Joshua 8:5

5 Then I and all of the people who [are] with me will approach the city. And when they go out to meet us {as before}, we will flee from them.

Joshua 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:5

And I and all the people that [are] with me will approach unto
the city
That is, Joshua with the main body of the army would march up to the city the next morning, in order to draw out the inhabitants of it to fight them:

and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the
first;
as they had done before, when the three thousand were sent against them, ( Joshua 7:4 Joshua 7:5 ) ;

that we will flee before them;
as the three thousand did, which would animate them to pursue them with the greater eagerness, and to a distance from their city.

Joshua 8:5 In-Context

3 So Joshua and {all the fighting men} went up immediately to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand of the best fighting men and sent them [by] night.

4 And he commanded them, saying, "Look, you are to lay an ambush against the city from behind. Do not go very far from the city and be ready.

5 Then I and all of the people who [are] with me will approach the city. And when they go out to meet us {as before}, we will flee from them.

6 They will come out after us until we draw them away from the city, because they will think, '[They are] fleeing from us {as before}.' So we will flee from them.

7 Then you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "as that at the first [occasion]"
• [b]. Or "before their presence"