Joshua 8:8

8 "Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it ¹according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you."

Joshua 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:8

And it shall be, when ye have taken the city
Entered it and become masters of it:

[that] ye shall set the city on fire;
not the whole city, only some outlying houses of it, to make a smoke which might be seen both by Israel and the men of Ai, for different purposes; for the spoil of the city was first to be taken before it was utterly burnt with fire:

according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do;
plunder the city, destroy the inhabitants of it, and then burn it:

see I have commanded you;
delivered the command of the Lord unto them, and therefore were left without excuse, and could not plead ignorance; besides, he was their general, and he expected his orders to be obeyed, as they ought to have been.

Joshua 8:8 In-Context

6 "They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing before us as at the first.' So we will flee before them.

7 "And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

8 "Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it according to the word of the LORD . See, I have commanded you."

9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Joshua 8:2