Joshua 7 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter describes how the army of the city of Ai, which was much smaller than Jericho, was able to defeat the Israelites because one of them disobeyed Yahweh’s command not to take any plunder from Jericho. The chapter describes how Yahweh identified that person, a man named Achan, and how the Israelites punished him by execution for what he did.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Sin brought defeat

It was a great sin for Achan to take what Yahweh had said was to be destroyed. Because of his sin, Yahweh withheld victory from the Israelites. (See: sin)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“devoted”

The specialized term that the ULT translates as “devoted” occurs several times in this chapter. See the discussion of that term in the Introduction to Joshua, and see the UST for an expression of its meaning in the specific contexts where it is used in this chapter.

“went up”

As the Introduction to Joshua discusses, Hebrew writers marked travel descriptions for change in elevation. So the author typically says “went up” when he describes how the Israelite soldiers went from Gilgal in the Jordan River valley to the city of Ai in a hilly area. If your language does not mark travel notices for change in elevation, you can translate these expressions more simply and say “went.”