Bible Location
5 cross references · Modern-day map available
The Valley of Achor was the valley near Jericho associated with Achan's punishment after Israel's first failure in the land. It is important because later prophets transform its meaning from trouble into hope and restoration. First appears in Josh 7:24.1
Coordinates
31.84, 35.40
First appears
Josh 7:24
AI summary: The Valley of Achor begins as a place of judgment, because Achan's sin turns it into a memorial of trouble in Joshua's conquest story. Yet the later prophets deliberately reverse that association: Isaiah speaks of the valley as a resting place, and Hosea calls it a door of hope. This makes Achor one of the clearest examples in Scripture of a cursed memory being reworked into promise. The cross references present the Valley of Achor as a landscape where trouble is remembered but not allowed to have the final word.1
Latitude
31.84
Longitude
35.40
Bible references
5
Trouble, a valley near Jericho, so called in consequence of the trouble which the sin of Achan caused Israel (Josh. 7:24, 26). The expression “valley of Achor” probably became proverbial for that which caused trouble, and when Isaiah (Isa. 65:10) refers to it he uses it in this sense: “The valley of Achor, a place for herds to lie down in;” i.e., that which had been a source of calamity would become a source of blessing. Hosea also (Hos. 2:15) uses the expression in the same sense: “The valley of Achor for a door of hope;” i.e., trouble would be turned into joy, despair into hope. This valley has been identified with the Wady Kelt. 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.