The big picture
The reader learns about Achan's theft before Joshua learns why Israel loses at Ai. That gap drives the chapter. A small attacking force is routed, about thirty-six men die, and Israel's own hearts now melt in the language previously used of Jericho. Joshua and the elders mourn before the ark, but his prayer initially treats the crossing into Canaan as the problem. God's answer relocates the crisis inside the camp: Israel has taken, stolen, concealed, and placed banned goods among private possessions. A public process narrows from tribe to family to household to Achan, whose confession traces the movement from seeing to coveting to taking to hiding. The recovered garment, silver, and gold are laid openly before the LORD. Judgment follows in the valley of Achor, where a great heap of stones preserves the memory of trouble. The hidden offence becomes a national catastrophe before it becomes public evidence.
Central truth
Joshua 7 shows that Israel’s defeat at Ai is traced not to military weakness but to violated devotion at Jericho, as Achan’s hidden garment, silver, and gold are exposed through a public search and removed from the camp.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Joshua 7:1: “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…”
Slow down at the turning point
Joshua 7:13: “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…”
Keep this word trail visible
Israel, LORD, Joshua, accursed, people, thing
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Joshua 7:1
The word "But"
Open on the first word and the first verse. After 6:27, "the LORD was with Joshua", chapter 7 begins "But". Read the verse and point out the two halves: the people trespass, Achan takes. Explain "trespass" as breach of faith with what belongs to God. Teach this verse first and alone, because the whole chapter is built on what the reader knows and Joshua does not. Ask the class to keep verse 1 in mind as they read the defeat; it will change how they hear Joshua's prayer.
Joshua 7:2-5
Small city, sudden defeat
Read the spies' advice and the defeat. Explain Ai's location beside Bethel, up in the hills from Jericho. Note the number: about thirty six men die, a small loss in war but devastating to a people who had seen walls fall. Then read the last line of verse 5: "the hearts of the people melted, and became as water." The phrase was used of Canaanites in 2:11 and 5:1. Israel now feels what Jericho felt. Teach this before the lament so the class feels the shock.
Joshua 7:6-9
A leader on his face
Read Joshua's prayer with honesty. He tears his clothes, lies before the ark till evening with the elders, and asks why the LORD brought them over the Jordan. Do not rush to criticise him; his grief is real and his last question, "what wilt thou do unto thy great name?", is a good one. Explain that he is right to bring it to God but does not yet know why it happened. This step sits here so the class sees the gap between sincere prayer and a hidden problem that prayer alone will not remove.
Joshua 7:10-15
The LORD names the problem
Now read the LORD's answer, and slow down on verse 11. Write the verbs on the board: sinned, transgressed, taken, stolen, dissembled, put among their own stuff. Explain "dissembled" as lying or deceiving. Show that the LORD speaks of "Israel" doing it, though one man did. Explain the corporate sense: the camp is one people under one covenant. Then read the instructions for the search and the sanctifying. Teach this here because it is the turning point, from mystery to diagnosis.
Joshua 7:16-21
The circle closes on Achan
Read the search slowly so the class feels the narrowing. Then read Joshua's words to Achan in verse 19, "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him". Notice the tenderness of "my son". Then read Achan's confession and its four verbs. Link it to Genesis 3:6, where the woman saw, desired and took. Teach this before the judgment so that the class understands what Achan did in his own words, and that confession came only when he was found.
Joshua 7:22-26
The valley of trouble
Read the recovery of the goods and the judgment in the valley of Achor. Handle verses 24 and 25 with care. The text says his sons and daughters, animals and tent were brought to the valley, and that "all Israel stoned him", and it does not explain the fate of the children further. Readers have taken this differently, some seeing the household as complicit in what was hidden in the tent, some noting Deuteronomy 24:16. Say what the text says, do not speculate, and be gentle with learners who are troubled. End with the heap of stones and the LORD's anger turned.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"God punished all of Israel for what one man did, which is unfair."
The text speaks of Israel as one covenant people: "the children of Israel committed a trespass" (7:1), "Israel hath sinned" (7:11). In the camp, hidden sin damages the whole community, which is why thirty six men died at Ai (7:5). Yet the LORD does not leave the guilt vague; the search finds the man responsible (7:14-18), and the judgment falls on what was hidden. The chapter teaches that sin is never only private, without saying that the innocent carry the guilt of the guilty.
"Achan's sin was just taking a few things; the punishment was out of proportion."
Achan took what had been devoted to the LORD (6:17-19), after a public warning that doing so would "make the camp of Israel a curse" (6:18). The LORD calls it stealing, deceit and breaking the covenant (7:11). It was also done in secret and kept hidden through a defeat in which men died. The text treats it as sacrilege against what belonged to God, not as petty theft. Teachers can acknowledge that the judgment is severe while showing why the Book of Joshua treats it so seriously.
