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| | | == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_34436" /> == |
| | | <p> ("troubler"): [[Achar]] ( 1 Chronicles 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; Genesis 3:6; James 1:14-15), coveted, took, and hid (see Genesis 3:8; following the first sin in the same awful successive steps downward) "a [[Babylonian]] garment" (compare Revelation 17:4-5), "two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, fifty shekels" ( Joshua 7:21). His guilty presence alone brought from [[Jehovah]] defeat upon [[Israel]] at [[Ai]] ( Ecclesiastes 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. </p> <p> The God who made has the power to destroy a whole family or nation for the guilt of one ( 2 Kings 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Deuteronomy 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: </p> <p> '''(1)''' Had his family been stoned, would not the heap of stones have included [[Them Also?]] [[Whereas]] it is raised over HIM. </p> <p> '''(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. </p> <p> '''(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? </p> <p> "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 ( Joshua 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17). The valley of [[Achor]] (see Isaiah 65:10) is identified by some with that of the brook Cherith, before Jordan, now wady el Kelt ( 1 Kings 17:1-7). The [[Hebrew]] of 1 Kings 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 Hosea 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. </p> |
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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_15461" /> == | |
| <p> 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, <span> [[Joshua]] 6:18 </span> ; <span> 7:1-26 </span> . He is called [[Achar]] in <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> . </p> | |
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_30460" /> == | | == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_49029" /> == |
| <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> <span> [[Joshua]] 7:1 </span> | | <p> <strong> ACHAN </strong> . Son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 7:1 ). It is brought home to Joshua ( Joshua 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 ( <em> chçrem </em> ), <em> i.e. </em> devoted to Jahweh, and was therefore unlawful for man to touch. According to the usage of the times, both he and his family are stoned, and their dead bodies burned the latter an even more terrible punishment in the eyes of ancient Israel. The sentence is carried out in the valley of <strong> Achor </strong> (‘troubling’). According to Joshua 7:25-26 , this valley was so called after Achan, the ‘troubler’ of Israel. Later his name was changed to <strong> Achar </strong> to correspond more closely with the name of the valley ( 1 Chronicles 2:7 ). </p> <p> W. O. E. Oesterley. </p> |
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| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_34436" /> == | | == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_80132" /> == |
| <p> ("troubler"): [[Achar]] ( <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> ). [[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 <span> [[Job]] 31:7 </span> ; <span> [[Genesis]] 3:6 </span> ; <span> [[James]] 1:14-15 </span> ), coveted, took, and hid (see <span> Genesis 3:8 </span> ; following the first sin in the same awful successive steps downward) "a [[Babylonian]] garment" (compare <span> [[Revelation]] 17:4-5 </span> ), "two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, fifty shekels" ( <span> [[Joshua]] 7:21 </span> ). [[His]] guilty presence alone brought from [[Jehovah]] defeat upon [[Israel]] at [[Ai]] ( <span> [[Ecclesiastes]] 9:18 </span> ). Joshua, by Jehovah's direction, through lots detected the culprit, and having elicited his confession said, "Why hast thou troubled us?" <span> (alluding to the meaning of Achar or Achan) </span> "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. </p> <p> The [[God]] who made has the power to destroy a whole family or nation for the guilt of one ( <span> 2 Kings 23:25-27 </span> ); 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 ( <span> [[Deuteronomy]] 13:16-17 </span> ). 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 ( <span> Deuteronomy 24:16 </span> ) 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: </p> <p> <span> (1) </span> Had his family been stoned, would not the heap of stones have included THEM ALSO? [[Whereas]] it is raised over HIM. </p> <p> <span> (2) </span> 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. </p> <p> <span> (3) </span> 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? </p> <p> "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 ( <span> Joshua 8:29 </span> ; <span> 2 [[Samuel]] 18:17 </span> ). The valley of [[Achor]] (see <span> [[Isaiah]] 65:10 </span> ) is identified by some with that of the brook Cherith, before Jordan, now wady el [[Kelt]] ( <span> 1 Kings 17:1-7 </span> ). The [[Hebrew]] of <span> 1 Kings 17:24 </span> , "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 <span> [[Hosea]] 2:15 </span> ; "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 <span> ANANIAS </span> .) 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. </p> | | <p> 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 <em> accursed </em> 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. </p> |
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| == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_38163" /> == | | == Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types <ref name="term_197394" /> == |
| <span> 1 Corinthians 2:7 </span> <span> [[Joshua]] 7:1 </span> <span> Joshua 7:11 </span> <span> Joshua 7:25 </span> <a> [[Ai]] </a> <a> Joshua </a> | | <p> Joshua 7:1 (c) This man is used as a type of a selfish, wicked, religious professor. He rejected GOD's word about the property of Jericho which belonged to GOD, and took some of it to enrich himself. The ungodly who join the church, partake of the Lord's supper, and teach the Bible which they do not believe are like Achan. </p> <p> Joshua 7:25 (c) Achan may be taken in this place as a type of a trouble maker who, because of his sinful, hypocritical practices in the church, causes trouble there. Because of his actions the church is in a turmoil and even perhaps may be divided because of him. Such a person is to he expelled from the church as in1Corinthians5. </p> |
