Yehoshua 8:29

29 And the melech HaAi he hanged on HaEtz until the time of erev; and as soon as the shemesh was down, Yehoshua commanded that they should take his nevelah (body) down from HaEtz, and cast it at the petach sha’ar HaIr, and raised thereon a pile of avanim, that remaineth unto Yom Hazeh.

Yehoshua 8:29 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:29

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide
By way of terror to other kings in the land of Canaan, that should refuse to submit unto him:

and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should
take his carcass down from the tree;
according to the law in ( Deuteronomy 21:23 ) ; and that the land might not be defiled:

and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city;
this was done, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, that it might be publicly known to the rest of the kings of the nations, that they might be afraid to fight with Israel:

and raise thereon a great heap of stones, [that remaineth] unto this
day;
as a sepulchral monument, showing that there was a person lay interred there; whether there was any inscription on the stone, showing who he was, does not appear; it looks as if it was only a rude heap of stones; and such kind of sepulchral monuments were common in former times in other countries.

Yehoshua 8:29 In-Context

27 Only the behemah and the plunder of that Ir Yisroel carried off for themselves, according to the Davar Hashem which He commanded Yehoshua.

28 And Yehoshua burned Ai, and made it a tel olam (heap forever), even a desolation unto yom hazeh.

29 And the melech HaAi he hanged on HaEtz until the time of erev; and as soon as the shemesh was down, Yehoshua commanded that they should take his nevelah (body) down from HaEtz, and cast it at the petach sha’ar HaIr, and raised thereon a pile of avanim, that remaineth unto Yom Hazeh.

30 Then Yehoshua built a Mizbe’ach unto Hashem Elohei Yisroel in Har Eval,

31 Just as Moshe Eved Hashem commanded the Bnei Yisroel, as it is written in the Sefer Torah Moshe, a Mizbe’ach avanim shelemot, over which no man hath lift up any barzel (iron); and they offered thereon olot unto Hashem, and sacrificed shelamim.