The sacrilege of Achan is punished
1 The Israelites did not keep the anathema. It happened that Achan, son of
Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, appropriated for
himself some of the things consecrated by anathema, and because of this, the
anger of Yahweh burned against Israel.
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which was near Bethaven, east of the
city of Bethel. And he said to them: ¡°Go up and explore the land.¡±
3 The spies said to Joshua on their return: ¡°It would not be necessary to
mobilize the whole army: some two or three thousand men will be enough to
conquer the land. It would be useless to tire the people for that nation is
but few in number.¡±
4 So about three thousand men attacked Ai but were repulsed by the city¡¯s
defenders.
5 The people of Ai killed thirty-six men and pursued them outside the gate
as far as Shebarim, defeating them on the slopes. Upon seeing this, all the
people were disheartened.
6 Then Joshua and all the leaders of Israel rent their garments, put ashes
on their heads and remained prostrate before the Ark of Yahweh until
evening. Joshua lamented:
7 ¡°Alas, Yahweh, why have you made this people cross the river Jordan just
to give us into the hands of the Amorites who will destroy us?
7 It would have been better for us to remain on the other side of the
Jordan.
8 Yahweh, my God, what can I say when I see Israel fleeing from their
enemies?
9 The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of this land will know of this.
They will unite to surround us and drive us out. And you, what are you going
to do for the honor of your Name?¡±
10 Yahweh answered: ¡°Stand up! Why are you prostrate on the ground?
11 Israel sinned and has violated my covenant; Israelites have taken from
what was set apart by anathema and have hidden stolen objects with their
belong ings.
12 So Israel cannot face its enemies, but shall flee from them, since it has
come to be an anathema. I will not be with you anymore unless you remove the
curse from your midst.
13 Go then, and sanctify the people. Say to them: ¡®Cleanse yourselves for
tomorrow. Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to you: Oh, Israel, the anath ema
is in your midst and you shall not face your enemies until you have removed
the anathema from you.
14 Therefore in the morning you shall come near, grouped according to
tribes. The tribe that Yahweh designates by lot shall pre sent itself by
families. And the family that Yahweh designates shall present itself by
households, and the household by individuals.
15 He who turns out to be responsible for this offense shall be burned,
together with all his household goods, for having violated the covenant of
Yahweh and having done a detestable crime in Israel.¡±
16 Joshua rose early in the morning and ordered the tribes of Israel to
present themselves.
17 The lot fell on the tribe of Judah. Lots were drawn among the families,
and the family of Zerah was left. Lots were drawn among the households of
this family and the household of Zabdi was left.
18 And then lots were drawn among the members of this household which
revealed that the guilty one was Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of
Zoreh, of the tribe of Judah.
19 Joshua then said to him: ¡°My son, confess the truth before Yahweh, the
God of Israel, and render him praise. Tell me what you have done without
hiding anything.¡±
20 Achan answered: ¡°It is true that I have sinned against Yahweh. This is
what I have done:
21 I saw among the plunder a beautiful mantle from Shinar, two hun dred
shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I was tempted so
I took them. Then I hid them in the ground inside my tent with the silver
underneath.¡±
22 Joshua then sent some messengers who ran to the tent of Achan and found
the booty inside the tent with the silver underneath.
23 They took all these and pre sented them to Joshua and to the peo ple;
everything was put before Yah weh.
24 Then Joshua took Achan together with the silver, the mantle and the gold,
his sons as well as his daughters, his oxen, asses and sheep, his tent and
all that he had. All Israel accompanied him and they brought them to the
Valley of Achor.
25 There Joshua said to him: ¡°Since you brought us misfortune, may Yahweh
bring this misfortune upon you today.¡± Then all the peo ple stoned him.
26 And of those that were his, some were crushed and others were burned.
They piled on him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the
Lord turned from his anger.
Henceforth the place was called the Valley of Achor.
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Comments Joshua, Chapter 7
• 7.1 All the spoils had been made ¡°ana thema,¡± i.e., consecrated to God.
Whe ther they were burnt or deposited in the treasury of the Sanctuary, they
were offered to Yah weh. Achan had robbed God and, in the manner of speaking
and thinking of an cient peoples, the stolen thing turned into a curse which
clung to his person and to his fa mily. Perhaps this event should make us
reflect on the seriousness of our commitment once we have decided to
consecrate our time and person to God.