Joshua 8:28

28 Then Joshua burned the city of Ai and made it a pile of ruins. And it is still like that today.

Joshua 8:28 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:28

And Joshua burnt Ai
The whole city, fire being only set before to a few houses, to make a smoke as a signal; he did with it as he had done with Jericho, for so he was ordered, ( Joshua 8:2 ) ;

and made it an heap for ever;
that is, for a long time, for it appears to have been rebuilt, and to have been inhabited by the Jews, after their return from their Babylonish captivity, ( Nehemiah 11:31 ) ;

[even] a desolation unto this day;
to the time of the writing of this book; and by what has been just observed, it appears that Ezra could not be the writer of it, since this city was inhabited in his time.

Joshua 8:28 In-Context

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.

27 The people of Israel kept for themselves the animals and the other things the people of Ai had owned, as the Lord had commanded Joshua to do.

28 Then Joshua burned the city of Ai and made it a pile of ruins. And it is still like that today.

29 Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king's body down from the tree and to throw it down at the city gate. Then they covered it with a pile of rocks, which is still there today.

30 Joshua built an altar for the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, as