Reference: Achan
American
The son of Carmi, who disobeyed the strict charge of the Lord, and purloined some of the spoils of Jericho which were doomed to destruction. This brought a curse and defeat upon the people. He was discovered by lot, and stoned with all his family in the valley of Achor, north of Jericho, Jos 6:18; 7. He is called Achar in 1Ch 2:7.
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and surely ye have kept from the devoted thing, lest ye devote yourselves, and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it;
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
Easton
called also Achar, i.e., one who troubles (1Ch 2:7), in commemoration of his crime, which brought upon him an awful destruction (Jos 7:1). On the occasion of the fall of Jericho, he seized, contrary to the divine command, an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly Babylonish garment, which he hid in his tent. Joshua was convinced that the defeat which the Israelites afterwards sustained before Ai was a proof of the divine displeasure on account of some crime, and he at once adopted means by the use of the lot for discovering the criminal. It was then found that Achan was guilty, and he was stoned to death in the valley of Achor. He and all that belonged to him were then consumed by fire, and a heap of stones was raised over the ashes.
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And the sons of Israel commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, taketh of the devoted thing, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against the sons of Israel.
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
Fausets
("troubler"): Achar (1Ch 2:7). Son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, of the tribe of Judah. When Jericho was cursed, with all that was in it, Achan alone, in defiance of the curse, "saw" (compare Job 31:7; Ge 3:6; Jas 1:14-15), coveted, took, and hid (see Ge 3:8; following the first sin in the same awful successive steps downward) "a Babylonian garment" (compare Re 17:4-5), "two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, fifty shekels" (Jos 7:21). His guilty presence alone brought from Jehovah defeat upon Israel at Ai (Ec 9:18). Joshua, by Jehovah's direction, through lots detected the culprit, and having elicited his confession said, "Why hast thou troubled us?" (alluding to the meaning of Achar or Achan) "the Lord shall trouble thee this day." So all Israel stoned him, and burned with fire, after stoning with stones, his sons, daughters, cattle, and the stolen and personal effects.
The God who made has the power to destroy a whole family or nation for the guilt of one (2Ki 23:25-27); for the individual members are not isolated atoms, but form one organic whole, and the good or the evil of one affects the whole and is laid to the charge of the whole, as constituting one moral unity, divinely constituted, not a mere civil institution, just as the whole body suffers by the sin or suffering of a single member. Achan fell under the ban by seizing what was banned, and incurred the same penalty as a town lapsing into idolatry (De 13:16-17). The whole family was involved in the guilt; indeed, the sons and daughters of an age of reason must have been privy to his hiding the spoil in the earth in his tent. Though the law (De 24:16) forbade the slaying of children for their fathers' sins, this did not apply to cases where, as here, Jehovah Himself commands execution. Achan's children were not taken to the valley (as some explain) as mere spectators, to take warning from their father's doom; for why then should Achan's cattle have been taken out along with him? On the other hand, Calmet argues:
(1) Had his family been stoned, would not the heap of stones have included THEM ALSO? Whereas it is raised over HIM.
(2) His sons and daughters who, in some degree at least, acted under his authority, were certainly not punished more rigorously (by burning AND stoning) than the principal criminal.
(3) Was not the burning applied to such things as might suffer by burning, tents, garments, etc., and the stoning to what fire would little affect, etc.? But to what effect could Achan's family be first burned, and then stoned?
They raised over him a great heap of stones, as cairns are still in the East heaped over infamous persons. Every passer by shows his detestation of the crime by adding a stone to the cairn (Jos 8:29; 2Sa 18:17). The valley of Achor (see Isa 65:10) is identified by some with that of the brook Cherith, before Jordan, now wady el Kelt (1Ki 17:1-7). The Hebrew of 1Ki 17:24, "they brought them up unto the valley of trouble," implies this was higher ground than Gilgal and Jericho. Thomson (The Land and the Book) on Ho 2:15; "That valley runs up from Gilgal toward Bethel. By Achan's stoning the anger of the Lord was turned away from Israel, and the door of entrance to the promised inheritance thrown open. Thus the 'valley of Achor' (trouble), 'a door of hope,' is not a bad motto for those who through much tribulation must enter the promised land." A salutary warning to all Israel of the fatal effect of robbing God of His due through covetousness. (See ANANIAS.) Israel entered Canaan to take possession of land desecrated by its previous tenants, not as a mere selfish spoil, but for God's glory. The spoil of Jericho was the firstfruits of Canaan, sacred to Jehovah; Achan's sacrilegious covetousness in appropriating it needed to be checked at the outset, lest the sin spreading should mar the end for which Canaan was given to Israel.
