052. XXXII. Capture Of Jericho And AI
§ XXXII. CAPTURE OF JERICHO AND AI Joshua 5:13-15, Joshua 6-9
1. Jehovah’s directions regarding the attack. Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as Prince of the host of Jehovah have I now come. Then Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, What has my lord to say to his servant? And the Prince of Jehovah’s host said to Joshua, Take off thy sandals from thy feet; for the place on which thou art standing is holy. Then Jehovah said to Joshua, See, I have given into thy power Jericho, and its king, with the mighty men of valor. And ye shall march around the city, all the warriors going about the city once. Thus shall ye do six days. And the seventh day the people shall go up every man straight before him.
2. Joshua’s commands to the people. Then Joshua called the priests and said to them, Take up the ark; and to the people he said, March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Jehovah. Joshua also commanded the people saying, You shall not shout the battle-cry, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall a word go out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout the battle-cry’; then you shall shout.
3. March around the city. So he caused the ark of Jehovah to march around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the second day they marched around the city once, and returned to the camp. Thus they did six days.
4. Capture of the city. And it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early at the dawning of the day; and when they had made the circuit of the city after the same manner, Joshua said to the people, Shout the battle-cry; for Jehovah hath given you the city. And the city shall be completely devoted to Jehovah, together with all that is in it; only Rahab the harlot shall live, both she and those who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. So the people shouted the battle-cry, and went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
5. Fate of its inhabitants. Then they completely destroyed by the sword all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass. But Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all that she had, Joshua saved; and they have dwelt in the midst of Israel even until this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. At that time Joshua made them subscribe to this oath:
Cursed be that man before Jehovah Who undertakes to rebuild this city; With the loss of his first-born shall he lay its foundation, And with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates. So Jehovah was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
6. Defeat of the three hundred. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is on the east side of Bethel, and commanded them saying, Go up and spy out the land. So the men went and spied out Ai. And when they returned to Joshua, they said to him, Do not let all the people go up, but let two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; do not make all the people toil up there; for they are few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men; but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them, about thirty-six men, and pursued them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and smote them at the descent; and the people lost heart to resist and became as weak as water.
7. Joshua’s complaint to Jehovah. Then Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before Jehovah until the evening, together with the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah, why hast thou at all brought this people over the Jordan. Would that we had been contented and stayed beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, after Israel hath turned his back before his enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth; and what wilt thou do for thy great name?
8. Cause of the defeat. Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Arise! why art thou lying prostrate thus? Israel hath sinned; indeed they have even taken of the accursed thing and so have been guilty of theft and deception; and they have even put it among their own things. That is why the Israelites cannot stand before their enemies, because they are accursed. I will not be with you any more, unless ye destroy from among you that which is accursed. Arise, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow; for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, “There is in the midst of thee, O Israel, that which is accursed, thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.” In the morning therefore ye shall be brought near by your tribes; and it shall be that the tribe which Jehovah shall take, shall come near by families; and the family which Jehovah shall take, shall come near by households; and the household which Jehovah shall take, shall come near man by man. And it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, together with all that he hath, because he hath committed a shameful crime in Israel.’
9. Discovery of the culprit. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. Then he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites, and he brought near the family of the Zerahites, man by man; and Zabdi was taken. Then he brought near his household, man by man; and Achan was taken. Then Joshua said to Achan, Tell me now what you have done: do not conceal it from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Truly, I have sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonian mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold of fifty shekels’ weight, I coveted them and took them, and now they are hidden in the earth in the middle of my tent, with the money underneath.
10. Aefian’s punishment. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was hidden in his tent, with the money underneath. And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down before Jehovah. Then Joshua took Achan the son of Zerah and all that he had and brought them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why have you brought trouble upon us? Jehovah shall bring trouble upon you to-day. And they burned them with fire, and they raised over him a great heap of stones. Then Jehovah turned from the fierceness of his anger. Hence the name of the place has been called the valley of Achor [Trouble] to this day.
11. Arrangements for the ambush. Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear, neither be dismayed; take all the warriors with thee; set an ambush for the city behind it. So Joshua arose with all the warriors to go up to Ai, and Joshua selected thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night. And he commanded them saying, Behold, you are to lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; do not go very far from the city, but be ready all of you; and I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And it shall come to pass, when they come out against us as at the first, that we will flee before them; and they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us as at the first’; and then you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for Jehovah your God will give it into your power. And when you have seized the city, set it on fire; see, I have commanded you.
12. The ambush. So Joshua sent them forth, and they went to the place of the ambush, and stationed themselves between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
13. Capture and destruction of Ai and its inhabitants. Then Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up together with the elders of Israel, before the people of Ai. And the warriors who were with him went up, and came before the city. And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it, both he and all his people hastened to a certain place in the direction of the Arabah, but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. Then Israel fled by way of the wilderness, and all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue them. And they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel. Thereupon the men in ambush arose quickly out of their place, and hastened to set the city on fire. And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw the smoke of the city ascending to heaven, and they had no chance to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. When the smoke of the city ascended, the others came forth out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that; and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
14. Fate of the king of Ai. And they captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide; and at sunset Joshua gave command, and they took his body down from the tree, and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which is there to this day.
