Joshua 8:24

24 During the fighting the army of Israel chased the men of Ai into the fields and desert and killed all of them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there.

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 The men who were in ambush also came out of the city to help with the fight. So the men of Ai were caught between the armies of Israel. None of the enemy escaped. The Israelites fought until not one of the men of Ai was left alive, except
23 the king of Ai, and they brought him to Joshua.
24 During the fighting the army of Israel chased the men of Ai into the fields and desert and killed all of them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there.
25 All the people of Ai died that day, twelve thousand men and women.
26 Joshua had held his spear toward Ai, as a sign to destroy the city, and did not draw it back until all the people of Ai were destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.