Joshua 8:5

5 and I and all the people who [are] with me draw near unto the city, and it hath come to pass when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them,

Joshua 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:5

And I and all the people that [are] with me will approach unto
the city
That is, Joshua with the main body of the army would march up to the city the next morning, in order to draw out the inhabitants of it to fight them:

and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the
first;
as they had done before, when the three thousand were sent against them, ( Joshua 7:4 Joshua 7:5 ) ;

that we will flee before them;
as the three thousand did, which would animate them to pursue them with the greater eagerness, and to a distance from their city.

Joshua 8:5 In-Context

3 And Joshua riseth, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, and Joshua chooseth thirty thousand men, mighty ones of valour, and sendeth them away by night,

4 and commandeth them, saying, `See, ye are liers in wait against the city, at the rear of the city, ye go not very far off from the city, and all of you have been prepared,

5 and I and all the people who [are] with me draw near unto the city, and it hath come to pass when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them,

6 and they have come out after us till we have drawn them out of the city, for they say, They are fleeing before us as at the first, and we have fled before them,

7 and ye rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and Jehovah your God hath given it into your hand;