Joshua 8:13

13 They were all deployed, the main army to the north of the city and the ambush to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.

Joshua 8:13 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:13

And when they had set the people
In battle array, as in ( 1 Kings 20:12 ) ; that is, Joshua and the officers of the army:

[even] all the host that [was] on the north of the city;
where Joshua and the main army were:

and the liers in wait on the west of the city:
both the first and second ambush; when all, were prepared and got ready by their several officers, to act the part they were to do:

Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley;
according to Ben Gersom, to see whether the guards or sentinels which were placed there were awake or asleep, lest the men of Ai should come suddenly upon them and smite them; but perhaps it might be to pray and meditate.

Joshua 8:13 In-Context

11 The whole army, fighting men all, marched right up within sight of the city and set camp on the north side of Ai. There was a valley between them and Ai.

12 He had taken about five thousand men and put them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, west of the city.

13 They were all deployed, the main army to the north of the city and the ambush to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.

14 So it happened that when the king of Ai saw all this, the men of the city lost no time; they were out of there at the crack of dawn to join Israel in battle, the king and his troops, at a field en route to the Arabah. The king didn't know of the ambush set against him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be chased; they ran toward the wilderness.