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| == Hitchcock's Bible Names <ref name="term_45074" /> == | | == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_70990" /> == |
| | | <p> '''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. </p> <p> 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 (that is, trouble). ''See '' '''Achor, Valley of''' ''.'' (B.C. 1450). </p> |
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_49029" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> ACHAN </strong> . [[Son]] of Carmi, of the tribe of [[Judah]] ( <span> [[Joshua]] 7:1 </span> ). It is brought home to Joshua ( <span> Joshua 7:8-12 </span> ) 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 ( <em> chçrem </em> ), <em> i.e. </em> devoted to Jahweh, and was therefore unlawful for man to touch. According to the usage of the times, both he and his family are stoned, and their dead bodies burned the latter an even more terrible punishment in the eyes of ancient Israel. The sentence is carried out in the valley of <strong> [[Achor]] </strong> (‘troubling’). According to <span> Joshua 7:25-26 </span> , this valley was so called after Achan, the ‘troubler’ of Israel. [[Later]] his name was changed to <strong> [[Achar]] </strong> to correspond more closely with the name of the valley ( <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> ). </p> <p> W. O. E. Oesterley. </p> | |
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| == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_69597" /> == | | == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_69597" /> == |
| <p> <span> [[Achan]] </span> ( <span> ă'kan </span> ), <span> troubler. </span> A man of the tribe of Judah, who at the sacking of [[Jericho]] took, contrary to God's express command, a portion of the spoil. [[Hence]] the repulse before Ai. Achan's guilt being discovered, he was carried with his family and all his property into the valley of Achor, and there stoned and afterwards burned. It would seem that Achan's family shared his punishment—how far they were involved in his crime we know not—and that his possessions were destroyed. <span> [[Joshua]] 7:1-26 </span> . [[He]] is also called [[Achar]] ( <span> â'kar </span> ). </p> | | <p> [[Achan]] ( ''Ă'Kan'' ), ''Troubler.'' A man of the tribe of Judah, who at the sacking of Jericho took, contrary to God's express command, a portion of the spoil. Hence the repulse before Ai. Achan's guilt being discovered, he was carried with his family and all his property into the valley of Achor, and there stoned and afterwards burned. It would seem that Achan's family shared his punishment—how far they were involved in his crime we know not—and that his possessions were destroyed. Joshua 7:1-26. He is also called Achar ( ''Â'Kar'' ). </p> |
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| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_70990" /> == | | == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_15461" /> == |
| <p> <span> A'chan. </span> <span> (troubler). </span> 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. </p> <p> [[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. <span> [[Joshua]] 7:19-26 </span> . From this event the valley received the name of [[Achor]] (that is, trouble). <span> [[See]] </span> <a> Achor, [[Valley]] of </a> <span> . </span> (B.C. 1450). </p> | | <p> 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, Joshua 6:18; 7:1-26 . He is called Achar in 1 Chronicles 2:7 . </p> |
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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_80132" /> == | | == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_38163" /> == |
| <p> 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 <em> accursed </em> 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. </p>
| | 1 Corinthians 2:7 Joshua 7:1 Joshua 7:11 Joshua 7:25Ai[[Joshua]] |
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| == Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters <ref name="term_197235" /> == | | == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_30460" /> == |
| <p> ACHAN OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH WAS TAKEN </p> <p> JERICHO was one of the largest and richest cities in all ancient Canaan. But for the terrible ban pronounced by Joshua, [[Jericho]] might have taken the place of [[Jerusalem]] itself as the chief city of ancient Israel. Jericho was an excellently situated and a strongly fenced city. [[Broad]] and lofty walls ran all round the city, and the only way in and out of the city was by great gates which were scrupulously shut every night at sundown. There were great foundries of brass and iron in Jericho, with workshops also in silver and in gold. The looms of [[Babylonia]] were already famous over all the eastern world, and their rich and beautiful textures went far and near, and were warmly welcomed wherever the commercial caravans of that day carried them. Balak's gold had long before now brought [[Balaam]] the soothsayer across the plains of Mesopotamia, and the gold and silver of Jericho had also drawn toward that city the travelling dealers in the woven work of the [[Babylonian]] looms. A goodly [[Babylonish]] garment plays a prominent part in the tragical history that now opens before us. </p> <p> The rich and licentious city of Jericho was doomed of [[God]] to swift overthrow and absolute extermination, but no part of the spoil, neither thread nor shoe-latchet, was to be so much as touched by [[Joshua]] or any of his armed men. [[Nothing]] demoralises an army like sacking a fallen city. To spring like a tiger at a wall that reaches up to heaven, and then to extinguish all a tiger's thirst for blood and plunder, that is the high ideal of a true soldier's duty. And it is a splendid certificate to Joshua's discipline, and to the morality of his army, that only one of his men gave way in the time of temptation. And the swift and heavy fall of Joshua's hand on that one man must have still more consolidated Joshua's authority, and transformed his wilderness hosts into true soldiers, where other soldiers would