Joshua 8

God putteth new courage into Josua , and commandeth him to go and besiege Ai, promiseth him that he shall take it , v.1, & c. Josua besiegeth Ai , and layeth an ambush against it 3. and they take it by stratagem and by surprisall , 19. Ai is burned , 20. The King of Ai is taken prisoner, 23. All the inhabitants of the city are put to the sword , 25. and the cattell and other goods are spoiled , 27 . Ai is made an heap of stones , 28. The King thereof hanged , 29.Josua buildeth an Altar unto the LORD , 30. according to Gods command , and offered thereon , 31. he writeth the Law of Moseh in stones , 32. Causeth the same with its blessings and curses to be read before all the people upon the mountains , Gerisim, and Ebal. 33.

1. Then the LORD said unto Josua , Fear not , neither be dismayed , take with thee all the people of war , and go thou , march up to Ai, I have given it into thine hand the King of Ai, and his people , and his city , and his land .

2. Thou now shalt do unto Ai and her King according as thou didest unto Jericho and her King , for that he shall prey for your selves , the prey thereof and the cattell thereof , then put (or lay ) thee an ambush against the city , from behinde it .

3. Then Josua arose , and all the people of war , to march up to ward Ai : and Josua chose out thirty thousand men of valour , and sent them forth by night .

4. And commanded them, saying : Behold , ye shall lie in ambush behinde the city , keep your selves not very far from the city ; and be ye all ready .

5. I now and all the people that are with me , will draw neere to the city : and it shall come to passe , when they shall go out to meet us , even as at the first , that we will flee before their face .

6. Let them therefore come out after us till we draw them off from the Citie , for they will say , They flee before our faces as at first, therefore we will flee before their faces .

7. Then shall ye rise up out of the ambush , [viz. when ye shall see the token which I will give you ; see verse 18.] and ye shall take up the Citie ; [oth. ye shall expel the Citie ; i.e. the residue of the inhabitants of the Citie] for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

8. And it shall come to pass, when ye have taken the Citie , that ye shall set the Citie on fire , according to the Word of the LORD shall ye doe , lo , I have commanded it you.

9. So Josua sent them forth , and they went to the ambush , and they abode between Bethel , and between Ai , toward the West of Ai : but Josua overnighted ( or lodged ) that night in the midst of the people .

10. And Josua rose up early in the morning , and he mustered the people : [oth. numbred , put them in order , ( or , aray ) viewed them] and he marched up , he and the Eldest of Israel , before the face of the people , to Ai.

11. Also all the people of War , that were with him , marched up, and they drew near and came over against the Citie : and they camped themselves toward the Nort of Ai, and there was a valley betwixt him and betwixt Ai.

12. He took likewise about five thousand men : and he placed them for an ambush betwixt Bethel , and btwixt Ai on the West of the Citie .

13. And they put the people , [viz. in order] all the Camp , that was on the North of the Citie , and its ambush [The Hebrew word signifieth properly heel , Supplanting , or , treading under foot ; yet it is also used for craft, deceitfull snares and gins , oth. its utmost end] was on the West of the Citie : and Josua went the same night into the midst of the valley ; [whereof above verse 11.]

14. And it came to pass , when the King of Ai saw ( that) then they made haste, and got up early , and the men of the Citie came forth to meet Israel , to battell , he, all his people [i.e. with the greatest part of the people , for that some people still remained in the Citie is manifest verse 16.] at the appointed time , [or the appointed , or prefixed place] before the plain field ; for he knew not that any one laid an ambush against him from behind the Citie .

15. Josua then and all Israel were beaten before their faces ; [This is not to be understood according to the letter , as if any of the Israelites were indeed and in truth beaten by the men of Ai, for then the Israelites would thereby again have lost their courage ; but thereby is intimated, that they dissembled , or feigned , that they were afraid , that they should be again smitten by those of Ai] and they fled by the way of the wildernesse. [oth. before the wilderness ; viz. in the way of the wilderness , which is between Ai and Jericho ; viz. running back to Jericho , from whence they were come]

16. Therefore all the people that were in the Citie , were called together to pursue after them , and they pursued after Josua , and were drawn off from the Citie .

17. And there was not a man [viz. that was fit for the battel ; compare below , verse 24.] left in Ai, nor Bethel , that marched not forth after Israel , and they left the Citie open , and pursued after Israel.

18. Then the LORD said unto Josua , stretch forth [viz. for a token to those that lie in ambush that they may come forth and march on ; oth. from the 26. verse thus , stretch forth (thy hand ) with spear , or flag, standard , banner ; Compare this act of Josua with the act of Moseh , Exodus 7:11,12.] the spear , [see 1 Sam.17.6.] that is in thine hand , toward Ai, for I will give it into thine hand ; Then Josua stretched forth the spear that was in his hand toward the citie .