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And the woman seeth that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make one wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat;
And the woman seeth that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make one wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat;
And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
and all its spoil thou dost gather unto the midst of its broad place, and hast burned with fire the city and all its spoil completely, before Jehovah thy God, and it hath been a heap age-during, it is not built any more;
and all its spoil thou dost gather unto the midst of its broad place, and hast burned with fire the city and all its spoil completely, before Jehovah thy God, and it hath been a heap age-during, it is not built any more; and there doth not cleave to thy hand any of the devoted thing, so that Jehovah doth turn back from the fierceness of His anger, and hath given to thee mercies, and loved thee, and multiplied thee, as He hath sworn to thy fathers,
and there doth not cleave to thy hand any of the devoted thing, so that Jehovah doth turn back from the fierceness of His anger, and hath given to thee mercies, and loved thee, and multiplied thee, as He hath sworn to thy fathers,
Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers -- each for his own sin, they are put to death.
Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers -- each for his own sin, they are put to death.
and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight is fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.'
and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight is fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.'
and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.
and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, saith unto Ahab, 'Jehovah, God of Israel, liveth, before whom I have stood, there is not these years dew and rain, except according to my word.'
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, saith unto Ahab, 'Jehovah, God of Israel, liveth, before whom I have stood, there is not these years dew and rain, except according to my word.' And the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying,
And the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, Go from this place; and thou hast turned for thee eastward, and been hidden by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan,
Go from this place; and thou hast turned for thee eastward, and been hidden by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan, and it hath been, from the brook thou dost drink, and the ravens I have commanded to sustain thee there.'
and it hath been, from the brook thou dost drink, and the ravens I have commanded to sustain thee there.' And he goeth and doth according to the word of Jehovah, yea, he goeth and dwelleth by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan,
And he goeth and doth according to the word of Jehovah, yea, he goeth and dwelleth by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan, and the ravens are bringing to him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and of the brook he drinketh.
and the ravens are bringing to him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and of the brook he drinketh. And it cometh to pass, at the end of days, that the brook drieth up, for there hath been no rain in the land,
And it cometh to pass, at the end of days, that the brook drieth up, for there hath been no rain in the land,
And the woman saith unto Elijah, 'Now, this I have known, that a man of God thou art, and the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.'
And the woman saith unto Elijah, 'Now, this I have known, that a man of God thou art, and the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.'
And like him there hath not been before him a king who turned back unto Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, and after him there hath none risen like him.
And like him there hath not been before him a king who turned back unto Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, and after him there hath none risen like him. Only, Jehovah hath not turned back from the fierceness of His great anger with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked him,
Only, Jehovah hath not turned back from the fierceness of His great anger with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked him, and Jehovah saith, 'Also Judah I turn aside from my presence, as I turned Israel aside, and I have rejected this city that I have chosen -- Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name is there.'
and Jehovah saith, 'Also Judah I turn aside from my presence, as I turned Israel aside, and I have rejected this city that I have chosen -- Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name is there.'
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,
If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,
Better is wisdom than weapons of conflict, And one sinner destroyeth much good!
Better is wisdom than weapons of conflict, And one sinner destroyeth much good!
And Sharon hath been for the habitation of a flock, And the valley of Achor for the lying down of a herd, For My people who have sought Me.
And Sharon hath been for the habitation of a flock, And the valley of Achor for the lying down of a herd, For My people who have sought Me.
And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.
And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.
and each one is tempted, by his own desires being led away and enticed,
and each one is tempted, by his own desires being led away and enticed, afterward the desire having conceived, doth give birth to sin, and the sin having been perfected, doth bring forth death.
afterward the desire having conceived, doth give birth to sin, and the sin having been perfected, doth bring forth death.
and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom,
and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, and upon her forehead was a name written: 'Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.'
and upon her forehead was a name written: 'Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.'
