Joshua 8:15

15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward 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 the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.

16 Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.