"Achan's children were executed for their father's sin."
The text says they were brought to the valley of Achor with all that he had (7:24) and that "all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire" (7:25). It does not say why the children were brought or set out the fate of each. Some readers conclude they shared the guilt, since the goods were hidden in the family tent; others point to Deuteronomy 24:16, which forbids putting children to death for their fathers. Teachers should say what the text says and not fill the gap with certainty either way.
"If I pray hard enough, God will fix whatever is wrong."
Joshua prays sincerely and passionately in 7:6-9, yet the LORD answers, "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?" (7:10). Prayer is not wrong, but here there is something to be confessed and put right first. The LORD names the problem and tells them what to do (7:11-13). Learners who have prayed through suffering that was not caused by any sin should be told plainly that this chapter does not mean every hardship has a hidden cause; it describes one specific situation.
Learning objectives
- Explain why the chapter shifts from “the children of Israel committed a trespass” in verse 1 to the identification of Achan later in the passage.
- Trace the sequence from the spies’ confidence about Ai to Israel’s defeat and Joshua’s response before the ark.
- Identify the LORD’s explanation for the defeat in verses 10–12 and distinguish it from Joshua’s initial interpretation.
- List the items Achan confesses taking and the place where he hides them.
- Describe the tribe, family, household, and man-by-man narrowing process used to expose the offender.
- Explain how the place-name Achor is tied to Joshua’s accusation that Achan has troubled Israel.
Teacher preparation
- Read Joshua 6:17–19 immediately before chapter 7.
- Mark the corporate language in verses 1, 11, and 12 alongside the singular identification of Achan.
- Locate Jericho, Ai, and Bethel.
- Prepare the KJV vocabulary: “Babylonish garment” refers to a valuable garment associated with Shinar or Babylonia, and “wedge” in verse 21 describes a bar or tongue-shaped piece of gold.
- Treat the fate of Achan’s sons and daughters carefully.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Joshua 7:1 names Achan and his theft before the battle, while verses 11–12 state that Israel has sinned by taking the accursed thing and therefore cannot stand before enemies until it is removed.
Scripture-supported
Joshua 6:18–19 supplies the command Achan violates: Israel is to keep from the accursed thing, while specified metals belong to the LORD’s treasury.
Strong inference
The spies’ recommendation in verse 3 reflects confidence after Jericho, but the passage overturns any assumption that a smaller enemy means Israel can proceed without regard to covenant obedience.
Possible or traditional reading
Interpreters differ over whether Achan’s family knowingly participated, inferred partly from the goods being hidden under the tent and from their inclusion in the judgment scene.
Limit
The chapter does not explain the mechanics by which the lot or selection process identifies Achan, and it does not tell us what the thirty-six dead soldiers knew about his act.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What does the reader know in verse 1 that Joshua does not yet know when he sends men toward Ai?
What a good answer contains
The reader is told at once: "the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing", for Achan "took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel" (7:1). Joshua sends spies to Ai knowing none of this. A good answer sees how the Book of Joshua builds the chapter: we watch the defeat already knowing why it happens. It also notices that one man's act is called Israel's trespass. A weak answer starts the chapter at verse 2 and treats the defeat as a mystery.
Show teacher guidance
The reader is told immediately that Achan has taken from the accursed thing and that the LORD’s anger is kindled.
2. Why do the spies recommend sending only two or three thousand men against Ai?
What a good answer contains
They say, "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" (7:3). Ai looks small after Jericho. A good answer sees overconfidence and something missing: no one asks the LORD, as he was asked before Jericho. It does not need to condemn the spies' military judgement, which may have been reasonable. The problem lies in verse 1, which no strategy could have fixed.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 3 says the inhabitants are few and urges Joshua not to make all the people labor there.
3. What answer does the LORD give to Joshua’s lament in verses 10–12?
What a good answer contains
The LORD says, "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?" (7:10). Then he gives the reason in a string of verbs: Israel "hath sinned", has "transgressed my covenant", has "taken of the accursed thing", has "stolen, and dissembled also", and has "put it even among their own stuff" (7:11). He adds that he will not be with them "except ye destroy the accursed from among you" (7:12). A good answer sees that prayer is not enough when there is unconfessed sin to deal with. A weak answer misses the list.
Show teacher guidance
List the verbs in verse 11: Israel has sinned, transgressed the covenant, taken, stolen, dissembled, and put the forbidden goods among their own stuff.
