Joshua 8:6

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.

Joshua 8:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:6

For they will come out after us
Of which there could be no doubt, when they should see them run from them:

till we have drawn them from the city;
some distance from it, that they could not return soon enough to save it from the ambush, or prevent their entrance into it, and burning it:

for they will say, they will flee before us, as at the first;
they run away as they did before, and let us pursue them and smite them as we did then:

therefore we will flee before them;
to draw them out of the city, and make your way easy to get into it,

Joshua 8:6 In-Context

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.

7 Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.

8 And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord you shall do. See, I have commanded you."