19. Then the ambush arose hastily out of their place , and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand , and came unto the Citie , and they took it ; and they hasted , and set the citie on fire . [Not all the city ,(for then the prey had likewise been burned ) but a part thereof , that the Israelites who made a shew as if they had fled seeing the smoke might face about and fall upon the enemy]

20. When the men of Ai turned about , they saw , and behold, the smoke of the Citie ascended up to Heaven , and had no room to flee this way or that way : [Heb. in them there were no hands to flee . Hand is taken for room , or place , Numbers 2:17. Psalms 104:25. Isa.22.18. Nehemiah 7:4. oth. no power] for the people that fled to the wilderness turned themselves against those that pursued (them.)

21. And went Josua and all Israel saw , that the ambush had taken the Citie , and that the smoke of the Citie ascended , they turned about and smote the men of Ai.

22. Also those of the Citie [viz. who had layen in ambush , and were now entred into the Citie , and had set the same on fire] came against them ; [viz. against the Citizens of Ai] so that now they [viz. the Citizens of Ai] were in the midst of the Israelites , those on this , and those on that (side ) : and they smote them untill there remained , nor escaped a remnant among them ; [Hebr. that there remained none among them , in saving life or escaping]

23. But King of Ai they took alive , and they brought him unto Josua .

24. And it came to pass, when the Israelites had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai on the field , in the wilderness , wherein they [viz. the children of Israel] had chased them , and that they were all fallen by the edge [Hebr. the mouth] of the sword , untill they were all destroyed ; then all Israel turned unto Ai, and smote it [viz. those that remained yet in the Citie , as old men , women children , and all that were not gone forth to battell] with the edge of the sword .

25. And it came to pass, that all those that fell that dayboth men and women , [Hebr. from the man to the woman]were twelve thousand , all of them people of Ai.

26. Josua likewise drew not back his hand which he had stretched out with the spear , [See above , v.18. This was the token whereby the Israelites might know , when they should cease from waiting or destroying the Citie] untill he had banned all the inhabitants of Ai.[i.e. had utterly destroyed and rooted them out]

27. Onely the Israelites plundred for themselves the cattell and the prey of the same Citie , according to the Word of the LORD, which he commanded Josua .

28. Now Josua burnt Ai, and put it to an everlasting heap, [Hebr. an heap of Eternitie . This signifieth some times a long time . Ai was afterwards inhabited by the Benjamites , Neh.11.31.] a desolation , [i.e. a desolate place]unto this day.

29. And the King of Ai he hanged on a tree untill even-tide : [According to the Law of God , Deuteronomy 21:22.] and about the going down of the Sun , Josua commanded that they should take his dead body down from the tree, and they threw it at the door of the Citie-gate , and raised thereon a great heap of stones being unto this day.

30. Then [viz. after they were come over to Jordan , or after they had taken Ai] Josua built an Altar unto the LORD the God of Israel , upon mount Ebal ; [this mount lay by Sichem as may be seen , Judges 9:6.]

31. According as Moseh the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel , according to that which is written in the ( Law-) book of Moseh , an Altar of whole stones , [i.e. not smoothed or polished with the tools of the stone- cutters] over which they had not moved ( or stirred ) [i.e. used] any iron : and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD , they offered also thank-offerings .

32. He wrote also there , upon stones , [These were other stones , then those mentioned , verse 31.] a duplicate [or draught, copy , repetition of the Law] of the Law of Moseh [viz. the chiefest points of the Law , or the ten Commandements , or ( as some conceive )the blessings and curses . See Deut .17. on v.18.] which , [or that , viz. the Law]he wrote before the face of the children of Israel .

33. And all Israel with their Eldest ,and Officers , and their Judges , stood on this and on that side of the Arke , before the Levitical Priests , that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD , as well strangers as natives , one half thereof over against mount Geresim , [oth. Gerisim . Both these mountains Gerisim and Ebam are situate in the Tribe of Ephraim. Not far from Sichem ; see thereof , Deuteronomy 11:29,30 and 27.12. Jud. 9.v.7.] and one half thereof over against mount Ebal ; as Moseh the servant of the LORD had commanded to bless the people of Israel [withall understand , and to the curse against the transgressours of the Law ; see Deuteronomy 27:11. and 31.10, etc.]at the first . [or , for the first time . This is added in regard the law was every seven years to be read before the people]

34. And afterward he [viz. Josua , yet by one of the Levites , as Moseh commanded Deut.27.14.] read aloud all the words of the Law , the blessing and the curse , according to all that is written in the (Law-) book.

35. There was not a word of all that Moseh commanded , which Josua read not aloud before all the Congregation of Israel , and the women , and the little children , and the strangers [Understand here such kind of strangers , as had embraced and professed the Religion of the Israelites ; see above verse 33.] that walked ( or were conversant ) in the midst of them .