The big picture
Jericho, the city Israel has destroyed, was placed under God's command about its people and goods. Israel, the nation Joshua leads, has been warned against taking anything reserved for destruction. Achan, a man from its tribe of Judah, secretly breaks that command. The army's next attack, against Ai, a smaller nearby city, ends in flight. Joshua does not yet know why. The chapter uncovers the hidden act behind the public disaster.
In this chapter
- Israel Loses an Attack Expected to Succeed Joshua 7:1-5
The account first reveals that Achan has taken goods reserved under God's command, bringing anger against Israel.
- Joshua Brings His Grief Before God Joshua 7:6-9
Joshua and the elders tear their clothes, put dust on their heads, and lie before the ark until evening, outward signs of grief.
- God Identifies the Breach and Orders an Inquiry Joshua 7:10-15
The answer begins with an order for Joshua to get up.
- Achan Confesses and the Goods Are Found Joshua 7:16-23
The next morning the inquiry narrows from Judah to Achan's household and finally to Achan himself.
- Judgment Falls in the Valley of Achor Joshua 7:24-26
Joshua and Israel take Achan, the goods, his sons and daughters, his livestock, and his possessions to the valley of Achor.
Central truth
Achan's concealed theft breaks Israel's covenant obligation, and military confidence cannot protect the people from the resulting judgment.
Scripture beside the summary
Joshua · King James Version · 26Joshua 7:1-5
Israel Loses an Attack Expected to Succeed
The account first reveals that Achan has taken goods reserved under God's command, bringing anger against Israel. Joshua sends scouts to Ai. They judge the town small enough for only two or three thousand soldiers and advise against tiring the whole army. About three thousand attack but flee. The defenders kill about thirty-six men during the pursuit. Israel's confidence collapses into fear. The army does not yet understand the problem already disclosed to the reader: a breach of God's command lies inside its own camp.
In everyday life
A maintenance chief sends a small crew to a repair he expects to finish quickly. They return shaken after a serious accident, unaware that a worker has secretly removed a required support. His confident estimate never addressed the concealed danger. Israel's defeat follows a broken covenant with God, not a technical safety failure.
Notice
Joshua 7:1 Achan's action is described as an offense involving Israel before the battle begins. The defeat is not introduced as a problem caused only by enemy strength.
Joshua 7:1-5
King James Version1But 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.
2And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
3And 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.
4So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
5And 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 7:6-9
Joshua Brings His Grief Before God
Joshua and the elders tear their clothes, put dust on their heads, and lie before the ark until evening, outward signs of grief. Joshua asks God why he brought them across Jordan only to face destruction. He wonders whether they should have stayed east of the river. He fears neighbouring peoples will hear of the defeat, surround Israel, and wipe it out. His final question concerns God's own name. Joshua grieves the loss but has not yet identified the disobedience that caused it.
In everyday life
An exhausted expedition leader kneels beside the abandoned packs after a failed search. She asks the sponsor why the team was sent into danger and fears that every nearby village will refuse further help. Her questions are urgent, but she lacks a crucial fact. Joshua speaks to God about his name and covenant people.
Notice
Joshua 7:9 Joshua ends his appeal with concern for God's great name. His fear includes what Israel's destruction would lead other peoples to think about its God.
Joshua 7:6-9
King James Version6And 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.
7And 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!
8O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
9For 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?
Joshua 7:10-15
God Identifies the Breach and Orders an Inquiry
The answer begins with an order for Joshua to get up. Israel has sinned by taking what was forbidden, stealing, lying, and hiding it among personal possessions. That breach explains why the people cannot stand against their enemies. God will not remain with them unless the offense is removed. The people must prepare for an inquiry the next day, proceeding through tribes, families, households, and individuals. The identified offender and what belongs to him will face destruction by fire. God answers Joshua's grief with a charge and a required response.
In everyday life
The food inspector interrupts a plant manager's anxious speech and points to the hidden batch that broke the safety agreement. Production cannot restart until the breach is traced and removed. Each department must now account for its stock. Israel's inquiry concerns God's covenant and a sentence of death, not permission to reopen a factory.
Notice
Joshua 7:11 God names stealing, deception, and concealment together. The act is more than keeping an attractive object; hiding it continues the refusal of his command.
Joshua 7:10-15
King James Version10And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
11Israel 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.
12Therefore 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.
13Up, 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.
14In 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.
15And 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.
Joshua 7:16-23
Achan Confesses and the Goods Are Found
The next morning the inquiry narrows from Judah to Achan's household and finally to Achan himself. Joshua asks him to honour God by telling the truth. Achan admits that he saw a fine garment, silver, and gold, wanted them, and took them. He describes their hiding place beneath his tent, with the silver underneath. Messengers run there and find the goods exactly as he said. They bring everything back and lay it before God and the assembled people. A secret possession becomes public evidence.
In everyday life
A museum assistant sits across from the collection manager and admits taking a rare coin home. She explains where it lies beneath a drawer lining. Two staff members retrieve it and place it on the table before the trustees. Her account can now be checked. Achan's confession occurs under a divine judgment that theft procedures cannot equal.
Notice
Joshua 7:21 Achan describes seeing, wanting, taking, and hiding in sequence. His own words make the steps from desire to concealed action clear without excusing it.
Joshua 7:16-23
King James Version16So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
17And 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:
18And 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.
19And 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.
20And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21When 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.
22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23And 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.
Joshua 7:24-26
Judgment Falls in the Valley of Achor
Joshua and Israel take Achan, the goods, his sons and daughters, his livestock, and his possessions to the valley of Achor. Joshua says Achan has brought trouble and will now suffer trouble. The people stone him and burn what has been brought there. The wording also describes them stoning and burning the group, though it does not explain the family's involvement in his offense. A great pile of stones marks the place. God's fierce anger then turns away. The terrible consequence is presented as ending the breach within the camp.
In everyday life
A social worker waits outside a family home while officials discuss the consequences of one member's hidden crime. She keeps looking at the children's schoolbags by the door. The effects reach people whose own part has not been explained. Achan's household faces violent judgment, so this scene compares only the dread nearby a family's exposure.
Notice
Joshua 7:24 Achan's sons and daughters are brought with his possessions, yet their role in the theft is not stated. The account's silence should not be filled with invented guilt.
Joshua 7:24-26
King James Version24And 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.
25And 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.
26And 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Joshua 7:1 begins with “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…”
Where the chapter turns
Joshua 7:13 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Joshua 7:26 leaves the reader with “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…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Israel, LORD, Joshua, accursed, people, thing help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- dissembled
- Hidden the truth or acted deceitfully, here by concealing stolen goods.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
