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Achan

A man who took spoil devoted to destruction at Jericho, bringing defeat on Israel until he was found out.

Role: The troubler of Israel

Lived: c. 13th century BC

Belonged to: Tribe of Judah

Tribe/lineage: Judah

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2 Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1

Family & lineage

BibleSon of Carmi.

Joshua 7:1

↳ Carmi (Jos 7:1)

Tribe & people

BibleOf the tribe of Judah.

Joshua 7:1

Name & titles

ScholarlyThe narrative builds on a Hebrew wordplay: Achan (Hebrew ʿAkan, עכן) is stoned in the Valley of Achor (ʿAkor, עכור, 'trouble/disaster'), and the Chronicler even spells his name 'Achar' (ʿAkar, עכר, 'the one who troubles'), calling him 'the troubler of Israel.' This deliberate assonance is a recognized literary/onomastic feature marking him as an etiological figure for the place-name.

Compare the alternate form 'Achar' in 1 Chronicles 2:7 with the root ʿ-k-r ('to trouble'); standard onomastic point noted in Hebrew lexica (e.g. BDB, HALOT) and the commentary literature on Joshua.

Where in scripture

Joshua 1 Chronicles

But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against the children of Israel.
Joshua 7:1 — Takes the devoted things

He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
Joshua 7:18

Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done! Don’t hide it from me!”
Joshua 7:19

Achan answered Joshua, and said, “I have truly sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.
Joshua 7:20

Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:24

Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”
Joshua 22:20

The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing.
1 Chronicles 2:7

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

Joshua 7:1 Joshua 7:18 Joshua 7:19 Joshua 7:20 Joshua 7:24 Joshua 22:20 1 Chronicles 2:7

Family

In their own words — 1 recorded saying

“And Achan, answering, said to Joshua, Truly I have done wrong against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.” — Joshua 7:20-21

Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).