Joshua 8:15

15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled ¹by the way of 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 So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.

14 It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

17 So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 15:61; Joshua 16:1; Joshua 18:12