1 Chronicles 2:7

The sons of Canni. Canni, the father of Achan, was the son of Zabdi (Joshua 7:1) or Zirnri (v. 6), but the chronicler has here omitted this detail.

Achar. Or Achan (see Joshua 7:1). In Biblical genealogies many details are frequently passed over; and because of this, incorrect conclusions are sometimes drawn. Thus Achan, the son of Canni, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, was a Zerahite (Joshua 7:18), but in Joshua 7:24 he is simply mentioned as being the son of Zerah. The use of such words as “son” in the Bible must be understood in terms of what the writer meant in the original language, which is often different from our modern usage (see Vol. I, pp. 181,186).

The use of “son” for “grandson” is common in the Bible. For example, Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:2, 14), is called “the son of Nimshi” (1 Kings 19:16). Other typical examples are Azariah (1 Kings 4:2; cf. 1 Chron. 6:8-10), Kish (1 Sam. 9:1; 14:51; cf. 1 Chron. 8:33; 9:39). Athaliah is an example of a granddaughter being called a daughter (2 Kings 8:18; cf. 2 Kings 8:26). Cases where a daughter’s children are called sons also occur (Gen. 31:43, 55; 1 Chron. 2:21-23). The term “son” is also applied, as in the case of Achan (see above on v. 7), to more distant descendants: Ezra is called a son of Seraiah (Ezra 7:1), but Seraiah died 130 years before Ezra entered his work at Jerusalem (see 1 Chron. 6:14; 2 Kings 25:18-21). Ezra’s genealogy (Ezra 7:1-5), like many others, omits names. In other lists even “begat” can mean “was the ancestor of” (for example, in Matthew’s series of 14 generations, Matt. 1:1-17; see Vol. I, p. 186). Such phrases as “son of David” and “son of Abraham” are further examples of “son” meaning merely “descendant.” Other Hebrew expressions of relationship are similarly broad. Jacob and Laban, actually nephew and uncle, and similarly Lot and Abraham, are called brothers (Gen. 13:8; Gen. 14:14; see on Gen. 29:12). The confusion between father-in-law and brother-in-law for the relationship of Hobab to Moses (see on Num. 10:29; Judges 4:11) arises from the use of a specific English word to translate a Hebrew term meaning only “in-law.” Similarly “cousin” in Luke 1:36 is used to translate a Greek word that means only “kinswoman,” for in the time of the translating of the KJV that was also the meaning of “cousin” in English. It is not possible to unravel the exact family relationships of all the genealogies in the Bible, nor is it important to do so. The literal-minded modern reader must avoid labeling as discrepancies what upon closer investigation may prove to be merely an ancient habit of using a word in a more general sense than is common today.

The troubler. There may be a play on words here. “Achar” is from the Heb. ‘akar, which, according to some authorities, means “to trouble”; according to others, “to render taboo,” “to cast out from [social] intercourse.” Joshua accosted Achan with the question, “Why hast thou troubled us?” (Joshua 7:25). Achan met his doom in a place called “the valley of Achor [trouble]” (Joshua 7:24, 26).