15. Deception of the Gibeonites. Now when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they practised deception; they proceeded to take provisions and old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old and torn and bound up, and old, patched shoes on their feet, and old garments upon their backs; and all the bread with which they provided themselves was dry and crumbled. And they went to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, and they said to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country; now therefore make a treaty with us. And the men of Israel said to the villagers [Hivites], Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a treaty with you? And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are you? and whence do you come? And they said to him, From a very far country your servants have come. And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants.”’ This bread of ours we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we set out to come to you; but now see, it has become dry and crumbled; and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; now see, they are torn; and these garments and shoes of ours have become old because of the very long journey. Therefore, now make a treaty with us. So the men of Israel took of their provisions, and did not ask counsel at the mouth of Jehovah, but made a treaty with them, to let them live.
16. Their fate. But after they had made a treaty with them, the men of Israel heard that they dwelt among them. And the Israelites journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Then Joshua called for them and said to them, Why have you deceived us? saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? Now therefore you are under a curse, and there shall never cease to be of you bondmen, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua, Behold we are in your power; do as it seems good and right to you to do to us. And so he did to them, and saved them from the hand of the Israelites, so that they did not slay them. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water.
I. The Situation and Character of Jericho. The ruins of the ancient town of Jericho rise directly to the west of the famous spring, which now bears the name Ain es Sultan. The mound is about twelve hundred feet long and at many points about fifty feet in height. The Roman Jericho of Herod’s time was built further down the valley where the Wady Kelt breaks through the western bluffs. The modern Jericho is a squalid little hamlet lying further out on the plain. The presence of Canaanite pottery on the surface of the imposing mound, which rises above Ain es Sultan, has long been accepted as conclusive evidence that it represents the ancient city conquered by the Hebrews. From the size of this mound it is clear that it represents fully a thousand years of Canaanite history. Excavations begun in April, 1907, by the Germans, under the direction of Professor Sellin, have confirmed this conclusion beyond all doubt. The remains of the old Canaanite civilization were discovered only a foot or two beneath the surface of the mound. Much of the original wall has already been uncovered. It rests upon a stone foundation about two feet in height, and is constructed of bricks of burned clay. It is about ten feet high, and from ten to thirty feet thick. At one point a stone staircase with nineteen steps leads up from the plain to the top of the wall. The most interesting ruin thus far uncovered is on the northern side of the mound. It proves to be a massive tower, three stories high, of unburned brick. It has four apartments on the first floor, seven on the second and six on the third. Many of the partition walls of these rooms still remain intact. Sixteen steps of the stone staircase which ran up through the three stories to the flat roof have been discovered. The blackened walls of the tower show that it had been destroyed by fire. The remnants of pottery, the stone knives, the twenty-two small, unburned clay tablets intended for writing, but unfortunately not inscribed, which have been found inside it, and the general character of its architecture indicate that the structure comes from the Canaanite period. It is also the best preserved example of Canaanite architecture thus far discovered. The total area of ancient Jericho was not much more than that occupied by four modern city blocks. From its slight elevation the city commanded a beautiful view of the fertile plain of the Jordan, which at this point is fourteen miles wide and is watered by a crystal brook which runs from the spring at the foot of the mound. To the west the hills rise abruptly and are pierced by the valley which leads up into central Canaan, past Ai toward Bethel.
II. The Two Accounts of the Capture of Jericho. A short march across the level plain of the lower Jordan brought the Hebrews to the Canaanite city of Jericho. Two variant accounts have been handed down of the manner in which this walled city was captured. One, the Northern Israelite version, represents the Hebrews as marching seven times around the walls, with the ark at their head and with seven priests blowing seven trumpets. On the seventh time at the final blast, the people shouted loudly and the walls fell down. In the mind of the later Israelites, the capture of this strong, fortified town seemed indeed a miracle, but the early Judean version gives a much simpler and more natural account of the event.
III. The Judean Account of the Capture. According to the oldest version, Jericho was captured not by miracle but by strategy. Once each day for seven days, fully armed, with the ark at their head, the Hebrews marched silently around the city. It requires little imagination to picture the scene. On the first day the inhabitants of Jericho were on the defensive with guarded gates and warriors alert to re pulse any attack. On the following days their alarm yielded to wonder, ridicule and scorn. The seventh day apparently found them entirely off their guard and offered an excellent opportunity for a sudden and successful attack. The members of the family of Rahab within the city had been promised by the Hebrews a reward for their treachery. It is not improbable that at the signal they unbolted the city gates, so that, when at last the lips of the Israelite warriors were unsealed and they raised their war cry and “rushed up into the city every man straight before him,” they found the way open before them.
