“ Did not Achan the son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.”
The Israelites now cited a second case, the case of Achan (Joshua 7). There too there had been disobedience to God in relation to a religious matter, and as a result many had suffered and Israel had been defeated. The man had not suffered alone but had brought suffering on many.
An alternative translation more in line with Hebrew usage might be ‘wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel, though he was but one man. Did he not perish in his iniquity?'