Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 7:17
And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
Verse 17. And he brought the family of Judah] Dr. Kennicott observes, “All Israel came near by TRIBES, and one tribe was fixed on; then that tribe came by its FAMILIES, and one family was fixed on; then came that family by its HOUSEHOLDS, and one household was fixed on, and then that household, coming MAN by MAN, one man was fixed on. Yet according to the present text, in the execution of this command, all Israel came, and the tribe of Judah was fixed on; secondly came the families of Judah, and the family of the Zarhites was fixed on; thirdly came the family of the Zarhites MAN by MAN, and Zabdi was fixed on; and fourthly came the household of Zabdi MAN by MAN, and Achan was fixed on. So that in the third article the word for by households is most certainly left out; and the fourth article, man by man, is improperly expressed twice. Instead of laggebarim, MAN by MAN, in Jos 7:17, the true word labbottim, by HOUSEHOLDS, is preserved in six Hebrew copies, and the Syriac version. By this method was discovered Achan, as he is here five times called, though the valley in which he was stoned is called Achor. He is also called Achar in the text, and in all the versions, in 1Ch 2:7. He is called Achar in the five places of Joshua in the Syrian version; also in all five in the Greek of the Vatican MS., and twice in the Alexandrian MS., and so in Josephus.” – Kennicott’s Observat.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The family of Judah; either,
1. The tribe or people, as the word family sometimes signifies, as Jdg 13:2; Zec 12:13; Amo 3:1; Act 3:25, compared with Rev 1:7. Or,
2. The families, as Jos 7:14, the singular number for the plural, the chief of each of their five families, Num 26:20,21.
Man by man; not every individual person, as is evident from Jos 7:18, but every head of the several houses or lesser families of that greater family of the Zarhites, of which see 1Ch 2:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he brought the family of Judah,…. That is, the tribe of Judah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, z; or rather, the several families in that tribe, even the heads of them:
and he took the family of the Zarhites: which descended from Zerah the son of Judah; that was taken by lot:
and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and cast lots on them:
and Zabdi was taken: that part of the family of the Zarhites which sprung from Zabdi, a son of Zerah.
z So R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 94. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17. The family of Judah Some codices read families of Judah, but the singular is to be preferred. The meaning is the tribe, or collective family.
He took the family of the Zarhites The lot, under Divine guidance, designated this division of Judah as containing the criminal.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And he brought the family of Judah near, and he selected the family of the Zerahites. And he brought the family of the Zerahites near, man by man, and Zabdi was selected. And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah was selected.’
We notice here that the same word is used for the ‘family’ of the full tribe of Judah (some manuscripts, also LXX and Vulgate, have ‘the families’, probably to remove the difficulty of the original text) and the ‘family’ of the Zerahites, a sub-tribe. This demonstrates that such terminology was not at this time rigidly fixed. Note also that Achan is related back through his grandfather to Zerah and Judah. Attention is drawn to the fact that the selection process had worked perfectly.
Some manuscripts and versions have ‘by households’ after ‘the family of the Zerahites’ instead of ‘man by man’, but the latter is the more difficult reading and the former a more obvious correction to tie in with Jos 7:14.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jos 7:17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
Ver. 17. And Zabdi was taken. ] Yet all this while Achan repenteth not, confesseth not his fault. The devil had gagged him, and his heart was hardened by the deceitfulness of that cursed sin of covetousness, the property whereof is first to turn men’s hearts into earth and mud, and afterwards to freeze and congeal them into steel and adamant.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
family Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read plural “families”.
man by man. Some codices, with two early printed editions, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “by their households”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 38:30, Zarah, Num 26:20, 1Ch 2:4-7
Reciprocal: Gen 3:9 – General Jos 7:14 – the tribe Jos 18:25 – Ramah 1Ch 2:6 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 7:17. The family Either, 1st, The tribe or people, as the word family sometimes signifies; or, 2d, The families, as Jos 7:14, the singular number being put for the plural, the chief of each of their five families, Num 26:20-21. Man by man Not every individual person, as is evident from Jos 7:18, but every head of the several houses or lesser families of that greater family of the Zarhites, of which see 1Ch 2:6.