have been thieves and robbers. The army of [[Israel]] crossed the Jordan, entered the devoted land, besieged its cities, and marched from victory to victory under the banners of their respective tribes; very much as a modern army is made up of companies of men compacted together under the colours and the denominations of their respective clans and nationalities. Each of the twelve tribes of Israel had its own regiment, as we would say, marching and camping and entering battle under its own ensign; and thus it was that when the armies of Israel marched round Jericho on the way to their miraculous conquest of that city the standard of the tribe of [[Judah]] led the sacred host. [[Every]] single soldier in all Israel Had heard Joshua's proclamation ahout Jericho; both what his men were to do till the walls fell, and how they were to demean themselves after the city had been given of God into their hands. But war is war; and the best of commanders cannot make war a silken work, nor can he hold down the devil in the hearts of all his men. [[In]] the hearts of many of them he may, if he first does that in his own heart; but scarcely in the hearts of them all. [[Night]] fell on the prostrate city, and the hour of temptation struck for Joshua and all his men. [[Blessed]] is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life. And Joshua and all his men received the crown of life that night,-all his men but one. Who is that stealing about among the smoking ruins? Is that some soldier of Jericho who has saved himself from the devouring sword? When the night wind wakens the embers again these are the accoutrements and the movements of one of Joshua's men. Has he lost his way? Has he been half dead, and has he not heard the rally of the trumpet? [[He]] hides, he listens, he looks through the darkness, he disappears into the darkness. [[No]] one has slept for joy in all the camp of Israel that night. And no one has slept for sorrow in one of Judah's tents that night. For, what is the fall of Jericho to them in that tent when it has cost them the life of their husband, their father, and their master? When the door of that tent is suddenly lifted, and the face of a corpse comes in, takes a spade, and buries a strange burden in the earth in the midst of the astounded tent. God giveth [[His]] beloved sleep. But- </p> <blockquote> [[Methought]] I heard a voice cry, [[Sleep]] co more!Macbeth doth murder sleep, the innocent sleep!And still it cried, [[Macbeth]] doth murder sleep! </blockquote> <p> [[So]] the [[Lord]] was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout the whole country. But the men of Israel fled before the men of Ai, wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water. And the Lord said to Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou upon thy face? Up, sanctify the people, for there is an accursed thing in the midst of them. And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken; and he brought the family of Judah, and he took the family of Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites, man by man, and [[Zabdi]] was taken; and he brought his household, man by man, and [[Achan]] of the tribe of Judah was taken. My son, said Joshua, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him; and tell me what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it And all Israel raised over him a great heap of stones to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. [[Wherefore]] the name of that place was called The [[Valley]] of [[Achor]] unto this day. </p> <p> [[Everybody]] who reads the best books will have long had by heart [[Thomas]] a Kempis's famous description of the successive steps of a successful temptation. There is first the bare thought of the sin. Then, upon that, there is a picture of the sin formed and hung up on the secret screen of the imagination. A strange sweetness from that picture is then let down drop by drop into the heart; and then that secret sweetness soon secures the consent of the whole soul, and the thing is done. That is true, and it is powerful enough. But Achan's confession to Joshua is much simpler, and much closer to the truth. 'I saw the goodly Babylonish garment, I coveted it, I took it, and I hid it in my tent'. Had Joshua happened to post the ensign of Judah opposite the poor men's part of the city, this sad story would never have been told. But even as it was, had Achan only happened to stand a little to the one side, or a little to the other side of where he did stand, in that case he would not have seen that beautiful piece, and not seeing it he would not have coveted it, and would have gone home to his tent that night a good soldier and an honest man. But when once Achan's eyes lighted on that rich garment he never could get his eyes off it again. [[As]] A Kempis says, the seductive thing got into Achan's imagination, and the devil's work was done. Achan was in a fever now lest he should lose that goodly garment. He was terrified lest any of his companions should have seen that glittering piece. He was sure some of them had seen it and were making off with it. He stood in between it and the searchers. He turned their attention to something else. And then when their backs were about he wrapped it up in a hurry, and the gold and the silver inside of it, and thrust it down into a hiding-place. His eyes were Achan's fatal snare. It was his eyes that stoned Achan and burned him and his household to dust and ashes in the Valley of Achor. Had God seen it to be good to make men and women in some way without eyes, the fall itself would have been escaped. It was at [[Adam]] and Eve's eyes that the devil came into man's heart at first. In his despair to get the devil out of his heart [[Job]] swore a solemn oath and made a holy covenant with his eyes. But our Saviour, as He always does, goes far deeper than Job. He knows quite well that no oath that Job ever swore, and no covenant that Job ever sealed, will hold any man's eyes from sin; and therefore He demands of all His disciples that their eyes shall be plucked out. He pulls down His own best handiwork at its finest part so that He may get the devil's handiwork destroyed and rooted out of it; and then He will let us have all our eyes back again when and where we are fit to be trusted with eyes. It is better to go to heaven like a blind man led by a dog, says our Lord; ten times better than to dance all your days down to hell with Babylonian bangles on and all ornaments. [[Miss]] Rossetti is writing to young ladies, it is true; but what she says to them it will do us all good to hear. 