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.
So in the morning, you will come forward by your tribes. The tribe that the LORD chooses will then come forward by their families. The family that the LORD chooses will come forward by their households. And the household that the LORD chooses will come forward person by person.
God is telling Joshua exactly how He will identify the guilty person among all the Israelites through a step-by-step process of elimination.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites had just conquered Jericho but suffered a surprising defeat at Ai because Achan had disobeyed God's command by taking devoted items, which brought divine judgment on the community. God instructed Joshua to use a sacred lot-casting process to identify the guilty party, starting with the tribes and narrowing down to families and individuals, as a means of restoring purity and order. This method reflected ancient Israelite practices for seeking divine guidance in matters of justice and accountability.
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