Achan

In Bible versions:

Achan: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV
Achar: AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV

the son of Carmi (Judah) stoned for stealing taboo booty

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he that troubleth ( --> same as Achar, Jakan)
he that troubleth ( --> same as Achan, Jakan)

Arts:

Arts Topics: Achan's Sin

Hebrew

Strongs #05912: Nke `Akan

Achan = "troubler"

1) a Judaite who violated God's specific ban on taking any loot from
the captured city of Jericho and was stoned to death along with
his family for this violation

5912 `Akan aw-kawn'

from an unused root meaning to trouble; troublesome; Akan, an
Israelite:-Achan. Compare 5917.
see HEBREW for 05917

Strongs #05917: rke `Akar

Achar = "troubler"

1) a Judaite who violated God's specific ban on taking any loot from
the captured city of Jericho and was stoned to death along with
his family for this violation
1a) alternate spelling for 'Achan'

5917 `Akar aw-kawr'

from 5916; troublesome; Akar, an Israelite:-Achar. Compare
5912.
see HEBREW for 05916
see HEBREW for 05912

Achan [EBD]

called also Achar, i.e., one who troubles (1 Chr. 2:7), in commemoration of his crime, which brought upon him an awful destruction (Josh. 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.

Achan [NAVE]

ACHAN, sin and punishment of Josh. 7; 22:20; 1 Chr. 2:7.

ACHAN [SMITH]

(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. (Joshua 7:19-26) From this event the valley received the name of Achor (i.e. trouble). [ACHOR, VALLEY OF] (B.C. 1450.)

ACHAN [ISBE]

ACHAN - a'-kan (`akhan (in 1 Ch 2:7 Achar, `akhar, "troubler"): The descendant of Zerah the son of Judah who was put to death, in Joshua's time, for stealing some of the "devoted" spoil of the city of Jericho (Josh 7). The stem `akhan is not used in Hebrew except in this name. The stem `akhar has sufficient use to define it. It denotes trouble of the most serious kind--Jacob's trouble when his sons had brought him into blood feud with his Canaanite neighbors, or Jephthah's trouble when his vow required him to sacrifice his daughter (Gen 34:30; Jdg 11:35). In Prov (11:17,29; 15:6,27) the word is used with intensity to describe the results of cruelty, disloyalty, greed, wickedness. The record especially speaks of Achan's conduct as the troubling of Israel (1 Ch 2:7; Josh 6:18; 7:24). In an outburst of temper Jonathan speaks of Saul as having troubled the land (1 Sam 14:29). Elijah and Ahab accuse each the other of being the troubler of Israel (1 Ki 18:17,18). The stem also appears in the two proper names ACHOR and OCHRAN (which see).

The crime of Achan was a serious one. Quite apart from all questions of supposable superstition, or even religion, the cherem concerning Jericho had been proclaimed, and to disobey the proclamation was disobedience to military orders in an army that was facing the enemy. It is commonly held that Achan's family were put to death with him, though they were innocent; but the record is not explicit on these points. One whose habits of thought lead him to expect features of primitive savagery in such a case as this will be sure to find what he expects; a person of different habits will not be sure that the record says that any greater cruelty was practiced on the family of Achan than that of compelling them to be present at the execution. Those who hold that the Deuteronomic legislation comes in any sense from Moses should not be in haste to think that its precepts were violated by Joshua in the case of Achan (see Dt 24:16).

The record says that the execution took place in the arable valley of Achor, up from the Jordan valley.

See ACHOR.

Willis J. Beecher

ACHAR [ISBE]

ACHAR - a'-kar: Variant of ACHAN, which see.