But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so would you make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
"The emphasis on the number seven (fourteen times in this chapter [cf. Exodus 24:16; 2 Kings 3:9; Job 2:11-13; Ezekiel 3:15]), the use of ceremonial trumpets (made from ram’s horns), the presence of priests, and the prominence of the ark all indicate that the conquest of Jericho was more than a military campaign; it was a religious event. Israel must always remember that the land was God’s gift to them." [Note: Ibid., p. 278.] 