What Does Joshua 22:20 Mean in the King James?
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word beneath “accursed thing” names what is set apart under an irrevocable ban, so taking it turns a private act into a breach reaching the whole congregation.
THE MEANING
When what is set apart is taken, the breach reaches beyond the one who takes it: wrath falls on the whole congregation. The actor is not alone in the consequence; the gathered community stands within its reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that taking what is set apart is a private matter whose consequences end with the taker.
THE ROOT
חֵרֶם
ḥērem
GROWS FROM
חרם
To ban or dedicate irrevocably, often devoting to destruction.
The Hebrew word beneath “accursed thing” is חֵרֶם (ḥērem, what is irrevocably devoted or placed under a ban). Its root binds dedication to prohibition: what is set apart no longer belongs to ordinary private use, so taking it violates a boundary with consequences beyond the taker.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāram: To ban or devote irrevocably, sometimes to destruction.
חָרַם
The verb gives the object its status: dedication removes it from ordinary possession.
heḥĕrîm: To place under a ban or devote to destruction.
הֶחֱרִים
This form shows the act of setting something apart, clarifying that the boundary is part of the object’s status.
מַעַל
maʿal
GROWS FROM
מעל
To act treacherously or break faith.
The Hebrew repeats מָעַל מַעַל (māʿal maʿal, act treacherously, a breach of faith), joining the act and the trespass in one root-pattern. The breach is a betrayal involving what is set apart, and its reach extends to the gathered people.
ALSO GROWS
māʿal: To act treacherously or deal unfaithfully.
מָעַל
This verbal form appears beside its cognate noun in the verse, holding the action and the breach together.
meʿilah: Sacrilege or misappropriation of what is sacred.
מְעִילָה
This related noun names a breach involving sacred property, illuminating the character of the taking.
THE PATTERN
A breach that begins in one member can enter the shared life of an entire people.
By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.THE THREAD
And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.The Hebrew uses the same חֵרֶם (ḥērem, what is devoted under a ban) and מָעַל (māʿal, act treacherously) roots. It also calls him Achar (עָכָר, ʿākhār, “troubler”), compressing into his name the communal consequence Joshua 22:20 describes.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us