Joshua 8:4

4 And he commanded them, saying: "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

Joshua 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:4

And he commanded them, saying
At the time he sent them away;

behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, [even] behind the city;
that is, on the west side of it, ( Joshua 8:9 ) ;

go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready;
to enter into it, as soon as the forces are drawn out eastward to meet the army of Israel.

Joshua 8:4 In-Context

2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it."

3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.

4 And he commanded them, saying: "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them.

6 For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing before us as at the first.' Therefore we will flee before them.