Joshua 8:15

15 And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness.

Joshua 8:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:15

And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before
them
Or smitten, as some of them might be in the pursuit:

and fled by the way of the wilderness;
not a barren desert, but, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, a place for the pasture of cattle; though perhaps it is the same with the wilderness of Bethaven, ( Joshua 18:12 ) . Epiphanius ^F23 makes mention of the wilderness of Bethel and Ephraim as near Jericho.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Contr. Haeres. l. 1. tom. 2.

Joshua 8:15 In-Context

13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the inhabitants of the city, hurried out early in the morning to the meeting place facing the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

15 And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness.

16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.

17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.