Joshua 8:23

23 Except for the king of Ai; they took him alive and brought him to Joshua.

Joshua 8:23 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:23

And the king of Ai they took alive
They spared him, and reserved him for a more shameful death:

and brought him to Joshua;
their general; delivering him into his hands as his prisoner, to do will, him as seemed good in his sight.

Joshua 8:23 In-Context

21 The army on the run toward the wilderness did an about-face - Joshua and all Israel, seeing that the ambush had taken the city, saw it going up in smoke, turned and attacked the men of Ai.

22 Then the men in the ambush poured out of the city. The men of Ai were caught in the middle with Israelites on both sides - a real massacre. And not a single survivor.

23 Except for the king of Ai; they took him alive and brought him to Joshua.

24 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation.

25 The death toll that day came to 12,000 men and women - everyone in Ai.