IV.The Fate of the Inhabitants of Jericho. There is little doubt that the account of the destruction of Jericho is historical. All living things found in the city were devoted to Jehovah (that is, given as a bloody offering), and therefore destroyed. The spoil likewise was consecrated to Israel’s god. Even the ruins were guarded by a curse which was to descend upon any one who attempted to rebuild them. In 1 Kings 16:34 it is stated that “in the days of Ahab, Hiel, the Bethelite, built Jericho. He laid the foundations with the loss of Abiram, his first-born, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son, Segub, as Jehovah had spoken by Joshua the son of Nun.” The same fanatical zeal in destroying their foes is revealed in the inscription of Mesha, who ruled over Moab in the days of Omri and Ahab. In his inscription he states that he captured the city Ataroth from Israel and slew all the people and made the city a ruin. In a subsequent passage he relates that “Chemosh said to me, ‘Go and take Nebo against Israel.’ Then I went by night and fought against it from the break of dawn until noon and I took it and slew them all—seven thousand men, women and slaves—for I had devoted it to Ashtar-Chemosh.”
Although the cruelty of the Hebrews in treating their foes was condemned by their later and more enlightened prophets, these carly narratives reveal the devotion and fanatical zeal with which Israel went out to fight the wars of Jehovah. So completely did the Hebrews and their kinsmen, the Moabites and Edomites, identify their national interest with that of their tribal gods that they regarded wholesale slaughter of their foes as a virtue which would win the divine approval. In times of great crises, these same peoples, who still retained much of the fierce fanatical zeal of the desert, did not hesitate to sacrifice even their own sons to win the favor of their tribal god. Their religious conceptions were crude and in many respects wrong, but their devotion lacked neither in intensity nor in forcible expression.
V. The Sin of Achan. Before the author of the book of Job combated the popular dogma, misfortune and calamity were universally interpreted as signs of divine displeasure. When, therefore, the attack upon Ai proved unsuccessful, the only question raised by the Israelites was, “Who has sinned?” Appeal was accordingly made to the sacred lot, which was probably in the charge of a priest or seer. Achan, who was thus singled out as the guilty man, confessed his guilt. His crime was stealing from Jehovah that which had been solemnly consecrated to him. Even the Code of Hammurabi (§ 6) eight or ten centuries before had provided, “If a man has stolen goods from a temple or house he shall be put to death.” According to early Hebrew usage, the penalty was death, not only for the culprit but also for his family. Accordingly Achan and all his household were burned to death by the outraged community.
VI. The Capture of Ai. The strategy employed by the Hebrews in capturing the town of Ai was one often used by nomadic invaders against the inhabitants of walled cities. Secreting a band of warriors in a secluded valley, the Hebrews advanced against the city. When the inhabitants sallied forth for the attack, the main body of the He brews turned in flight. The pursuers left their gates open behind them, and the men in ambush rushed into the town and set it on fire. Soon the rising smoke revealed to the pursuers the trap into which they had fallen. Upon the people of Ai was visited the same pitiless fate that had over taken the inhabitants of Jericho.
VII. The Treaty with the Villagers. Far down through the period of the judges, even to the days of the united kingdom, a group of Canaanite towns including Jebus, Shaalbim, Gibeon and Gezer, remained in the possession of the Canaanites. The traditional reason why these cities were allowed to retain their independence is found in the story of the treaty made with them when the Hebrews first crossed the Jordan. With patched shoes and tattered garments on their backs, dry and mouldy bread in their wallets, representatives of these upland villages appeared in the camp of the Israelites. Their appearance gave weight to their assurance that they came from a distant country to make terms with the new invaders. Accordingly, without consulting Jehovah, a treaty was made, and the peoples, whom these messengers represented, were promised immunity from Hebrew attack. Their deception, however, was in time made an excuse for enslaving the Gibeonites. Later, Saul for some reason put certain of them to death. This act, however, was repudiated by the Israelites in the days of David; and Saul’s seven sons were publicly hanged in order to win Jehovah’s forgiveness for breaking the solemn treaty (§ L).
VIII. The Character of Joshua. The name of Joshua does not appear to have been found in the earliest prophetic history. This surprising omission is perhaps due to the fact that the brief Judean account of the settlement in Judges 1 (§ XXXIII), deals with the experiences of the individual tribes rather than with the achievements of the leaders. Joshua seems to have been the leader of the northern tribes in their advance toward Canaan. His character and work were adapted to the needs of his age. He figures in the Northern Israelite history as an ideal military commander, wise in council, fertile in strategy, quick to strike and courageous in action. Trained in the school of Moses and the wilderness, he is the first of those tribal leaders and deliverers who appear in this stirring period of settlement and conquest. The same spirit of devotion to Jehovah and of dependence upon his guidance are characteristic of Joshua as of Israel’s earlier leaders. Although later tradition has clearly extended the sphere of his activity and idealized his work, he appears to have made a deep impression upon this formative period of Israel’s history.