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Valley of Achor

also called Emek Achor

The *Valley of Achor* is the place where Achan, his family, his livestock, and the stolen spoil of Jericho were stoned and burned after Achan's hidden trespass had caused Israel's defeat at Ai (Joshua 7:24-26). A great heap of stones was raised over them, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. The valley's name — Achor, meaning trouble — preserves both the event and the Hebrew wordplay on Achan/Achar (the troubler of Israel).

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Joshua 15:7 names the valley as part of Judah's northern boundary, situating it in the wilderness between Jericho and the Dead Sea. Two prophetic passages take it up again. Isaiah 65:10 names it as a place of pasture for the herds, for my people that have sought me — a place of judgment transformed into a place of rest. Hosea 2:15 makes the redemption explicit: I will give her the valley of Achor for a door of hope. The valley that opened beneath Achan's household becomes, in prophetic imagination, the very threshold through which God's people enter back into communion with him.

Source · AI-drafted from biblical text and standard reference works (Smith's, Easton's, ISBE) — verify and refine against authoritative sources before publication.

Key passages

Joshua 7Joshua 15Isaiah 65Hosea 2

See also

People

Achan →

In the Bible

5

Verses where Valley of Achor is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).

  • Hosea 2:15

    There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

  • Isaiah 65:10

    Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.

  • Joshua 7:24

    Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.

  • Joshua 7:26

    And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

  • Joshua 15:7

    Then the border went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to Gilgal, which faces the Ascent of Adummim south of the ravine. It continued along the waters of En-shemesh and came out at En-rogel.