'True,' says that fine writer, 'all our lives long we shall be bound to refrain our soul, and to keep it low; but what then? [[For]] the books we now forbear to read, we shall one day be endued with wisdom and knowledge. For the music we will not listen to we shall join in the song of the redeemed. For the pictures from which we turn we shall gaze unabashed on the [[Beatific]] Vision. For the companionships we shun, we shall be welcomed into angelic society and the communion of triumphant saints. For all the amusements we avoid, we shall keep the supreme jubilee.' Yes, it is as certain as God's truth and righteousness are certain, that the mortified man who goes about with his eyes out; the man who steals along the street seeing neither smile nor frown; he who keeps his eyes down wherever men and women congregate,-in the church, in the market-place, at a railway-station, on a ship's deck, at an inn table,-where you will; that man escapes multitudes of temptations that more open and more full-eyed men and women continually fall before. You huff and toss your head at that. But these things are not spoken for you, but for those who have sold and cut off both eye and ear and hand and foot and life itself, if all that will only carry them one single step nearer to their salvation. </p> <p> So Joshua rose early in the morning,-Joshua, like every good soldier, was an early riser,-and he brought all Israel by their tribes, and their families, and their households, that the Lord Himself might make inquisition, and might put His finger upon the marked man. [[Look]] at the camp of Israel that awful morning! It is the day of judgment, and the great white throne is set in the Valley of Achor before its proper time. Look how the hearts of those fathers and mothers who have sons in the army beat as if it were the last trump! Did you ever spend a night like that in Achan's tent? A friend of mine once slept in a room in a hotel in [[Glasgow]] through the wall from a man who made him think sometimes that a madman had got into the house. [[Sometimes]] he thought it must be a suicide, and sometimes a damned soul come back for a visit to the city of its sins. But he understood the mysterious noises of the night next morning when the officers came in and beckoned to a gentleman who sat surrounded by the luxuries of the breakfast table, and drove him off to a penal settlement. Groanings that cannot be uttered to you were heard by all Achan's neighbours all that night. [[Till]] one bold man rose and lifted a loop of Achan's tent in the darkness, and saw Achan still burying deeper and deeper his sin. O sons and daughters of discovered Achan! O guilty and dissembling sinners! It is all in vain. It is all utterly and absolutely in vain. Be sure as God is in heaven, that He has His eyes upon you, and that your sin will find you out. You think that the darkness will cover you. [[Wait]] till you see! [[Go]] on sowing as you have begun, and come and tell us when the harvest is reaped how it threshes out and bow it tastes. </p> <p> The eagle that stole a piece of sacred flesh from the altar brought home a smouldering coal with it that kindled up afterwards and burned up both her whole nest and all her young ones. It was very sore upon Achan's sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had. But things are as they are. God gathers the solitary into families for good, and the family tie still continues to hold even when all the members of the family have done evil. Once a father, always a father: the relationship stands. Once a son, always a son, even when a prodigal son. Every son has his father's grey hairs and his mother's anxious heart in his hands, and no possible power can alter that. [[Drop]] that stolen flesh! There is a coal in it that shall never be quenched. </p> <p> Achan, after all, as is sometimes the case, had all the time the root of the matter in him. Achan made a clean breast of it, and gave himself up to Joshua before all Israel, and walked out to the Valley of Achor without a murmur. But Joshua had no choice. Joshua could not help himself. Joshua was a man under authority. And Achan had to die. But the point and the proper end of the whole story to us is this: that a greater than Joshua is here. Joshua bore a [[Name]] greater than his own, hut that only brings out all the better the blessed contrast between Achan and you. Make a clean breast of it, then. Go home to ysour tent tonight, take up the accursed thing out of its hiding-place, and lay it out before Joshua, if not before all Israel. [[Lay]] it out and say,-Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. And if you do not know what more to say, if you are speechless beside that accursed thing, try this; say this. [[Ask]] and say, Is thy Name indeed Jesus? [[Dost]] thou indeed save found-out men from their sins? [[Art]] thou still set forth to be a propitiation? Art thou truly able to save to the uttermost? For I am the chief of sinners, say. [[Lie]] down on the floor of your room,-you need not think it too much for you to do that, or that it is an act unworthy of your manhood to do it; the [[Son]] of God did it for you on the floor of Gethsemane, Yes, lie down on the floor of your room, lay your head in the dust of it, and say this about yourself: [[Say]] that you, naming yourself, are the offscouring of all men. For thus and thus, naming it, have I done. And then say this,- </p> <blockquote> The dying thief rejoiced to seeThat [[Fountain]] in his day-and see what the true Joshua will stand over you and will say to you. </blockquote> <p> [[Therefore]] the name of that place is called The Valley of Achor to this day. Achor, that is, as it is interpreted on the margin, trouble; the Valley of Trouble. Why hast thou troubled us? demanded Joshua of Achan. The Lord shall trouble thee this day. The Lord troubled Achan in judgment that day, but He is troubling you in mercy in your day. Yes; be sure, in mercy. [[If]] I were suddenly to open your door tonight, and find you on your face, I would clap my hands with gladness. I would lie down on the spot beside you, and would share your trouble, and you would share mine, and I would lift you up and share your joy. It is not possible, you say. Look at your [[Bible]] again, and see. 