4. How does the search narrow from the nation to Achan?
What a good answer contains
In the morning Israel is brought "according to your tribes", and the tribe taken comes by families, then households, then "man by man" (7:14). Judah is taken, then the family of the Zarhites, then Zabdi's household, then Achan (7:16-18). Explain that the method is probably the sacred lot, though the text does not describe it. A good answer notices the night that passes before the search, giving Achan time to confess, and the slow tightening of the circle. A weak answer skips the process.
Show teacher guidance
Trace verse 14 through tribe, family, household, and man.
5. What three things does Achan say he saw, coveted, and took?
What a good answer contains
"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" (7:21). Explain the Babylonish garment as a fine robe from Shinar, and the wedge as a bar of gold. A good answer traces the sequence, saw, coveted, took, hid, and links it to Genesis 3:6. A weak answer only lists the objects.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 21 names a goodly Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels.
6. Why is the valley called Achor after the judgment?
What a good answer contains
Joshua says, "Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day" (7:25), and "the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day" (7:26). Achor means trouble, and the name plays on Achan's own. A good answer notices that the place is remembered as a warning. It may also notice the reversal in Hosea 2:15, where the LORD promises to make "the valley of Achor for a door of hope", so the place of trouble becomes a place of hope.
Show teacher guidance
Use Joshua’s words in verse 25: “Why hast thou troubled us?
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Follow Achan’s own sequence of seeing, coveting, taking, and hiding.
Relationships and community
Examine the chapter’s use of “Israel” for a trespass committed by one identified man.
After Jericho, before Ai
Compare the confidence of the spies with the hidden condition of the camp.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
"But"
Read 6:27 and then 7:1. Take question one.
The defeat at Ai
Read 7:2-5. Take question two and notice where the hearts melted before.
A leader on his face
Read 7:6-13. Take question three. Work through the fourth confusion, about prayer.
Found out
Read 7:14-21. Take questions four and five. Write saw, coveted, took, hid on the board.
The valley of Achor
Read 7:22-26. Take question six and the third confusion, about the children, with care.
Close
Hand out the sheet, read the key verse, and give a quiet minute before the closing prayer.
90 minutes
Small things
Ask the class to name ways a hidden problem in a team or family affects everyone. Keep it general.
The word "But"
Read 6:17-19, 6:27 and 7:1 together. Take question one.
The defeat and the lament
Read 7:2-9. Take question two. Let the class feel Joshua's grief before judging him.
The LORD names it
Read 7:10-15. Take question three. Work through the first confusion and then the fourth.
Found out
Read 7:16-21 and Genesis 3:6. Take questions four and five and the second confusion.
The valley of trouble
Read 7:22-26, Deuteronomy 24:16 and Hosea 2:15. Take question six and the third confusion with care.
Application
In pairs, work through the saw, coveted, took, hid application from the plan, keeping examples general.
Close
Read the key verse together and pray for honesty, and for anyone carrying something hidden.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Focus on the four steps Achan takes: he saw, he wanted, he took, he hid. Use a toy hidden under a blanket to show that hiding something does not make it go away. Talk about telling the truth and how Joshua asked Achan to tell what he had done. Do not describe the stoning or mention the children; say that Achan's sin brought trouble and that God was serious about it.
Youth
The chapter is about secrets, and teenagers know how secrets work. Read Achan's confession and let them trace how desire becomes action in their own world, phones, money, relationships, without asking for personal confession. Discuss whether one person's hidden choice can affect a group. Handle the judgment honestly, and be ready to say what the text does not explain about the children.
Adults
Explore the corporate language of the chapter and its challenge to individualism. Discuss Joshua's prayer, which is sincere but premature. Let the group work through the hard questions about the judgment and the children, presenting the readings fairly, and do not hurry to resolve them. Close with Hosea 2:15, where the valley of trouble becomes a door of hope.
One to one
If the person is carrying something hidden, let Joshua's gentle words to Achan, "My son", set the tone; confession is invited before it is forced. Do not interrogate. If they are troubled by the severity of the judgment, take their question seriously and read Hosea 2:15 together. Pray together for honesty and for the hope promised in the valley of Achor.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Joshua 7:1–26
The passage in brief
After Jericho, Israel is beaten at the small city of Ai and thirty six men are killed. Joshua falls on his face before the LORD. The LORD tells him that someone has taken things devoted to God from Jericho and hidden them. Through a careful search, Achan is found. He admits that he saw a fine robe, silver and gold, wanted them, took them and hid them in his tent. Achan is judged in the valley of Achor, which means trouble.
A verse to keep
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.
Joshua 7:21 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did the LORD say was the reason for Israel's defeat (7:11-12)?
What four things did Achan say he did (7:21)?
What does Hosea 2:15 promise about the valley of Achor?
This week
If something is hidden that should be brought into the light, tell God about it today, and speak to someone you trust.
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.
