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Joshua 7

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Achan's Sin and Defeat at Ai 1–5

1
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. ​
2
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. ​
3
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. ​
4
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
5
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. ​

Joshua's Lament and Intercession 6–9

6
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. ​
7
And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! ​
8
O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
9
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? ​

God Reveals the Sin and Commands Action 10–15

10
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? ​
11
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. ​
12
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. ​
13
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. ​
14
In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man. ​
15
And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. ​

The Identification and Confession of Achan 16–26

16
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
17
And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
18
And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. ​
20
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. ​
22
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
24
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. ​
25
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. ​
26
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joshua 7

Verse 1

committed a trespass in the accursed thing — Ma'al is breach of faith, treachery against what belongs to the LORD; cherem is the thing devoted to him, forbidden in Josh 6:18. One man's act is charged to 'the children of Israel'; Josh 22:20 says 'that man perished not alone in his iniquity'.

Verse 2

Ai, which is beside Bethaven — Ai lay near Bethel, as in Abraham's day, when he pitched with 'Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east' (Gen 12:8). Bethaven (house of vanity) is a neighbouring place, which Hosea later uses as a name of reproach for Bethel (Hos 4:15). The men 'viewed' (ragal) the land as spies.

Verse 3

they are but few — Me'at, a little, a small number. The report is reasonable by numbers, yet no word is said of asking the LORD, who had given Jericho: 'See, I have given into thine hand Jericho' (Josh 6:2). The same measuring by count follows in v.4, 'about three thousand men'.

Verse 5

melted, and became as water — Masas, the verb Rahab used of Canaan's fear: 'our hearts did melt' (Josh 2:11). Now Israel's own hearts melt, and the covenant curse is recalled: 'thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them' (Deut 28:25). Shebarim means 'ruins'.

Verse 6

rent his clothes — Qara', the sign of grief and distress, as when Jacob mourned Joseph (Gen 37:34). Joshua had done the same as one of the searchers of the land (Num 14:6). He lies 'before the ark of the LORD' with the elders, and dust on their heads.

Verse 7

wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan — Joshua's words echo Israel's complaints in the wilderness: 'Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt' (Ex 17:3), and 'wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword' (Num 14:3). 'Alas' is ahah, a cry of pain.

Verse 9

what wilt thou do unto thy great name? — Joshua pleads as Moses did: 'Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say…?' (Ex 32:12). The LORD's name is bound to Israel's survival; he later says he acts 'for mine holy name's sake' (Ezek 36:22). 'Cut off' is karath, here of Israel's name 'from the earth'.

Verse 10

Get thee up — The LORD bids Joshua rise from his prostration; the verb qum is 'rise', the same verb as 'stand' before enemies in v.12. Moses was likewise told, 'Wherefore criest thou unto me?' (Ex 14:15), when action, not lament, was required.

Verse 11

Israel hath sinned — Six verbs: sinned, transgressed the covenant, taken, stolen (ganab), dissembled (kachash, to deny falsely), and put it among their own stuff. The LORD names the nation as the sinner, though one man acted. A like hidden withholding is judged in Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–2).

Verse 12

because they were accursed — The cherem that Israel was to destroy has made Israel itself cherem, as warned in Josh 6:18: 'lest ye make yourselves accursed'. The LORD's presence is withdrawn: 'neither will I be with you any more', until the thing is destroyed from among them.

Verse 13

Sanctify yourselves against to morrow — The command used before the Jordan crossing: 'Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you' (Josh 3:5). Now the morrow brings judgment, not wonders. The accursed thing is 'in the midst' (qereb) of Israel, and must be taken 'from among you'.

Verse 14

the tribe which the LORD taketh — Lakad, to catch or take, also to choose by lot. The sequence runs tribe, family, household, man (geber), and is fulfilled in vv.16–18. 'The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD' (Prov 16:33).

Verse 15

wrought folly in Israel — Nebalah, wickedness that is a disgrace to the covenant people, the same phrase used of the wrong done to Dinah (Gen 34:7). The penalty of burning 'he and all that he hath' is carried out in v.25. The sin is a breach of 'the covenant of the LORD'.

Verse 19

give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD — Todah is confession, an avowal with outstretched hand. To 'give glory' (kavod) is to own God's rightness, as the Philistines were told to do in 1 Sam 6:5. Joshua's 'My son' is kind, yet asks for the whole: 'hide it not from me'.

Verse 21

a goodly Babylonish garment — Literally a goodly mantle of Shinar (addereth Shin'ar), Shinar being the plain of Gen 11:2. 'Wedge' is lashon, a tongue of gold. The sequence is seeing, coveting (chamad, the verb of 'thou shalt not desire the silver or gold' in Deut 7:25), taking and hiding.

Verse 24

the valley of Achor — The family and goods are brought out with Achan, as Josh 22:20 recalls: 'that man perished not alone in his iniquity'. Achor is from akar, to trouble, the verb Joshua uses in v.25, so that the place is named for the deed.

Verse 25

Why hast thou troubled us? — A play on akar, to trouble: Achan (called Achar, 'the troubler of Israel', in 1 Chr 2:7) troubled Israel, and 'the LORD shall trouble thee'. Josh 6:18 had warned of making the camp 'a curse, and trouble it'. Stoning was the penalty for such offences (Deut 17:5).

Verse 26

The valley of Achor — The heap of stones and the name stand 'unto this day' as a memorial. The LORD 'turned from the fierceness of his anger' once the accursed thing was removed. The place is later promised reversal: 'the valley of Achor for a door of hope' (Hos 2:15), and a resting place for flocks (Isa 65:10).