Joshua 8
8
Israel Conquers Ai
1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic!#tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!” Take the whole army with you and march against Ai!#tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!” See, I am handing over to you#tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action. the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho#map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”
3 Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai.#tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.” Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. 4 He told#tn Or “commanded, ordered.” them, “Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready! 5 I and all the troops#tn Heb “the people.” who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. 6 They will attack#tn Heb “come out after.” us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them. 7 Then you rise up from your hiding place#tn Heb “from the ambush.” and seize#tn Heb “take possession of.” the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 When you capture the city, set it#tn Heb “the city.” on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.”#tn Heb “I have commanded you.” 9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place#tn Or “the place of ambush.” west of Ai, between Bethel#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. and Ai.#tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.” Joshua spent that night with the army.#tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”
10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered#tn Or “summoned, mustered.” the army,#tn Heb “the people.” and he and the leaders#tn Or “elders.” of Israel marched#tn Heb “went up.” at the head of it#tn Heb “them” (referring to “the people” in the previous clause, which requires a plural pronoun). Since the translation used “army” in the previous clause, a singular pronoun (“it”) is required in English. to Ai. 11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.#tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.” They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.#tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.” 12 He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel#map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. and Ai. 13 The army was in position – the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into#tn Some Hebrew mss read, “spent the night in.” the middle of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah.#tn Heb “When the king of Ai saw, the men of Ai hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people at the meeting place before the Arabah.” But he did not realize#tn Or “know.” men were hiding behind the city.#tn Heb “that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.” 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert. 16 All the reinforcements#tn Heb “All the people.” in Ai#tc Some textual witnesses read “the city.” were ordered#tn Or “were summoned”; or “were mustered.” to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;#tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. they all went out after Israel.#tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.” They left the city wide open and chased Israel.
18 The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city#tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Ai) has been specified in the translation for clarity. over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand. 19 When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked.#tn Heb “and ran.” They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw#tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai. the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction.#tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.” In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke,#tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.” they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. 22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle.#tn Heb “and these went out from the city to meet them and they were for Israel in the middle, some on this side, and others on the other side.” The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees. 23 But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men#tn Heb “residents.” of Ai who had chased them toward the desert#tn Heb “in the field, in the desert in which they chased them.” (they all fell by the sword),#tc Heb “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed.” The LXX omits the words, “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword.” They may represent a later scribal addition. all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women died#tn Heb “fell.” that day, including all the men of Ai. 26 Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.#tn Heb “Joshua did not draw back his hand which held out the curved sword until he had annihilated all the residents of Ai.” 27 But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the Lord’s orders to Joshua.#tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua.” 28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day).#tn Heb “and made it a permanent mound, a desolation, to this day.” 29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening.#tn Heb “on a tree until evening.” The words “leaving him exposed” are supplied in the translation for clarity. At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree.#sn For the legal background of this action, see Deut 21:22-23. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day).#tn Heb “to this day.”
Covenant Renewal
30 Then Joshua built an altar for the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool.#tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones on which no one had wielded iron.” The expression “whole stones” refers to stones in their natural condition, i.e., not carved or shaped artificially with tools (“wielded iron”). They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace.#tn Or “peace offerings.” 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.#tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.” 33 All the people,#tn Heb “All Israel.” rulers,#tn Or “elders.” leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there.#tn Heb “like the resident alien, like the citizen.” The language is idiomatic, meaning that both groups were treated the same, at least in this instance. Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.#tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”sn Moses’ earlier instructions are found in Deut 11:29. 34 Then#tn Or “afterward.” Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given#tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.” before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.#tn Heb “walked in their midst.”
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Joshua 8
8
1 The LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land. 2You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3 So Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night. 4He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them. 6They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them, 7and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”
9 Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night. 10Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. 12He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley. 14When the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.
18 The LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.”
Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand and entered into the city and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire. 20When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. 21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai. 22The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the middle of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the people of Ai. 26For Joshua didn’t draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27Israel took for themselves only the livestock and the goods of that city, according to the LORD’s word which he commanded Joshua. 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day. 29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. 32He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses’ law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33All Israel, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the scroll of the Torah. 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.
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