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Achan
A man who took spoil devoted to destruction at Jericho, bringing defeat on Israel until he was found out.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1
Family & lineage
Tribe & people
BibleOf the tribe of Judah.
Joshua 7:1
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe narrative builds on a Hebrew wordplay: Achan (Hebrew ʿAkan, עכן) is stoned in the Valley of Achor (ʿAkor, עכור, 'trouble/disaster'), and the Chronicler even spells his name 'Achar' (ʿAkar, עכר, 'the one who troubles'), calling him 'the troubler of Israel.' This deliberate assonance is a recognized literary/onomastic feature marking him as an etiological figure for the place-name.
Compare the alternate form 'Achar' in 1 Chronicles 2:7 with the root ʿ-k-r ('to trouble'); standard onomastic point noted in Hebrew lexica (e.g. BDB, HALOT) and the commentary literature on Joshua.
Where in scripture
Joshua1 ChroniclesFamily
In their own words — 1 recorded saying
“And Achan, answering, said to Joshua, Truly I have done wrong against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.” — Joshua 7:20-21
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).