Joshua 8:15

15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.

Joshua 8:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:15

And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before
them
Or smitten, as some of them might be in the pursuit:

and fled by the way of the wilderness;
not a barren desert, but, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, a place for the pasture of cattle; though perhaps it is the same with the wilderness of Bethaven, ( Joshua 18:12 ) . Epiphanius ^F23 makes mention of the wilderness of Bethel and Ephraim as near Jericho.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Contr. Haeres. l. 1. tom. 2.

Joshua 8:15 In-Context

13 The military force was stationed in this way: the main camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw [the Israelites], the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning, so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the plain [of the Jordan]. But he did not know there was an ambush [waiting] for him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.

16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.