Joshua 8

The Conquest of Ai

1 Now the LORD said to Joshua, "1Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, 2I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2 "You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall 3take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind * it."
3 So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose 30,000 * men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.
4 He commanded them, saying, "See, you are 4going to ambush the city from behind it. 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 when they come out to meet us as at the first, 5we will flee before them.
6 "They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing before us as at the first.' So we will flee before them.
7 "And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 "Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it 6according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you."
9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Now Joshua 7rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.
11 Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.
12 And he took about 5,000 * men and set them in ambush between 8Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13 So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.
14 It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind * the city.
15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled 9by the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and 10were drawn away from the city.
17 So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "11Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
19 The men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.
20 When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.
21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai.
22 The others came out from the city to encounter them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until 12no one was left of those who survived or escaped.
23 But they took alive the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25 13All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000 * * -all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua 14did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 15Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it 16a heap forever, a desolation until this day.
29 17He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset * Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in 18Mount Ebal,
31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, 19an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 He 20wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.
33 21All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both * sides * of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of 22Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.
34 Then afterward * he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in 23the book of the law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel 24with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.

Joshua 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

God encourages Joshua. (1,2) The taking of Ai. (3-22) The destruction of Ai and its king. (23-29) The law read on Ebal and Gerizim. (30-35)

Verses 1-2 When we have faithfully put away sin, that accursed thing which separates between us and God, then, and not till then, we may look to hear from God to our comfort; and God's directing us how to go on in our Christian work and warfare, is a good evidence of his being reconciled to us. God encouraged Joshua to proceed. At Ai the spoil was not to be destroyed as at Jericho, therefore there was no danger of the people's committing such a trespass. Achan, who caught at forbidden spoil, lost that, and life, and all; but the rest of the people, who kept themselves from the accursed thing, were quickly rewarded for their obedience. The way to have the comfort of what God allows us, is, to keep from what he forbids us. No man shall lose by self-denial.

Verses 3-22 Observe Joshua's conduct and prudence. Those that would maintain their spiritual conflicts must not love their ease. Probably he went into the valley alone, to pray to God for a blessing, and he did not seek in vain. He never drew back till the work was done. Those that have stretched out their hands against their spiritual enemies, must never draw them back.

Verses 23-29 God, the righteous Judge, had sentenced the Canaanites for their wickedness; the Israelites only executed his doom. None of their conduct can be drawn into an example for others. Especial reason no doubt there was for this severity to the king of Ai; it is likely he had been notoriously wicked and vile, and a blasphemer of the God of Israel.

Verses 30-35 As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, ( Deuteronomy 11 , Deuteronomy 27 ) . We must not think to defer covenanting with God till we are settled in the world; nor must any business put us from minding and pursuing the one thing needful. The way to prosper is to begin with God, ( Matthew 6:33 ) . They built an altar, and offered sacrifice to God, in token of their dedicating themselves to God, as living sacrifices to his honour, in and by a Mediator. By Christ's sacrifice of himself for us, we have peace with God. It is a great mercy to any people to have the law of God in writing, and it is fit that the written law should be in a known tongue, that it may be seen and read of all men.

Cross References 24

  • 1. Joshua 1:9; Joshua 10:8
  • 2. Joshua 6:2
  • 3. Deuteronomy 20:14; Joshua 8:27
  • 4. Judges 20:29
  • 5. Judges 20:32
  • 6. Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Joshua 8:2
  • 7. Genesis 22:3
  • 8. Genesis 12:8; Genesis 28:19; Judges 1:22
  • 9. Joshua 15:61; Joshua 16:1; Joshua 18:12
  • 10. Judges 20:31
  • 11. Exodus 14:16; Exodus 17:9-13; Joshua 8:26
  • 12. Joshua 8:8
  • 13. Deuteronomy 20:16-18
  • 14. Exodus 17:11, 12
  • 15. Joshua 8:2
  • 16. Deuteronomy 13:16
  • 17. Deuteronomy 21:22, 23
  • 18. Deuteronomy 27:2-8
  • 19. Exodus 20:25
  • 20. Deut 27:2, 3, 8
  • 21. Deuteronomy 27:11-14
  • 22. Deuteronomy 11:29
  • 23. Joshua 1:8
  • 24. Exodus 12:38; Deuteronomy 31:12; Zechariah 8:23

Footnotes 14

Chapter Summary

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.

Joshua 8 Commentaries

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