Joshua 8:19

19 At the signal the men in ambush sprang to their feet, ran to the city, took it, and quickly had it up in flames.

Joshua 8:19 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:19

And the ambush arose quickly out of their place
As soon as the sentinels set in proper places observed the signal, and gave them notice of it, which was the stretching out of the spear, as appears by what follows:

and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand;
and the spear in his hand; from whence it is plain, that though the Lord is said to bid Joshua do this now, he had orders from him for it before and the ambush must have been made acquainted with it before they were sent away; and this was only a renewal of the order from the Lord, and which pointed out the proper time, the very crisis, when it should be stretched out:

and they entered into the city;
without any difficulty, the gates being open:

and took it;
took possession of it, and the strong holds in it:

and hasted and set the city on fire;
that is, they made haste to set some houses on fire as the signal to the army of Israel to return.

Joshua 8:19 In-Context

17 There wasn't a soul left in Ai or Bethel who wasn't out there chasing after Israel. The city was left empty and undefended as they were chasing Israel down.

18 Then God spoke to Joshua: "Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai - I'm giving it to you." Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward Ai.

19 At the signal the men in ambush sprang to their feet, ran to the city, took it, and quickly had it up in flames.

20 The men of Ai looked back and, oh! saw the city going up in smoke. They found themselves trapped with nowhere to run.

21 The army on the run toward the wilderness did an about-face - Joshua and all Israel, seeing that the ambush had taken the city, saw it going up in smoke, turned and attacked the men of Ai.