Joshua expresses his devastation and confusion before God through a question rather than a statement to invite divine explanation and demonstrate his humility as a leader who seeks God’s wisdom rather than presuming answers. The interrogative form acknowledges his complete dependence on God for understanding the catastrophic defeat. By asking rather than declaring, Joshua opens the conversation for God to reveal the hidden sin that caused Israel’s failure.

God told Joshua to stand up and stop prostrating himself, then revealed that Israel had sinned by violating the covenant through taking devoted things (Joshua 7:10-12). God explained that Israel could not stand against enemies until the devoted things were destroyed from among them, and He commanded Joshua to consecrate the people and identify the guilty party through a process of elimination by tribes, clans, and households.

Joshua’s question expresses the anguish of a leader who has just witnessed the impossible become reality: Israel’s defeat. The Hebrew construction uses mah plus an imperfect verb, conveying not merely ‘what’ but ‘what possibly could’ indicating the depths of his perplexity. He asks rather than declares his confusion because genuine prayer acknowledges that God alone possesses the explanation for what appears to contradict His promises. The phrase ‘when Israel turneth their backs’ uses the vivid Hebrew idiom for military retreat, intensifying the shame of defeat. This question carries theological weight because it challenges Joshua to reconcile God’s covenant promises with present circumstances, forcing him beyond surface explanations to discover the hidden reality of covenant violation. The interrogative form preserves Joshua’s humility while expressing his desperate need for divine revelation that will restore Israel’s standing before God and effectiveness against enemies.