The Bible Says
Joshua 7:1 Meaning

In Joshua 7:1, the Lord is displeased because one of the Israelites stole plunder from Jericho.

In the previous chapter, the LORD instructed Joshua and the Israelites to follow a seven-day march around Jericho to conquer it. Joshua obeyed the divine command and organized his troops. At the end of the procession, the LORD miraculously caused the city’s walls to collapse, allowing the Israelites to capture it. The covenant people destroyed Jericho but spared Rahab with her family because she saved the two Israelite men who explored the city in preparation for the battle (Joshua 6:1-27).

When the LORD commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho, He told them to preserve the objects of silver, gold, bronze, and iron for the tabernacle, but to put everything else “under the ban” (Joshua 6:17-19). In other words, the people were to devote such things to destruction ⎯regardless of their value⎯because they belonged to the LORD. The costly metals were to go into the Lord’s treasury, but everything else was to be destroyed. However, the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban (v.1).

The verb act unfaithfully (Hebrew, “māʿal”) means to act counter to one’s duty. It connotes taking away something due to a person. The meaning fits here because Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban (v. 1). The author listed four generations before mentioning the perpetrator’s sin. He tells us that Achan was from the lineage of Judah, from which great kings like David and Solomon (and eventually, Jesus) came. By stealing those items, Achan deprived God of what belonged to Him. That is why the writer of 1 Chronicles refers to Achan as “the troubler of Israel, who violated the ban” (1 Chronicles 2:7).

Joshua had already warned the Israelites against taking any items devoted to destruction, for doing so would “make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it” (Joshua 6:18). Achan disobeyed God and pocketed some of the spoils of Jericho. We see later in this chapter the specific things he stole: a beautiful mantle (cloak) from Shinar (Babylon), two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold which weighed fifty shekels (Joshua 7:21)

The shekel was the standard unit of weight for coins in the Ancient Near East. A single silver shekel measured about 8 grams, meaning that two hundred shekels of silver would be about two kilograms, and the bar of gold fifty shekels, about 0.5 kilograms. Therefore, Achan had stolen a valuable amount from the Lord’s treasury, as well as the cloak which should have been destroyed.

Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.

In ancient Israel, corporate responsibility was essential because God bound the people together as a unit. As a result, God did not regard someone’s behavior in isolation from the Israelite community. For this reason, Achan’s guilt hurt the whole congregation. His sin created separation and broke fellowship with their covenant God. Thus, until the sin is discovered and repented of, the Israelites will not have God’s supernatural protection from their enemies.

This is stipulated in the covenant God made with Israel. Israel promised to keep God’s commandments. God specified to Israel that if it disobeyed His commands, “I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies” (Leviticus 26:17). There were blessings for obedience, and cursings for disobedience. The covenant between God and Israel was a conditional covenant, where both parties made promises under oath to perform or to hold back certain actions. If one party fails to hold to its obligations, the covenant is then broken. Achan had broken the covenant, and it would negatively affect both his immediate family and the entire population of Israel.

This new generation of Israelites was about to experience judgment for sin. Though they were likely joyful and emboldened by their recent victory over the might city of Jericho, they would soon been humbled and shown that unless they obey and honor God, they will fail.

For more on the covenant between God and Israel, see our article “Suzerain-Vassal Treaties.”