Joshua 8:24

24 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation.

Joshua 8:24 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:24

And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying
all the inhabitants of Ai
That came out against them:

in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them;
both in the arable lands that were sown with corn, and now clothed with it, the wheat especially, not being gathered in, as not yet ripe, and in the pasture ground, designed by the wilderness, see ( Joshua 8:15 ) ; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it:

and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword;
and were slain by it:

until they were consumed;
and not one left:

that all the Israelites returned unto Ai;
both the ambush that came out of it, and the army that came against it:

and smote it with the edge of the sword;
that is, the inhabitants that were left in it unfit for war, as old men, infirm persons, women and children, as follows.

Joshua 8:24 In-Context

22 Then the men in the ambush poured out of the city. The men of Ai were caught in the middle with Israelites on both sides - a real massacre. And not a single survivor.
23 Except for the king of Ai; they took him alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation.
25 The death toll that day came to 12,000 men and women - everyone in Ai.
26 Joshua didn't lower his outstretched javelin until the sacred destruction of Ai and all its people was completed.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.