'And [[Sharon]] shall be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for the people that have sought Me,' And, again,-'And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the day of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.' Your soul, that is. Your soul shall sing there. There, in that Valley of Achor. There in that room. There where your sin found you out. There where I found you on your face. Yes; already jour trouble is a door of hope. You will sing yet as you never sang in the days of your youth. You never sang songs like these in the days of your youth, or before your trouble came,-songs like these: The Lord will be a refuge for the overwhelmed: a refuge in the time of trouble. [[Thou]] art my hiding-place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow. [[Though]] I walk in the midst of trouble Thou wilt revive me, and [[Thy]] right hand shall save me. O the [[Hope]] of Israel, the [[Saviour]] thereof in the time of trouble! You will sing that song in your Valley of Achor till this song shall be taken up over you by saints and angels,-These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. </p>
| | 1 Chronicles 2:7 Joshua 7:1 |
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| == Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types <ref name="term_197394" /> == | | == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_616" /> == |
| <p> < span> [[ Joshua]] 7 :1 </ span> ( c) This man is used as a type of a selfish, wicked, religious professor. [[ He]] rejected GOD's word about the property of [[ Jericho]] which belonged to GOD, and took some of it to enrich himself. The ungodly who join the church, partake of the Lord's supper, and teach the [[ Bible]] which they do not believe are like Achan. </p> <p> < span> Joshua 7:25 </ span> (c) [[Achan ]] may be taken in this place as a type of a trouble maker who , because of his sinful, hypocritical practices in the church, causes trouble there. [[ Because]] of his actions the church is in a turmoil and even perhaps may be divided because of him. Such a person is to he expelled from the church as in1Corinthians5. </p> | | <p> ''''' ā´kan ''''' ( עכן , <i> ''''' ‛ākhān ''''' </i> (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, עכר , <i> ''''' ‛ākhār ''''' < /i> , "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 <i> ''''' ‛ākhan ''''' </i> is not used in Hebrew except in this name. The stem <i> ''''' ‛ākhar ''''' </ i> has sufficient use to define it. It denotes trouble of the most serious kind - J acob'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 ( Genesis 34:30; Judges 11:35 ) . In Prov ( Joshua 11:17 , 29; Joshua 15:6 , Joshua 15:27 ) 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 Chronicles 2:7; Joshua 6:18; Joshua 7:24 ). In an outburst of temper [[ Jonathan]] speaks of Saul as having troubled the land ( 1 Samuel 14:29 ). [[ Elijah]] and [[Ahab]] accuse each the other of being the troubler of Israel ( 1 Kings 18:17 , 1 Kings 18:18 ). The stem also appears in the two proper names Achor and [[ Ochran]] (which see). </p> <p> The crime of Achan was a serious one. [[Quite]] apart from all questions of supposable superstition, or even religion, the < i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </ i> 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 Deuteronomy 24:16 ). </p> <p> The record says that the execution took place in the arable valley of Achor, up from the [[ Jordan]] valley. See Achor . </p> |
| | | |
| == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_616" /> == | | == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_17478" /> == |
| <p> <translit> ā´kan </translit> ( <span> עכן </span> , <i> <translit> ‛ākhān </translit> </i> (in <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> Achar, <span> עכר </span> , <i> <translit> ‛ākhār </translit> </i> , "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 <i> <translit> ‛ākhan </translit> </i> is not used in [[Hebrew]] except in this name. The stem <i> <translit> ‛ākhar </translit> </i> has sufficient use to define it. It denotes trouble of the most serious kind <links> - [[J]] </links> acob'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 ( <span> [[Genesis]] 34:30 </span> ; <span> [[Judges]] 11:35 </span> ). [[In]] Prov ( <span> [[Joshua]] 11:17 </span> , 29; <span> Joshua 15:6 </span> , <span> Joshua 15:27 </span> ) 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]] ( <span> 1 Chronicles 2:7 </span> ; <span> Joshua 6:18 </span> ; <span> Joshua 7:24 </span> ). In an outburst of temper [[Jonathan]] speaks of [[Saul]] as having troubled the land ( <span> 1 [[Samuel]] 14:29 </span> ). [[Elijah]] and [[Ahab]] accuse each the other of being the troubler of Israel ( <span> 1 Kings 18:17 </span> , <span> 1 Kings 18:18 </span> ). The stem also appears in the two proper names <a> ACHOR </a> and <a> OCHRAN </a> (which see). </p> <p> The crime of [[Achan]] was a serious one. [[Quite]] apart from all questions of supposable superstition, or even religion, the <i> <translit> ḥērem </translit> </i> 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 <span> [[Deuteronomy]] 24:16 </span> ). </p> <p> The record says that the execution took place in the arable valley of Achor, up from the [[Jordan]] valley. [[See]] <a> ACHOR </a> . </p> | | <p> (Heb. Akan', '''''עָכָן''''' '','' prob. ''Troubler;'' Sept. '''''Ἀχάν''''' in Joshua 22:20, elsewhere '''''῎Αχαρ''''' ), a son of Carmi, called also ACHAR ( 1 Chronicles 2:7), in commemoration of his crime and awful doom, as related in Joshua 7:1-26 (see Kitto's [[Daily]] Bible Illust. in loc.). The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, of which there are other instances in the early [[Scripture]] history, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting [[Rahab]] and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to God (see Deuteronomy 7:16; Deuteronomy 7:23-26). This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when Jericho was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly [[Babylonish]] garment, which he buried in his tent, deeming that his sin was hid. The [[Israelites]] were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as