Joshua 7:20 is Achan’s confession after he is singled out as the person who took forbidden plunder from Jericho. He admits plainly that he has sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and that he is responsible for what he did. Achan speaks these words to Joshua, the leader of Israel, after the nation has suffered a humiliating defeat at Ai and the guilt has been traced to his household.
Achan answered Joshua, and said, “I have truly sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.
Joshua 7:20 (WEB)
What Joshua 7:20 Means
The verse opens with Achan answering Joshua, which tells you this is a reply to a direct question rather than a voluntary disclosure. Joshua has just told him to give glory to the LORD and tell the truth, so Achan’s answer is the moment the hidden sin comes into the open. The word “answered” matters here because it shows a man being pressed, not one who has chosen to come clean on his own.
The heart of the sentence is “I have truly sinned against the LORD.” Achan does not describe his act as a mistake in judgment or a matter of bad luck. He names it as a sin, and he names the one he has offended. The sin was not only a violation of an order given at Jericho but a breach of covenant with the God who had just given Israel that city. The admission “this is what I have done” then moves from general guilt to specific confession, and it prepares the way for him to list what he took and where he hid it.
The verse does not promise that confession removes the consequences. Achan is still judged, and the wider community still pays for his sin. What the verse shows is that honest acknowledgment is the right response to God and to the people you have wronged, even when the truth costs you dearly.
The Context of Joshua 7:20
The book of Joshua is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself, with later editorial work, and it tells the story of Israel entering and settling the land of Canaan under his leadership. Its first readers were the people of Israel, a community who had to learn that their victories depended on faithfulness to God rather than on their own strength. Chapter 6 records the fall of Jericho, where the city was to be devoted to the LORD and its plunder kept from the Israelites. Chapter 7 opens with Israel’s unexpected defeat at Ai, and the narrative then shows God revealing that someone has taken what was forbidden.
The surrounding verses from 17 to 23 give the process of discovery, moving family by family and then household by household until Achan is selected. Joshua’s question to him in verse 19 frames the moment as one of honest accounting before God, and Achan’s reply in verse 20 is the turning point. Because the verse sits inside this sequence of exposure and confirmation, it reads less like a private admission and more like the closing of a legal inquiry before the whole nation. That setting explains the gravity of the words and why the consequences that follow are so severe.
Key Phrases in Joshua 7:20
Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
(WEB)
David describes the relief that comes when he stops concealing his sin and confesses it to the LORD. Psalm 32:5 shows the same movement from hidden guilt to open acknowledgment that Achan makes, and it adds the assurance of forgiveness that follows honest confession.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(WEB)
This verse gives the New Testament promise that God is faithful and just to forgive when we confess our sins. It places Achan’s kind of honest admission within the wider picture of God’s readiness to forgive those who come to him truthfully, which deepens the hope latent in Joshua’s account.
A Short Prayer From Joshua 7:20
Lord, I have held things back from you and from the people around me, and I have told myself that they do not matter as much as they do. Show me where I have been hiding the truth, and give me the courage to name it plainly without excuse. Help me to confess specifically what I have done, and to trust your faithfulness to forgive and to restore what I have broken. Let honesty become my habit, not only in what I say to others but in how I stand before you. Amen.
