Joshua 8:8

8 And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”

Joshua 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:8

And it shall be, when ye have taken the city
Entered it and become masters of it:

[that] ye shall set the city on fire;
not the whole city, only some outlying houses of it, to make a smoke which might be seen both by Israel and the men of Ai, for different purposes; for the spoil of the city was first to be taken before it was utterly burnt with fire:

according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do;
plunder the city, destroy the inhabitants of it, and then burn it:

see I have commanded you;
delivered the command of the Lord unto them, and therefore were left without excuse, and could not plead ignorance; besides, he was their general, and he expected his orders to be obeyed, as they ought to have been.

Joshua 8:8 In-Context

6 They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them,

7 you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

8 And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”

9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.