Joshua 8:15

15 Then Joshua and all Israel acted like they were beaten before them, and they fled {in the direction of 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 they stationed the forces; all the army [was] north of the city while {the rear guard was west}. But Joshua went that night to the middle of the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw [this], the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle--he and all his army--to the meeting place before the Arabah. He did not know that [there was] an ambush for him behind the city.

15 Then Joshua and all Israel acted like they were beaten before them, and they fled {in the direction of the wilderness}.

16 All of the people who [were] in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city.

17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "the way of the wilderness"