Joshua was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the whole people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal by means of the lot (q.v.). The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (hence afterward called) of Achor (q.v.), near Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes, B.C. 1618. (See Pyle, Sermons, 3, 185; Saurin, Disc. Hist. 3, 78; Simeon, Works, 2, 574; Buddicom, Christ. Exodus 2, 350; Origen, Opp. 2, 415). The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark (see A. Clarke and Keil, in loc.). Instead of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those stern, vehement impulses of semi-martial vengeance to which the [[Jewish]] (like all Oriental) people were exceedingly prone, and which, though extreme (comp. Deuteronomy 24:16), was ''Permitted'' (for the terms "all that he hath" did not necessarily prescribe it) as a check to a cupidity that tended so strongly both to mutiny and impiety. (See [[Accursed]]), </p> |
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| == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_15020" /> == | | == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_15020" /> == |
| <p> A´chan (troubler); in <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> written Achar. From the peculiarly appropriate significance of the name, it is supposed to have been imposed after the occurrence of the facts which rendered it notorious. The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting [[Rahab]] and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to God. This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when [[Jericho]] was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly [[Babylonish]] garment, which he buried in his tent. But [[God]] made known this infraction, which (the vow having been made by the nation as one body) had involved the whole nation in his guilt. The [[Israelites]] were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as [[Joshua]] was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the entire people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal. [[As]] in other cases, the matter was referred to the [[Lord]] by the lot, and the lot ultimately indicated the actual criminal. The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people, actuated by the strong impulse with which men tear up, root and branch, a polluted thing, hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (afterwards called) of Achor, north of Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes. The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark. [[Instead]] of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those sudden impulses of indiscriminate popular vengeance to which the [[Jewish]] people were exceedingly prone, and which, in this case, it would not have been in the power of Joshua to control by any authority which he could under such circumstances exercise </p> | | <p> A´chan (troubler); in 1 Chronicles 2:7 written Achar. From the peculiarly appropriate significance of the name, it is supposed to have been imposed after the occurrence of the facts which rendered it notorious. The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting Rahab and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to God. This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when Jericho was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly Babylonish garment, which he buried in his tent. But God made known this infraction, which (the vow having been made by the nation as one body) had involved the whole nation in his guilt. The Israelites were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as Joshua was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the entire people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal. As in other cases, the matter was referred to the Lord by the lot, and the lot ultimately indicated the actual criminal. The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people, actuated by the strong impulse with which men tear up, root and branch, a polluted thing, hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (afterwards called) of Achor, north of Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes. The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark. Instead of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those sudden impulses of indiscriminate popular vengeance to which the Jewish people were exceedingly prone, and which, in this case, it would not have been in the power of Joshua to control by any authority which he could under such circumstances exercise </p> |
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_17478" /> ==
| |
| <p> (Heb. Akan', <span> עָכָן </span> <span> , </span> prob. <span> troubler; </span> Sept. <span> Ἀχάν </span> in <span> [[Joshua]] 22:20 </span> , elsewhere <span> ῎Αχαρ </span> ), a son of Carmi, called also ACHAR ( <span> 1 [[Chronicles]] 2:7 </span> ), in commemoration of his crime and awful doom, as related in <span> Joshua 7:1-26 </span> (see Kitto's [[Daily]] [[Bible]] Illust. in loc.). The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, of which there are other instances in the early [[Scripture]] history, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting [[Rahab]] and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to [[God]] (see <span> [[Deuteronomy]] 7:16 </span> ; <span> Deuteronomy 7:23-26 </span> ). This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when [[Jericho]] was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly [[Babylonish]] garment, which he buried in his tent, deeming that his sin was hid. The [[Israelites]] were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as Joshua was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the whole people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal by means of the lot (q.v.). The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (hence afterward called) of [[Achor]] (q.v.), near Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes, B.C. 1618. (See Pyle, Sermons, 3, 185; Saurin, Disc. Hist. 3, 78; Simeon, Works, 2, 574; Buddicom, Christ. [[Exodus]] 2, 350; Origen, Opp. 2, 415). The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark (see A. Clarke and Keil, in loc.). [[Instead]] of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those stern, vehement impulses of semi-martial vengeance to which the [[Jewish]] (like all Oriental) people were exceedingly prone, and which, though extreme (comp. <span> Deuteronomy 24:16 </span> ), was <span> permitted </span> (for the terms "all that he hath" did not necessarily prescribe it) as a check to a cupidity that tended so strongly both to mutiny and impiety. (See <a> ACCURSED </a> ), </p>
