Joshua 8:13-23

13 The soldiers were arranged for battle with the main camp north of the city and the rest of the men to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw Joshua's men, he acted quickly. He and all his men went out toward the Jordan Valley to fight the Israelites at the same place as before, not knowing that he was about to be attacked from the rear.

15 Joshua and his men pretended that they were retreating, and ran away toward the barren country.

16 All the men in the city had been called together to go after them, and as they pursued Joshua, they kept getting farther away from the city.

17 Every man in Ai went after the Israelites, and the city was left wide open, with no one to defend it.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Point your spear at Ai; I am giving it to you." Joshua did as he was told,

19 and as soon as he lifted his hand, the men who had been hiding got up quickly, ran into the city and captured it. They immediately set the city on fire.

20 When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke rising to the sky. There was no way for them to escape, because the Israelites who had run toward the barren country now turned around to attack them.

21 When Joshua and his men saw that the others had taken the city and that it was on fire, they turned around and began killing the men of Ai.

22 The Israelites in the city now came down to join the battle. So the men of Ai found themselves completely surrounded by Israelites, and they were all killed. No one got away, and no one lived through it

23 except the king of Ai. He was captured and taken to Joshua.

Joshua 8:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 8

Joshua is encouraged to go up and take Ai, and is directed what method to make use of, Jos 8:1,2; accordingly he set an ambush on the west side of it, and, he and the rest of the army went up before it, Jos 8:3-13; which, when the king of Ai saw, he and all his forces came cut against them, and the Israelites making a feint as if they were beaten, drew on the men of Ai to pursue them, upon which the ambush arose and entered the city and set fire to it, Jos 8:14-19; the smoke of which being observed by Joshua and Israel, they turned back upon the pursuers, and the ambush sallying out of the city behind them, made an entire destruction of them, then slew all the inhabitants, took the spoil, burnt the city, and hanged the king of it, Jos 8:20-29; after this Joshua built an altar at Ebal, wrote the law on stones, and read the blessings and curses in it before all Israel, Jos 8:30-35.

Footnotes

• [a]. [One ancient translation] Ai; [Hebrew] Ai and Bethel.