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.
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
committed
וַיִּמְעֲל֧וּvai.yim.'a.Lu
H4603
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
trespass
מַ֖עַלMa.'al
H4604
treachery · noun, common masculine singular absolute
thing
בַּחֵ֑רֶםba.Che.rem
H2764
physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or fi… · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Achan
עָכָ֣ן'a.Khan
H5912
Akan · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Carmi
כַּרְמִי֩kar.Mi
H3756
Karmi · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Zabdi
זַבְדִּ֨יzav.Di
H2067
Zabdi · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Zerah
זֶ֜רַחZe.rach
H2226
Zerach · proper noun, a man's name
tribe
לְמַטֵּ֤הle.ma.Teh
H4294
a branch (as extending) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Judah
יְהוּדָה֙ye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
took
וַיִּקַּ֡חvai.yi.Kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thing
הַחֵ֔רֶםha.Che.rem
H2764
physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or fi… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
anger
אַ֥ף'af
H639
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
kindled
וַיִּֽחַרvai.yi.char-
H2734
to glow or grow warm · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
children
בִּבְנֵ֥יbiv.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man peris…
Ecclesiastes 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
1 Chronicles 2:6-7 And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
Joshua 7:20-21 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
Joshua 22:18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will…
1 Chronicles 21:7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
Joshua 6:17-18 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with…
Joshua 22:16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 7:1-5
The story of this chapter begins with a but. The Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was noised through all that country, so the foregoing chapter ends, and it left no room to doubt but that he would go on as he had begun conquering and to conquer. He did right, and observed his orders in every thing. But the children of Israel committed a trespass, and so set God against them; and then even Joshua's name and fame, his wisdom and courage, could do them no service. If we lose our God, we lose our friends, who cannot help us unless God be for us. Now here is,
I. Achan sinning, Jos 7:1. Here is only a general mention made of the sin; we shall afterwards have a more particular account of it from…
The children of Israel committed a trespass - It is certain that one only was guilty; and yet the trespass is imputed here to the whole congregation; and the whole congregation soon suffered shame and disgrace on the account, as their armies were defeated, thirty-six persons slain, and general terror spread through the whole camp. Being one body, God attributes the crime of the individual to the whole till the trespass was discovered, and by a public act of justice inflicted on the culprit the congregation had purged itself of the iniquity. This was done to render every man extremely cautious, and to make the people watchful over each other, that sin might be no where tolerated or connived a…
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing,.... Or concerning it, with respect to it, by taking part of what was devoted to another use, and forbidden theirs: this was done, not by the whole body of the people, only by one of them; but it not being discovered who it was, it was imputed to the whole, on whom it lay to find out the guilty person and punish him, or else the whole must suffer for it: this chapter begins with a "but", and draws a vail over the fame and glory of Joshua, observed in Joshua 6:27,
for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing; of what was devoted to the Lord and to sacred…
The Church Fathers
And Jericho had seen in her own ruin Our hand's control, when conquering Achan fell. Renowned for bloodshed, proud of leveling walls, He fell a victim to the enemy's gold When from the dust he gleaned the stuff accursed And snatched the mournful plunder from the ruins. His tribe did not avail, nor his descent From Judah, founder of the race of Christ And patriarch blessed in his noble scion. Let those who imitate his race accept A similar form of death and punishment.
"You shall not steal:" [Exodus 20:15] for Achan, when he had stolen in Israel at Jericho, was stoned to death; [Joshua 7:1] and Gehazi, who stole, and told a lie, inherited the leprosy of Naaman; [2 Kings 5:27] and Judas, who stole the poor's money, betrayed the Lord of glory to the Jews, [John 12:6] and repented, and hanged himself, and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out; [Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18] and Ananias, and Sapphira his wife, who stole their own goods, and "tempted the Spirit of the Lord," were immediately, at the sentence of Peter our fellow-apostle, struck dead. [Acts 5:1-11]
Behold, did not Achar the son of Zata transgress in the accursed thing, and trouble then lighted on all the congregation of Israel? And this one man was alone in his sin; but he was not alone in the death that came by his sin. And by us, too, everything of a gainful kind at this time, which is ours not in our own rightful possession, but as property strictly belonging to others, ought to be reckoned a thing devoted. For that Achar indeed took of the spoil; and those men of the present time take also of the spoil. But he took what belonged to enemies; while these now take what belongs to brethren, and aggrandize themselves with fatal gains.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Achan — Called also Achar, i.e., one who troubles (1 Chr. 2:7), in commemoration of his crime, which brought upon him an awful destruction (Josh. 7:1). On the occasion of the fall of Jericho, he seized,…
Carmi — Vine-dresser. (1.) The last named of the four sons of Reuben (Gen. 46:9). (2.) A descendant of Judah (1 Chr. 4:1). He is elsewhere (2:18) called Caleb (q.v.). (3.) The son of Zimri, and the father of…
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Zabdi — Gift of Jehovah. (1.) An ancestor of Achan (Josh. 7:1, 17, 18). He is probably the “Zimri” of 1 Chr. 2:6. (2.) A Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:19). (3.) Called “the Shiphmite,” one of David’s officers, who had…
Accursed · What — What
Carmi · 3. Father of Achan — 3. Father of Achan
Nation · Involved in the sins of other individuals, as Achan — Involved in the sins of other individuals, as Achan
Zabdi · 1. Father of — 1. Father of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Joshua 7:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Joshua 7:1-9
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.
1. Transgressi autem sunt transgressione filii Israel in anathemate: quia Achan, filius Chermi filii Zabdi, filii Zerah de tribu Jehudae abstulit de anathemate: et accensa est excandescentia Jehovae contra filios Israel.
2. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
2. Porro mis…
At Jericho the Lord had made known to the Canaanites His great and holy name; but before Ai the Israelites were to learn that He would also sanctify Himself on them if they transgressed His covenant, and that the congregation of the Lord could only conquer the power of the world so long as it was faithful to His covenant. But notwithstanding the command which Joshua had enforced upon the people (Jos 6:18), Achan, a member of the tribe of Judah, laid hands upon the property in Jericho which had been banned, and thus brought the ban upon the children of Israel, the whole nation. His breach of trust is described as unfaithfulness (a trespass) on the part of the children of Israel in the ban, in…
Now that Jericho belonged to Israel, Joshua’s first military problem involved securing a foothold in the hill country. The conquest of Jericho inspired Israel’s confidence and consigned the people of Canaan to discouragement and despair. Yet everything hinged on Israel’s obedience to God. One man’s sin and its consequences demonstrate how serious was the command to destroy Jericho (see “Complete Dedication” Theme Note).
7:1 things set apart for the Lord: See Lev 27:28-29; 1 Sam 15:3. • son of Zerah: Achan belonged to a prominent family (Num 26:19-20) and was a leader or a potential leader, so his actions would be influential.
