Joshua 8:3

3 So Joshua and the whole military force set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 fighting men and sent them out at night.

Joshua 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:3

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against
Ai
As the Lord had commanded him:

and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour;
out of all the men of war; these were a select company, picked men, not the whole army, as some have thought, for he was ordered to take all the people of war, as he did:

and sent them away by night;
from the main army, that they might pass the city and get behind it undiscovered, for they were sent for an ambush; and of these some were to take the city, and be left in it to burn it, and some to smite the men of Ai, as Abarbinel notes.

Joshua 8:3 In-Context

1 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole military force with you and go attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.

2 Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king; you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city."

3 So Joshua and the whole military force set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 fighting men and sent them out at night.

4 He commanded them: "Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.

5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.