Joshua 7:19

Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, &c.— Compassion and clemency are the portion of great souls. As soon as the criminal was known, and brought before Joshua, that merciful and generous leader exhorted him, before all things, and with all the moderation beseeming a judge, whose decrees passion and malice should never dictate, to give glory to God; i.e. to use the expression of the Samaritan Chronicle, to raise his eyes to the King of heaven and earth; and to confess, that nothing is hidden from him, and that he knoweth the most profound secrets. To give glory to God, and to confess one's fault, was the same thing; for Achan could not confess it without paying homage to the omniscience, the power, and the justice of the Lord.