Joshua 8:7-17

7 And ye shall rise up out of the ambuscade, and go into the city.

8 Ye shall do according to this word, lo! I have commanded you.

9 And Joshua sent them, and they went to lie in ambush; and they lay between Baethel and Gai, westward of Gai.

10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people; and he went up, he and the elders before the people to Gai.

11 And all the men of war went up with him, and they went forward and came over against the city eastward.

12 And the ambuscade on the west side of the city.

13

14 And it came to pass when the king of Gai saw , he hasted and went out to meet them direct to the battle, he and all the people with him: and he knew not that there was an ambuscade against him behind the city.

15 And Joshua and Israel saw, and retreated from before them.

16 And they pursued after the children of Israel, and they themselves went to a distance from the city.

17 There was no one left in Gai who did not pursue after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Joshua 8:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 8

Joshua is encouraged to go up and take Ai, and is directed what method to make use of, Jos 8:1,2; accordingly he set an ambush on the west side of it, and, he and the rest of the army went up before it, Jos 8:3-13; which, when the king of Ai saw, he and all his forces came cut against them, and the Israelites making a feint as if they were beaten, drew on the men of Ai to pursue them, upon which the ambush arose and entered the city and set fire to it, Jos 8:14-19; the smoke of which being observed by Joshua and Israel, they turned back upon the pursuers, and the ambush sallying out of the city behind them, made an entire destruction of them, then slew all the inhabitants, took the spoil, burnt the city, and hanged the king of it, Jos 8:20-29; after this Joshua built an altar at Ebal, wrote the law on stones, and read the blessings and curses in it before all Israel, Jos 8:30-35.

Footnotes

• [a]. reviewed.