Hastings
Son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah (Jos 7:1). It is brought home to Joshua (Jos 7:8-12) that the defeat at Ai was due to the fact of Jahweh's covenant having been transgressed. An inquiry is instituted, and Achan is singled out as the transgressor. He confesses that after the capture of Jericho he had hidden part of the spoil, the whole of which had been placed under the ban (ch
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And the sons of Israel commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, taketh of the devoted thing, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against the sons of Israel.
Oh, Lord, what do I say, after that Israel hath turned the neck before its enemies? and the Canaanite and all the inhabitants of the land do hear, and have come round against us, and cut off our name out of the earth; and what dost Thou do for Thy great name?' read more. And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Rise for thee, why is this? -- thou art falling on thy face? Israel hath sinned, and also they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and also taken of the devoted thing, and also stolen, and also deceived, and also put it among their vessels, and the sons of Israel have not been able to stand before their enemies; the neck they turn before their enemies, for they have become a devoted thing; I add not to be with you -- if ye destroy not the devoted thing out of your midst.
And Joshua saith, 'What! thou hast troubled us! -- Jehovah doth trouble thee this day;' and all Israel cast stones at him, and they burn them with fire, and they stone them with stones, and they raise up over him a great heap of stones unto this day, and Jehovah turneth back from the heat of His anger, therefore hath one called the name of that place 'Valley of Achor' till this day.
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
Morish
A'chan Achar.
Son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, who on the fall of Jericho kept some of its spoil, against the express command of Jehovah, hence called 'the accursed thing,' and was stoned to death with his family, and with his possessions burned with fire. Jos 7:1. Called ACHAR, in 1Ch 2:7. All Israel were punished until the sin was discovered and avenged; showing in type that there cannot be evil in an assembly of Christians without all being involved.
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And the sons of Israel commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, taketh of the devoted thing, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against the sons of Israel.
And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
Smith
A'chan
(troubler), an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, who, when Jericho and all that it contained were accursed and devoted to destruction, secreted a portion of the spoil in his tent. For this sin he was stoned to death with his whole family by the people, in a valley situated between Ai and Jericho, and their remains, together with his property, were burnt.
From this event the valley received the name of Achor (i.e. trouble). [ACHOR] (B.C. 1450.)
See Achor, Valley of
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And Joshua saith unto Achan, 'My son, put, I pray thee, honour on Jehovah, God of Israel, and give to Him thanks, and declare, I pray thee, to me, what thou hast done -- hide not from me.' And Achan answereth Joshua, and saith, 'Truly I have sinned against Jehovah, God of Israel, and thus and thus I have done; read more. and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight is fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.' And Joshua sendeth messengers, and they run unto the tent, and lo, it is hidden in his tent, and the silver under it; and they take them out of the midst of the tent, and bring them in unto Joshua, and unto all the sons of Israel, and pour them out before Jehovah. And Joshua taketh Achan son of Zerah, and the silver, and the robe, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his ass, and his flock, and his tent, and all that he hath, and all Israel with him, and they cause them to go up the valley of Achor. And Joshua saith, 'What! thou hast troubled us! -- Jehovah doth trouble thee this day;' and all Israel cast stones at him, and they burn them with fire, and they stone them with stones, and they raise up over him a great heap of stones unto this day, and Jehovah turneth back from the heat of His anger, therefore hath one called the name of that place 'Valley of Achor' till this day.
Watsons
ACHAN, the son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, who having taken a part of the spoils of Jericho, against the injunction of God, who had accursed or devoted the whole city, was, upon being taken by lot, doomed to be stoned to death. The whole history is recorded, Joshua 7. It would appear that Achan's family were also stoned; for they were led out with him, and all his property, "And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." Some of the critics have made efforts to confine the stoning to Achan, and the burning to his goods; but not without violence to the text. It is probable, therefore, that his family were privy to the theft, seeing he hid the accursed things which he had stolen in the earth, in his tent. By concealment they therefore became partakers of his crime, and so the sentence was justified.