Joshua 8:23

23 Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

Joshua 8:23 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:23

And the king of Ai they took alive
They spared him, and reserved him for a more shameful death:

and brought him to Joshua;
their general; delivering him into his hands as his prisoner, to do will, him as seemed good in his sight.

Joshua 8:23 In-Context

21 When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai.
22 Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped.
23 Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.
24 When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside.
25 So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.