Joshua 8

Conquest of Ai

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.

6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing from us as before.' While we are fleeing from them,

7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God has handed it over to you.

8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord's command-see [that you do] as I have ordered you."

9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.

11 All those^[a] who were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city.

12 Now Joshua had taken about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

13 The military force was stationed in this way: the main^[b] camp to the north of the city and its 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], the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning, so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the plain^[c] [of the Jordan]. But he did not know there was an ambush [waiting] for him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.

16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued 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 exposed while they pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Hold out the sword in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you." So Joshua held out his sword toward it.

19 When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

20 The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.

21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the [men in] ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

22 The men in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were [trapped] between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,

23 but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.

25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was 12,000-all the people of Ai.

26 Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the sword until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.

27 Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the Lord's command that He had given Joshua.

28 Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, desolate to this day.

29 He hung^[d] [the body of] the king of Ai on a tree^[e] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree.^[f] They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Renewed Commitment to the Law

30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel,

31 just as Moses the Lord's servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.^[g] Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.

32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.

33 All Israel, foreigner and citizen alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord's covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. As Moses the Lord's servant had commanded earlier, half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, to bless the people of Israel.^[h]

34 Afterwards, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law-the blessings as well as the curses-according to all that is written in the book of the law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, little children, and foreigners who were with them.

Joshua 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

God encourages Joshua. (1,2) The taking of Ai. (3-22) The destruction of Ai and its king. (23-29) The law read on Ebal and Gerizim. (30-35)

Verses 1-2 When we have faithfully put away sin, that accursed thing which separates between us and God, then, and not till then, we may look to hear from God to our comfort; and God's directing us how to go on in our Christian work and warfare, is a good evidence of his being reconciled to us. God encouraged Joshua to proceed. At Ai the spoil was not to be destroyed as at Jericho, therefore there was no danger of the people's committing such a trespass. Achan, who caught at forbidden spoil, lost that, and life, and all; but the rest of the people, who kept themselves from the accursed thing, were quickly rewarded for their obedience. The way to have the comfort of what God allows us, is, to keep from what he forbids us. No man shall lose by self-denial.

Verses 3-22 Observe Joshua's conduct and prudence. Those that would maintain their spiritual conflicts must not love their ease. Probably he went into the valley alone, to pray to God for a blessing, and he did not seek in vain. He never drew back till the work was done. Those that have stretched out their hands against their spiritual enemies, must never draw them back.

Verses 23-29 God, the righteous Judge, had sentenced the Canaanites for their wickedness; the Israelites only executed his doom. None of their conduct can be drawn into an example for others. Especial reason no doubt there was for this severity to the king of Ai; it is likely he had been notoriously wicked and vile, and a blasphemer of the God of Israel.

Verses 30-35 As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, ( Deuteronomy 11 , Deuteronomy 27 ) . We must not think to defer covenanting with God till we are settled in the world; nor must any business put us from minding and pursuing the one thing needful. The way to prosper is to begin with God, ( Matthew 6:33 ) . They built an altar, and offered sacrifice to God, in token of their dedicating themselves to God, as living sacrifices to his honour, in and by a Mediator. By Christ's sacrifice of himself for us, we have peace with God. It is a great mercy to any people to have the law of God in writing, and it is fit that the written law should be in a known tongue, that it may be seen and read of all men.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit the people of war
• [b]. Lit way: all the
• [c]. Or the Arabah
• [d]. Or impaled
• [e]. Or wooden stake
• [f]. Dt 21:22-23
• [g]. Dt 27:5
• [h]. Dt 27:12-13

Chapter Summary

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.