language of warfare will be particularly important in both the identification of Achan and, finally, in Ai’s capture. 7:1. As with the Jericho narrative, the narrator here adopts the position of narrative omniscience and so provides readers with interpretative clues in advance of recounting the events themselves. Here, we are told that Israel had been unfaithful (מעל) concerning the devoted things, referring back to 6:18–19. The verb “be unfaithful” is a rare one, occurring only four times