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| ==References == | | ==References == |
| <references> | | <references> |
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| <ref name="term_15461"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_34436"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_30460"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_49029"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/achan Achan from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_34436"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_80132"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/achan Achan from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_38163"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_197394"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/wilson-s-dictionary-of-bible-types/achan Achan from Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_45074"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hitchcock-s-bible-names/achan Achan from Hitchcock's Bible Names]</ref> | | <ref name="term_70990"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_49029"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/achan Achan from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_69597"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/achan Achan from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> | | <ref name="term_69597"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/achan Achan from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_70990"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_15461"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_80132"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/achan Achan from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_38163"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_197235"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/whyte-s-dictionary-of-bible-characters/achan Achan from Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters]</ref> | | <ref name="term_30460"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/achan Achan from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_197394"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/wilson-s-dictionary-of-bible-types/achan Achan from Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types]</ref> | | <ref name="term_616"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/achan Achan from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_616"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/achan Achan from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref> | | <ref name="term_17478"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/achan Achan from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_15020"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/achan Achan from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref> | | <ref name="term_15020"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/achan Achan from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_17478"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/achan Achan from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [1]
("troubler"): Achar ( 1 Chronicles 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; Genesis 3:6; James 1:14-15), coveted, took, and hid (see Genesis 3:8; following the first sin in the same awful successive steps downward) "a Babylonian garment" (compare Revelation 17:4-5), "two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, fifty shekels" ( Joshua 7:21). His guilty presence alone brought from Jehovah defeat upon Israel at Ai ( Ecclesiastes 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 ( 2 Kings 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Joshua 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17). The valley of Achor (see Isaiah 65:10) is identified by some with that of the brook Cherith, before Jordan, now wady el Kelt ( 1 Kings 17:1-7). The Hebrew of 1 Kings 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 Hosea 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.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [2]
ACHAN . Son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 7:1 ). It is brought home to Joshua ( Joshua 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 ( chçrem ), i.e. devoted to Jahweh, and was therefore unlawful for man to touch. According to the usage of the times, both he and his family are stoned, and their dead bodies burned the latter an even more terrible punishment in the eyes of ancient Israel. The sentence is carried out in the valley of Achor (‘troubling’). According to Joshua 7:25-26 , this valley was so called after Achan, the ‘troubler’ of Israel. Later his name was changed to Achar to correspond more closely with the name of the valley ( 1 Chronicles 2:7 ).
W. O. E. Oesterley.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [3]
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.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types [4]
Joshua 7:1 (c) This man is used as a type of a selfish, wicked, religious professor. He rejected GOD's word about the property of Jericho which belonged to GOD, and took some of it to enrich himself. The ungodly who join the church, partake of the Lord's supper, and teach the Bible which they do not believe are like Achan.
Joshua 7:25 (c) Achan may be taken in this place as a type of a trouble maker who, because of his sinful, hypocritical practices in the church, causes trouble there. Because of his actions the church is in a turmoil and even perhaps may be divided because of him. Such a person is to he expelled from the church as in1Corinthians5.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [5]
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. Joshua 7:19-26. From this event the valley received the name of Achor (that is, trouble). See Achor, Valley of . (B.C. 1450).
