Joshua 22:20

22:20 When Achan son of Zerah disobeyed the command about the city’s riches, the entire Israelite community was judged, ¹  though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’” ² 

Joshua 22:1

Joshua Sends Home the Eastern Tribes

22:1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

Joshua 2:6-7

2:6 (Now she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax she had spread out ³  on the roof.) 2:7 Meanwhile ⁴  the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River ⁵  near the fords. ⁶  The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “Is it not [true that] Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord] and against all the assembly of Israel there was anger?”

² tn The second half of the verse reads literally, “and he [was] one man, he did not die for his sin.” There are at least two possible ways to explain this statement: (1) One might interpret the statement to mean that Achan was not the only person who died for his sin. In this case it could be translated, “and he was not the only one to die because of his sin.” (2) Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to take the words וְהוּא אִישׁ אֶחָד (vÿhu’ ’ish ’ekhad, “and he [was] one man”) as a concessive clause and join it with what precedes. The remaining words (לֹא גָוַע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ, lo’ gava’ ba’avono) must then be taken as a rhetorical question (“Did he not die for his sin?”). Taking the last sentence as interrogative is consistent with the first part of the verse, a rhetorical question introduced with the interrogative particle. The present translation has converted these rhetorical questions into affirmative statements to bring out more clearly the points they are emphasizing. For further discussion, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 240.

³ tn Heb “arranged in rows by her.”

⁴ tn Another way to translate vv. 6-7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them…, the king’s men tried to find them….” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.

⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.

⁷ tn Heb “And they shut the gate after – as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.