7:15a

The one who is caught: Yahweh will choose one of the men. The people will know he is guilty because Yahweh will cause the lot to show this.

with the things devoted to destruction: The things devoted to destruction were things from Jericho that must be destroyed. The guilty person did not have the devoted things with him as he stood at the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh knew that this person had stolen them and hidden them. In some languages it might be helpful to make this explicit. For example, you could say:

he who has ⌊stolen⌋ the devoted things

7:15b

must be burned: The fire must destroy him because he had become like one of the things in Jericho that belonged to Yahweh. In some languages it may be redundant to translate “burned with fire” because this is already implied by the word burned.

In 7:25 we learn that they killed the guilty person and then burned his body.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

you shall ⌊kill⌋ that person and then burn ⌊his body⌋ in the fire

7:15c

along with all that belongs to him: The Hebrew is more literally “he and all that he has.” The word “he” is repeated in Hebrew for emphasis.

all that belongs to him: The phrase all that belongs to him refers to his family as well as his belongings. It may be necessary to make this explicit in some languages. For example:

along with his family and everything he owns (Good News Translation)

7:15d

because: The connector that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because introduces the reason for the punishment of the guilty person.

he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD: The phrase he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD means that the person did not keep the promise which the Israelite people agreed to keep.

covenant: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as covenant refers to an agreement of loyalty made between two people. In the Old Testament it often refers to an agreement between God and his people.

7:15e

and: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and introduces a second reason for the punishment of the guilty person.

committed an outrage in Israel: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as an outrage refers to something evil, such as a willful sin. Achan disgraced the Israelites by doing this deed.

Israel: The word Israel refers to the Israelite people. Achan did this sin among the people of Israel. For example:

has done a disgraceful thing among the people of Israel! (New Century Version)

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