benefit. Sin is a kind of corruption, he says; therefore let it be publicly exposed through punishment to all, so that it might not corrupt all, so that knowing how great a threat one transgression brought forth, they may flee the endless punishment from many. Seeing, then, he says, the irresistible flight, Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground, chanting those lamentations which the divine Scripture signifies. What then did the Master say to him? "Arise; why have you fallen down thus? Your people have sinned and have transgressed my covenant, and the children of Israel will not be able to stand before their enemies, until you remove the devoted thing from among yourselves." This therefore was proclaimed among the people, the one who committed the transgression is revealed by God, he agrees. "For Achan," it says, "answered Joshua and said: 'Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel; thus and so have I done. I saw among the spoil a beautiful embroidered cloak, and two hundred didrachmas of silver, and one tongue of gold of fifty didrachmas, and having desired them I took them, and behold, these things are hidden in the earth in my tent.'" He brings everything to light then, since he saw that the one who revealed these things was truthful and had a sure witness convicting him. And see his shameful and destructive death; "Joshua," it says, "brought him to

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νοσφίσηται τῶν ἀνατεθέντων Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἐξολοθρεύσῃ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς γῆς. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἡ ἐντολή, πολὺ τὸ τῆς ἀκριβείας τοῦ τε προστάσσοντος Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ νομοθετοῦντος Ἰησοῦ. Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἦν ἐν τοσούτῳ πλήθει μὴ παραβαθῆναι τὸν νόμον τοῦτον, πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν συνωθούντων πρὸς τοῦτο; Ἢ γὰρ τὸ ἀστάθμητον καὶ τὸ φιλοκερδὲς τοῦ δήμου, ἢ τὸ μὴ πάντας κατηκόους γενέσθαι τῆς προτεθείσης ἐντολῆς, ἢ ἡ ποικιλία τῶν σκύλων καθάπερ δέλεαρ προκειμένη καὶ τοὺς φιλοκτήμονας δελεάζουσα, εὐκόλως ἂν πρὸς τὴν παράβασιν παρώρμησεν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ὁ νόμος οὗτος ἐτέθη καὶ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ὁ τῆς παραβάσεως αὐτοῦ κίνδυνος ἐπεκρεμάσθη. Τί οὖν μετὰ τοῦτο; Κατέπεσεν τὰ τείχη καὶ ἐν χερσὶ τῶν πολιορκούντων τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐγένετο πάντα. Παντὸς τοίνυν τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην διατηροῦντος, ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸς παράβασις εἰς ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνῆψεν ὀργήν. "Ἐπλημμέλησαν γάρ, φησίν, οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ πλημμέλειαν μεγάλην καὶ ἐνοσφίσαντο καὶ ἔλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναθήματος καὶ ἔλαβεν Ἄχαρ υἱὸς Χαρμεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναθήματος καὶ ἐθυμώθη ὀργῇ Κύριος τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ." Καὶ μὴν εἷς ἦν ὁ πλημμελήσας. Πῶς οὖν, φησίν, "ἐπλημμέλησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ" καὶ "ἐθυμώθη Κύριος τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ"; Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸςἁμαρτία παντὶ τῷ λαῷ τὴν τιμωρίαν προεξένησεν; πῶς πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος τὸν Θεὸν ἐξεπολέμωσεν; Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ παράνομον ἐπράχθη καὶ οὐδεὶς ἦν ὁ συνειδώς, πλὴν μόνου τοῦ τὰ κρύφια γινώσκοντος Θεοῦ, ἡ μὲν τιμωρία ἔμελλεν, ὁ δὲ πράξας τοῦτο, κἂν ἐδόκει λανθάνειν, ἀλλ' ὅμως ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος, ὡς ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατεκαίετο. Ἦλθε τοίνυν καὶ τῆς ἀπειλῆς ὁ καιρὸς καὶ τοῦ φανερὸν γενέσθαι τὸ ἁμάρτημα. "Ἀπέστειλε γάρ, φησίν, Ἰησοῦς ἄνδρας ἀπὸ Ἱεριχὼ εἰς Γαῖ. Καὶ ἀνέβησαν ἐκεῖ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιοι ἄνδρες καὶ ἔφυγον ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ἀνδρῶν Γαῖ καὶ ἀπέκτειναν ἀπ' αὐτῶν τριάκοντα καὶ ἓξ ἄνδρας καὶ ἀπεδίωξαν αὐτοὺς καὶ συνέτριψαν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπτοήθη ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ ἐγένετο ὥσπερ ὕδωρ." 1.6 Ὅρα μιᾶς ἁμαρτίας εἴσπραξιν, ὅρα πληγὴν ἀπαραμύθητον. Εἷς ἐπλημμέλησεν καὶ εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν δῆμον ὁ θάνατος καὶ ἡ δειλία ἐπέπεσεν. Τί τοῦτο, ὦ φιλάγαθε ∆έσποτα; Σὺ εἶ μόνος δίκαιος καὶ εὐθεῖς αἱ κρίσεις σου. Σὺ ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἔργα ἀπονέμεις τὴν κρίσιν. Σὺ ἔφης, φιλάνθρωπε, ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἕκαστον ἀποθανεῖσθαι ἁμαρτίᾳ καὶ μὴ ἄλλον ἀντιτιμωρηθήσεσθαι ἑτέρου. Τίς οὖν αὕτη ἡ δικαία σου ψῆφος; Καλά σου τὰ πάντα, Κύριε, καὶ λίαν καλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον ἡμῖν οἰκονομούμενα. Λύμη τίς ἐστιν, φησίν, ἡ ἁμαρτία· οὐκοῦν ἐκπομπευέσθω διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας εἰς πάντας, ἵνα μὴ τοὺς πάντας καταλυμήνηται, ἵνα γνόντες πόσην ἀπειλὴν μία παράβασις ἔτεκεν, φύγωσιν τὴν ἐκ πλειόνων ἀτελεύτητον κόλασιν. Ἰδὼν οὖν, φησίν, ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὴν ἀνυπόστατον φυγήν, διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἐκείνους τοὺς θρήνους τραγῳδῶν, οὓς ἡ θεία σημαίνει Γραφή. Τί οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ ∆εσπότης; "Ἀνάστηθι· ἵνα τί οὕτω συμπέπτωκας; Ἡμάρτηκεν ὁ λαός σου καὶ παρέβη τὴν διαθήκην μου καὶ οὐ μὴ δυνήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ στῆναι κατὰ πρόσωπον τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν, ἕως ἂν ἐξάρητε τὸ ἀνάθημα ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν." Ἐκηρύχθη τοίνυν ἐν τῷ λαῷ τοῦτο, μηνύεται ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ὁ τὴν παράβασιν πράξας, συγκατατίθεται οὗτος. "Ἀπεκρίθη γάρ, φησίν, Ἄχαρ τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ εἶπεν·Ἀληθῶς ἥμαρτον ἐναντίον τοῦ Κυρίου Θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ· οὕτω καὶ οὕτως ἐποίησα. Εἶδον ἐν τῇ προνομῇ στολὴν ποικίλην, λίαν καλὴν καὶ διακόσια δίδραχμα ἀργυρίου καὶ γλῶσσαν μίαν χρυσῆν πεντήκοντα διδράχμων, καὶ ἐνθυμηθεὶς ἔλαβον καὶ ἰδοὺ ταῦτα ἐγκέκρυπται ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ μου." Πάντα λοιπὸν εἰς φανερὸν ἄγει, ἐπειδὴ ἀψευδῆ τὸν ταῦτα καταμηνύσαντα ἑώρα ἀσφαλῆ τε εἶχε τὸν ἐλέγχοντα μάρτυρα. Ὅρα δὲ τὸν ἐπονείδιστον καὶ ὀλέθριον αὐτοῦ θάνατον· "Ἀνήνεγκε, φησίν, αὐτὸν Ἰησοῦς εἰς