Joshua 7:10-20

10 And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Stand up! {Why} [have] you fallen on your face?
11 Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings.
12 The {Israelites} were unable to stand before their enemies; {they fled from their enemies} because they have become a thing devoted for destruction. {I will be with you no more} unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "[There are] devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things from your midst."
14 In the morning you will come forward, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe that Yahweh will select by lot will come forward by clans, and the clan that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward by families, and the family that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward one by one.
15 The one caught with the devoted things will be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because {he transgressed the covenant} of Yahweh, and because he did a disgraceful thing in Israel." '"
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot.
17 And he brought forward the clans of Judah and selected the clan of the Zerahites by lot. Then he brought forward the clan of the Zerahites, one by one, and Zabdi was selected by lot.
18 He brought forward his family, one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected by lot.
19 And Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court. Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide [it] from me."
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, "It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did:

Joshua 7:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 7

For the trespass of Achan the children of Israel were smitten and put to flight by the men of Ai, Jos 7:1-5; which gave him and the elders of the people great concern, both for Israel and for the name of the Lord, which was expressed by Joshua in prayer to God, Jos 7:6-9; when the Lord informed him of the reason of it, and gave him directions for finding out the guilty person, and for the punishment of him, Jos 7:10-15; which directions Joshua followed, and the person was found out, who being urged to a confession made one, Jos 7:16-21; upon which he and all he had, with the things he had taken, were burnt with fire, Jos 7:22-26.

Footnotes 18

  • [a]. Literally "For what this"
  • [b]. Literally "crossed my covenant"
  • [c]. Hebrew "thing" or "from the consecrated possession"
  • [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [e]. Literally "they turned [their] neck before their enemies"
  • [f]. Or "consecrated"
  • [g]. Literally "I will not do again to be with you"
  • [h]. Hebrew "thing" or "consecrated possession"
  • [i]. Hebrew "thing" or "consecrated possession"
  • [j]. Hebrew "thing" or "consecrated possession"
  • [k]. Literally "according to your tribes"
  • [l]. Hebrew "thing" or "consecrated possession"
  • [m]. Literally "he crossed the covenant"
  • [n]. Or "And"
  • [o]. Literally "according to its tribes"
  • [p]. Hebrew "Zerahite"
  • [q]. Hebrew "Zerahite"
  • [r]. Some interpret "make a confession"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.