Joshua 7:14

Joshua 7:14 Meaning and Explanation

In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.

King James Version (KJV)

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God lays out how the guilty one will be found, narrowing from tribe to family to household to individual as the LORD points him out.

What Does Joshua 7:14 Mean?

God appoints the means of discovery. In the morning the nation will be brought near tribe by tribe, then family, then household, then man by man, until the one the LORD takes is revealed. The process narrows step by step, and at every stage God Himself does the choosing.

The slow narrowing is striking. God could have named Achan at once, yet He draws it out, giving every chance for conscience to stir and confession to come. Judgment here moves with deliberate patience. It is a picture of a God who sees each person individually, who is not deceived by the crowd, and who searches not merely tribes and families but the single heart. Before such a Lord, hiding is finally impossible, and that truth is meant to lead us to honesty before we are found out.

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What does Joshua 7:14 mean?

God lays out how the guilty one will be found, narrowing from tribe to family to household to individual as the LORD points him out.

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