Chapter 8
Ai is Defeated and Destroyed
8:1 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
God encourages Joshua to not be afraid and to not be dismayed, He is essentially saying that it’s okay to proceed. Joshua may have been somewhat “gun shy” to engage in battle after losing so many men. God tells him to take all of the fighting men back to Ai. He promised that they would have victory over the king, his people, the city, and the land. In this battle (and subsequent battles) God will allow them to take the spoil and livestock as plunder for themselves. The ‘booty’ from these encounters will support them during their years of conquering the land.
God gives Joshua the instruction to lay an ambush against the city. Some see this as a form of deception that in turn raises some ethical questions. But we see that success in warfare often relies on misdirection and surprise tactics, and as such becomes unavoidable components of war. As such deception in a war-time scenario should not be considered unethical.
8:3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.”
Joshua is instructed to choose 30,000 men of valor to go at night to the opposite side of the city and remain hidden near the city. He and the rest of the men are to approach the city and pretend that they are going to attack the city, but once they are near to turn around and flee, baiting the enemy to leave the city unguarded as they come out to chase after the Israelites. After they have been drawn away from the city, the other men are to enter the city and seize it and then set it on fire. This was God’s plan and Joshua was commanded to do as instructed.
8:9 So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. 10 Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 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 And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward 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 pretended to be 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 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
Joshua sent out his men to to the place of ambush between Ai and Bethel and its west side (perhaps to prevent anyone from Bethel to expose the ambush, or come to their aid). But Joshua stayed with the camp. The next morning, Joshua led his men and the elders of Israel toward Ai. Joshua’s fighting men marched in front of the city and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the city. That night, Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush on the west side of Ai. Joshua himself spent the night in the valley. When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and his army left the city and went after them early in the morning, but were unaware of the ambush that was set up behind the city. Joshua and the Israelites fled toward the wilderness, pretending to be defeated. The people who were in the city were called out to chase them, luring them away. No one in Ai or Bethel was left, and the city was left open.
8:18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.
Then God tells Joshua to point his javelin at Ai, and that He will give them the town, and Joshua obeyed. When the men saw Joshua point to the city, the men in the ambush quickly ran into the city and captured it and started to set it on fire. When the men of Ai looked back at the city and saw that it was burning they turned around and went after the pursuers. After seeing that the city was burning, Joshua and the men with him turned back themselves and struck down and killed the men of Ai. Then others came running out of the city in multiple directions trying to attack the Israelites, but the Israelites were successful in killing everyone except the king.
8:24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.
The Israelites also pursued everyone who attempted to escape through the wilderness and then entered the city and killed anyone found inside. The number of people both men and women killed that day was 12,000. Joshua did not stop pointing his javelin until all of Ai’s inhabitants were dead.
8:27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua.
The people of Israel were allowed to take and keep the livestock and any items of spoil from Ai as plunder, per God’s instructions to Joshua (see verse two).
8:28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.
Joshua burned the city of Ai and it became a “heap of ruins” (Hebrew tēl šemā·mā(h) referring to a mound of waste, it is similar to what the name Ai means, see commentary under Joshua 7:2) which was still visible when this account was written.
8:29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset 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 over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
Joshua hanged the king on a tree until the sun had set at which time he taken down and thrown at the entrance to the city and was buried under a large heap of stones (Hebrew ṯā·lā(h), this is not a rope hanging (click here to read about hangings in the Bible). The body was taken down at sunset to keep from defiling the land (see Deuteronomy 21:23).
Considerations
Arabah
Hebrew ’ǎrā·ḇā(h)’, the root of the word means dry. The word appears sixty times in the Old Testament and can be translated as plain, plains, desert, valley, wilderness, or transliterated as Arabah. When the word Arabah appears in the text it is used in most Bible versions to refer to either a portion of or the entire Jordan Valley extending from the north end at Mt. Hermon (elevation of 9100 feet) down south through the Sea of Galilee then through the Dead Sea (also called the Sea of Arabah) to the Gulf of Aqabah.
The Law, the Blessings, and the Curses
The remaining verses in this chapter relate to the instructions Moses gave the Israelites before his death as recorded in Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. It is recommended that anyone studying this book should read and become familiar with these two chapters. (Click here to read the commentary for Deuteronomy chapter 27). Some believe that since verses 30-35 do not appear in the Septuagint that they were added to the Hebrew text at a later date, which could explain why they lack detail.
8:30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.
Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal per Moses’ instructions (see Deuteronomy 27:4-6, see also Exodus 20:24-25). He then offered both burnt offerings (see Leviticus 1:1-17; 6:8-13) and peace offerings (see Leviticus 1:1-17; 7:11-36).
8:32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
There is some debate as to what constitutes “the law of Moses” in this situation. If using the traditional definition of the law it would be the first five books of the Bible, which would require both a significant amount of time as well as a significant number of stones. That is why some believe it was only the book of Deuteronomy or perhaps just the Ten Commandments. The text does not elaborate.
8:33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
All of the people of Israel, any others that may be traveling through, anyone native (does not define, at this juncture that would be Rahab and family), all of the leaders, and all of the judges, were to participate in this event. These three verses quickly summarize the ceremony that Moses instructed them to do after entering into the Promised Land. While this description leaves out several details (see Deuteronomy 27:1-28:68), the primary emphasis of this event was to assure that everyone knew the law, was aware of what God would do for them as long as they obeyed that law, and also be aware of the consequences if they didn’t. No one could plead ignorance! For most in attendance this would have been the second time they heard this as they would have been present when Moses spoke them initially.