Joshua 7:3

3 They came back to Joshua and told him, "You don't need to send all the troops. Only about two or three thousand men are needed to destroy Ai. Don't tire the troops out by sending all of them. There are only a few troops in Ai."

Joshua 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 7:3

And they returned unto Joshua, and said unto him, let not all
the people go up
After they had reconnoitred the place, they came back to their general, and gave it as their opinion, that there was no need for the whole army to go up against the city:

but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai;
such a number they judged were sufficient to take it:

[and] make not all the people to labour thither;
carrying their tents, bearing their armour, and going up hill:

for they [are but] few;
the inhabitants of Ai, men and women making but twelve thousand; ( Joshua 8:25 ) .

Joshua 7:3 In-Context

1 The people of Israel proved to be disloyal about the things claimed by the LORD. Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Zabdi, great-grandson of Zerah, and a member of the tribe of Judah, took something that had been claimed by the LORD. So the LORD became angry with the people of Israel.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Ai is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He said to them, "Go, look at that country." So the men went and looked at Ai.

3 They came back to Joshua and told him, "You don't need to send all the troops. Only about two or three thousand men are needed to destroy Ai. Don't tire the troops out by sending all of them. There are only a few troops in Ai."

4 So about three thousand men were sent. However, they fled from the men of Ai.

5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the city gate to the slope of the stone quarries. Israel's troops lost heart and were scared stiff.