Joshua 7 explained: Achan's Hidden Theft and Its Price

Theft, then defeat (vv. 1-5)

Everything in Jericho had been "devoted," meaning set apart for God to be destroyed or placed in the sanctuary treasury (6:17-19), yet one man secretly kept some, and verse 1 counts it against all Israel. A small force then attacked the nearby town of Ai and was routed with about thirty-six dead, and the people lost heart.

Joshua's lament (vv. 6-9)

Tearing clothes, lying face down before the ark (the sacred chest that stood for God's presence) and putting dust on the head were signs of deep grief and humbling oneself. Joshua wishes Israel had been content to stay across the Jordan and fears for God's own "great name" if Israel is wiped out, a prayer some read as complaint and others as a shaken leader's honest anguish.

God names the cause (vv. 10-15)

God tells Joshua to get up, because the defeat comes from Israel breaking the covenant, its binding agreement with God, by stealing devoted goods, lying and hiding them. The people must prepare to stand before God and be narrowed down by tribe, clan, family and man, and the guilty one is to be burned with all he has.

Achan found and confesses (vv. 16-23)

The selection, most likely by drawing lots, narrows to Achan, and Joshua calls him "my son" and urges him to give God glory, a set way of calling someone to tell the whole truth before God. Achan admits he saw, wanted and took a fine robe from Babylonia, silver and a bar of gold, and the goods were dug up from under his tent and laid out before the LORD.

The punishment (vv. 24-25)

All Israel stoned Achan, and verse 25 seems to say his sons, daughters and animals were also stoned and burned, though the translations word it differently. Because the law says children must not die for a parent's sin (Deuteronomy 24:16), some readers think the family knew of the goods buried in the tent or were only brought to watch, while others see an apparent conflict the text leaves unexplained.

Stones and a name (v. 26)

A large pile of rocks marked the spot, and the place was named Achor, meaning "trouble," a play on Achan's name and on Joshua's words in verse 25. Only then does the text say God's anger turned away, and centuries later the prophet Hosea pictured this same valley becoming "a door of hope" (Hosea 2:15).

Key verse: Joshua 7:11

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over how to understand the harshness of this judgment, especially the apparent deaths of Achan's children: some see a just, one-time act showing how seriously God took the covenant at Israel's beginning, some think the family must have shared the guilt, and others see ancient ideas of group guilt that later scripture, such as Ezekiel 18, moves beyond.

Something to think about

When one person's hidden choice affects a whole group, where do you think the responsibility of everyone else begins and ends?