Joshua 8 (NET)

Israel Conquers Ai

1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic!1 Take the whole army with you and march against Ai!2 See, I am handing over to you3 the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho4 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.5 Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. 4 He told6 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 troops7 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 attack8 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 place9 and seize10 the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 When you capture the city, set it11 on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.”12 9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place13 west of Ai, between Bethel14 and Ai.15 Joshua spent that night with the army.16

10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered17 the army,18 and he and the leaders19 of Israel marched20 at the head of it21 to Ai. 11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.22 They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.23 12 He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel24 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 into25 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.26 But he did not realize27 men were hiding behind the city.28 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert. 16 All the reinforcements29 in Ai30 were ordered31 to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;32 they all went out after Israel.33 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 city34 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.35 They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw36 the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction.37 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,38 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.39 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 men40 of Ai who had chased them toward the desert41 (they all fell by the sword),42 all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women died43 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.44 27 But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the Lord’s orders to Joshua.45 28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day).46 29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening.47 At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree.48 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).49

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.50 They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace.51 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.52 33 All the people,53 rulers,54 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.55 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.56 34 Then57 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 given58 before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.59

18:1tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!” 28:1tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!” 38:1tn 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. 48:2map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. 58:3tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.” 68:4tn Or “commanded, ordered.” 78:5tn Heb “the people.” 88:6tn Heb “come out after.” 98:7tn Heb “from the ambush.” 108:7tn Heb “take possession of.” 118:8tn Heb “the city.” 128:8tn Heb “I have commanded you.” 138:9tn Or “the place of ambush.” 148:9map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. 158:9tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.” 168:9tn Heb “in the midst of the people.” 178:10tn Or “summoned, mustered.” 188:10tn Heb “the people.” 198:10tn Or “elders.” 208:10tn Heb “went up.” 218:10tn 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. 228:11tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.” 238:11tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.” 248:12map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. 258:13tn Some Hebrew mss read, “spent the night in.” 268:14tn 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.” 278:14tn Or “know.” 288:14tn Heb “that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.” 298:16tn Heb “All the people.” 308:16tc Some textual witnesses read “the city.” 318:16tn Or “were summoned”; or “were mustered.” 328:17tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3. 338:17tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.” 348:18tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Ai) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 358:19tn Heb “and ran.” 368:20tn 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. 378:20tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.” 388:21tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.” 398:22tn 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.” 408:24tn Heb “residents.” 418:24tn Heb “in the field, in the desert in which they chased them.” 428:24tc 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. 438:25tn Heb “fell.” 448:26tn Heb “Joshua did not draw back his hand which held out the curved sword until he had annihilated all the residents of Ai.” 458:27tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua.” 468:28tn Heb “and made it a permanent mound, a desolation, to this day.” 478:29tn Heb “on a tree until evening.” The words “leaving him exposed” are supplied in the translation for clarity. 488:29sn For the legal background of this action, see Deut 21:22-23. 498:29tn Heb “to this day.” 508:31tn 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”). 518:31tn Or “peace offerings.” 528:32tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.” 538:33tn Heb “All Israel.” 548:33tn Or “elders.” 558:33tn 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. 568:33tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”sn Moses’ earlier instructions are found in Deut 11:29. 578:34tn Or “afterward.” 588:35tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.” 598:35tn Heb “walked in their midst.”