Joshua 8:13

13 So the people took their positions; the main camp was north of the city, and the other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into 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 All of the soldiers who were with Joshua marched up to Ai and stopped in front of the city and made camp north of it. There was a valley between them and the city.

12 Then Joshua chose about five thousand men and set them in ambush in the area west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

13 So the people took their positions; the main camp was north of the city, and the other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into the valley.

14 Now when the king of Ai saw the army of Israel, he and his people got up early the next morning and hurried out to fight them. They went out to a place east of the city, but the king did not know soldiers were waiting in ambush behind the city.

15 Joshua and all the men of Israel let the army of Ai push them back. Then they ran toward the desert.