Joshua 7:17
in Joshua 7He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward, and the family of Zabdi was selected.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites: and he brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
KJV
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:
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This verse in Joshua 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
So Joshua arose early the next morning
on Joshua 7:16-18
The lot takes Judah, the tribe of the sceptre in Genesis 49:10, and Henry weighs what that costs the honoured name. Proverbs 16:33 states the principle the procedure rests on, that the lot is cast into the lap but its decision is from the LORD.
This site's exposition
the clan of the Zerahites was selected
Numbers 26:20-21 lists five clans of Judah, and Wesley takes each to have come forward through its head. Gill traces the Zerahites to Zerah son of Judah, and the house of Zabdi to a branch of that clan. Each round shrinks the circle.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The family - Either, 1. the tribe or people, as the word family sometimes signifies, or, 2. the families, as ver. 14, the singular number for the plural, the chief of each of their five families, Num. xxvi, 20, 21.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-14-anchored-17-17
Upon thy face - This business is not to be done by inactive supplication, but by vigourous endeavours for reformation. Israel - Some or one of them. Transgressed my covenant - That is, broken the conditions of my covenant which they have promised to perform, whereof this was one, not to meddle with the accursed thing.
And by this story it appears that, as the laws, so Canaan itself, "made nothing perfect," the perfection both of holiness and peace to God's Israel is to be expected in the heavenly Canaan only.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And brought the Bnei Yisroel near. He brought them in front of the Choshen. The Choshen was one of the sacred garments worn by the Kohein Gadol. The Divine decisions were given through the letters inscribed on the Choshen. on which the names of the tribes were inscribed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּקְרֵב֙ | vaiyakrev | and he brought near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפַּ֣חַת | mishpachat | [the] family of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֕ד | vaiyilkod | and he took | H3920 → | 121 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפַּ֣חַת | mishpachat | [the] family of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַזַּרְחִ֑י | hazarchi | the Zerahite[s] | H2227 → | |
| וַיַּקְרֵ֞ב | vaiyakrev | and he brought near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפַּ֤חַת | mishpachat | [the] family of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַזַּרְחִי֙ | hazarchi | the Zerahite[s] | H2227 → | |
| לַגְּבָרִ֔ים | lagevarim | to the men | H1397 → | 65 times |
| וַיִּלָּכֵ֖ד | vaiyilakhed | and he was taken by lot | H3920 → | 121 times |
| זַבְדִּֽי׃ | zavdi | Zabdi | H2067 → | 6 times |
וַיַּקְרֵב֙and he brought near
vaiyakrevH7126 →280 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפַּ֣חַת[the] family of
mishpachatH4940 →303 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וַיִּלְכֹּ֕דand he took
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפַּ֣חַת[the] family of
mishpachatH4940 →303 times
הַזַּרְחִ֑יthe Zerahite[s]
hazarchiH2227 →
וַיַּקְרֵ֞בand he brought near
vaiyakrevH7126 →280 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפַּ֤חַת[the] family of
mishpachatH4940 →303 times
הַזַּרְחִי֙the Zerahite[s]
hazarchiH2227 →
לַגְּבָרִ֔יםto the men
lagevarimH1397 →65 times
וַיִּלָּכֵ֖דand he was taken by lot
vaiyilakhedH3920 →121 times
זַבְדִּֽי׃Zabdi
zavdiH2067 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 38:30Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 9:6
From the Zerahites: Jeuel and 690 relatives.
- 1 Chronicles 2:4
Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
- Matthew 1:3
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.
- 1 Chronicles 9:6
Through
Numbers 26:20These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 11:24
Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, a descendant of Zerah son of Judah, was the king’s agent in every matter concerning the people.
- Genesis 46:12
The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
- Genesis 38:26–30
Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
- Nehemiah 11:6
The descendants of Perez who settled in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of valor.
- 1 Chronicles 4:21
The sons of Shelah son of Judah:
- Nehemiah 11:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.