People's Dictionary of the Bible [6]
Achan ( Ă'Kan ), Troubler. A man of the tribe of Judah, who at the sacking of Jericho took, contrary to God's express command, a portion of the spoil. Hence the repulse before Ai. Achan's guilt being discovered, he was carried with his family and all his property into the valley of Achor, and there stoned and afterwards burned. It would seem that Achan's family shared his punishment—how far they were involved in his crime we know not—and that his possessions were destroyed. Joshua 7:1-26. He is also called Achar ( Â'Kar ).
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [7]
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, Joshua 6:18; 7:1-26 . He is called Achar in 1 Chronicles 2:7 .
Holman Bible Dictionary [8]
1 Corinthians 2:7 Joshua 7:1 Joshua 7:11 Joshua 7:25AiJoshua
Easton's Bible Dictionary [9]
1 Chronicles 2:7 Joshua 7:1
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [10]
ā´kan ( עכן , ‛ākhān (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, עכר , ‛ākhār , "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 ‛ākhan is not used in Hebrew except in this name. The stem ‛ākhar has sufficient use to define it. It denotes trouble of the most serious kind - J acob'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 ( Genesis 34:30; Judges 11:35 ). In Prov ( Joshua 11:17 , 29; Joshua 15:6 , Joshua 15:27 ) 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 Chronicles 2:7; Joshua 6:18; Joshua 7:24 ). In an outburst of temper Jonathan speaks of Saul as having troubled the land ( 1 Samuel 14:29 ). Elijah and Ahab accuse each the other of being the troubler of Israel ( 1 Kings 18:17 , 1 Kings 18:18 ). 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 ḥērem 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 Deuteronomy 24:16 ).
The record says that the execution took place in the arable valley of Achor, up from the Jordan valley. See Achor .
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [11]
(Heb. Akan', עָכָן , prob. Troubler; Sept. Ἀχάν in Joshua 22:20, elsewhere ῎Αχαρ ), a son of Carmi, called also ACHAR ( 1 Chronicles 2:7), in commemoration of his crime and awful doom, as related in Joshua 7:1-26 (see Kitto's Daily Bible Illust. in loc.). The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, of which there are other instances in the early Scripture history, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting Rahab and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to God (see Deuteronomy 7:16; Deuteronomy 7:23-26). This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when Jericho was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly Babylonish garment, which he buried in his tent, deeming that his sin was hid. The Israelites were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as Joshua was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the whole people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal by means of the lot (q.v.). The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (hence afterward called) of Achor (q.v.), near Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes, B.C. 1618. (See Pyle, Sermons, 3, 185; Saurin, Disc. Hist. 3, 78; Simeon, Works, 2, 574; Buddicom, Christ. Exodus 2, 350; Origen, Opp. 2, 415). The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark (see A. Clarke and Keil, in loc.). Instead of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those stern, vehement impulses of semi-martial vengeance to which the Jewish (like all Oriental) people were exceedingly prone, and which, though extreme (comp. Deuteronomy 24:16), was Permitted (for the terms "all that he hath" did not necessarily prescribe it) as a check to a cupidity that tended so strongly both to mutiny and impiety. (See Accursed),
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature [12]
A´chan (troubler); in 1 Chronicles 2:7 written Achar. From the peculiarly appropriate significance of the name, it is supposed to have been imposed after the occurrence of the facts which rendered it notorious. The city of Jericho, before it was taken, was put under that awful ban, whereby all the inhabitants (excepting Rahab and her family) were devoted to destruction, all the combustible goods to be consumed by fire, and all the metals to be consecrated to God. This vow of devotement was rigidly observed by all the troops when Jericho was taken, save by one man, Achan, a Judahite, who could not resist the temptation of secreting an ingot of gold, a quantity of silver, and a costly Babylonish garment, which he buried in his tent. But God made known this infraction, which (the vow having been made by the nation as one body) had involved the whole nation in his guilt. The Israelites were defeated, with serious loss, in their first attack upon Ai; and as Joshua was well assured that this humiliation was designed as the punishment of a crime which had inculpated the entire people, he took immediate measures to discover the criminal. As in other cases, the matter was referred to the Lord by the lot, and the lot ultimately indicated the actual criminal. The conscience-stricken offender then confessed his crime to Joshua; and his confession being verified by the production of his ill-gotten treasure, the people, actuated by the strong impulse with which men tear up, root and branch, a polluted thing, hurried away not only Achan, but his tent, his goods, his spoil, his cattle, his children, to the valley (afterwards called) of Achor, north of Jericho, where they stoned him, and all that belonged to him; after which the whole was consumed with fire, and a cairn of stones raised over the ashes. The severity of this act, as regards the family of Achan, has provoked some remark. Instead of vindicating it, as is generally done, by the allegation that the members of Achan's family were probably accessories to his crime after the fact, we prefer the supposition that they were included in the doom by one of those sudden impulses of indiscriminate popular vengeance to which the Jewish people were exceedingly prone, and which, in this case, it would not have been in the power of Joshua to control by any authority which he could under such circumstances exercise
References
