The Book of Joshua
Joshua 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. I, pp. 549–551
1 God encourageth Joshua. 3 The stratagem whereby Ai was taken. 29 The king thereof is hanged. 30 Joshua buildeth an altar, 32 writeth the law on stones, 33 propoundeth blessings and cursings.
1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, aFear not, neither be thou dismayed; take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, bI have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
2 And thou cshalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only thed spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves. Lay thee ane ambush for the city behind it.
c ch.6.21. De.3.2.
d De.20.14. Pr.28.20. Je.17.11. Job 27.16,17.
e ver.4,7,9,12. Ju.20.29. 2 Ch.13.13.
3 So Joshua arose, and fall the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty1 men of valour, and sent them away gby night.
f ver.1; ch.7.3.
1 The number seems unnecessarily large, but Israel was now much dispirited, and therefore required visible numbers to restore their confidence in the providence of the Lord. C.——It appears from this verse that the whole army was not employed on this occasion, but a portion chosen from the whole, viz the 30,000 here mentioned, the men who lay in ambush being 12,000, selected from among them.—I.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie hin wait against the city, even behind the city; go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:
5 And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city; and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, ithat we will flee before them,
i Ec.9.18; 7.19. Ju.20.31,32. Mat.10.16.
6 (For they will come out after us,) till we have drawn2 them from the city; for kthey will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them.
2 Heb. pulled—[This stratagem of war was not uncommon among the Hebrews. In this instance, as Scott remarks, no treaties were violated, no oaths broken, no falsehoods uttered; and it cannot be requisite to inform our enemies of our intentions and purposes, however they may be deceived by appearances. But perjuries, lies, and infractions of treaties cannot, in any war, or in any case, be allowable or excusable.—I.]
7 Then lye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
l Ec.9.10. 1 Ki.20.18.
8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall mset the city on fire:3 according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. nSee, I have commanded you.
m Part of it, ver.28.
3 It seems probable that this command was only to kindle a fire within the city, the smoke of which should be to the rest an indication that they had succeeded. The city was afterwards burned, ver. 28, but it seems unlikely that they should forthwith have set the city on fire before taking the spoil, which was on this occasion to be divided among the people.—I.
n ch.1.16. 2 Sa.13.28.
9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Beth-elo and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.4
o Ge.28.19; 12.8; 31.13; 35.1,3,6. ch.7.2; 16.1,2. Ju.1.22; 4.5. 1 Sa.7.16; 10.3. 1 Ki.12.29,33. 2 Ki.23.15-19.
4 Among the soldiers, ready for the attack on the morrow, and perhaps by his presence to encourage them after their former alarm.—I.
10 And Joshua prose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai.
12 And he took about qfive thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.5
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
q These were added to the former, or set in another ambush on the same side of the city, ver. 9.
5 Or, of Ai.
13 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and rtheir liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.6
r Heb. their lying in wait, 2 Sa.23.7. Ec.9.12. 1 Sa.23.7.
6 The position of Ai favoured these arrangements. On the north of the hill on which it stands is a deep glen; on the south and east are other glens; while on the west is a rocky ridge, behind which the ambush could easily conceal themselves.—P.
14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted, and rose up early; and sthe men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain: but he twist not7 that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.
s ver.16,19.
t 1 Th.5.3. Ec.9.12. 1 Sa.15.32,33. Da.4.30,31. Re.17.10. Ju.16.20.
7 From the conduct of the king of Ai, and from other circumstances, we may infer that the Canaanites were but imperfectly versant in the art of war. Moreover they were, for their wickedness, visited with the spirit of infatuation. It was not Joshua's skill and courage, but Jehovah's guidance and aid, which gave to the Israelites their conquests. From many circumstances we have reason to conclude that till the time of David the Hebrews, notwithstanding their many victories, had little real military knowledge.—I.
15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled uby the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua, and were xdrawn away from the city.
17 And there was not a yman left in Ai or Beth-el that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open,8 and pursued after Israel.
y Soldier, ver.24,25. Job 5.13.
8 The troops of Beth-el seem to have come to Ai to strengthen the garrison.—C.
18 And the LORD said unto Joshua, 9Stretch out the spear that1 is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua zstretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
9 It is probable that this was the preconcerted signal, at the sight of which the men in ambush knew they were to arise. The Lord himself intimated to Joshua the proper time to make the movement. A flag might be attached to the top of the spear, (as the rabbins, with great probability, suppose) which would make it conspicuous at a considerable distance. Some have supposed, especially from the statement in ver. 26, that this action of Joshua was figurative, and that, like the lifting up of Moses' hand in the battle with Amalek, it was a token of the divine presence and pledge of God's assistance, and they would, in the one case, as in the other, connect the victory with the action; but we should be cautious of searching for figurative meanings when not led to them by the word of God itself. The indulging of this spirit has, in many instances, opened the floodgates of error.—I.
1 The spear most probably bore a flag, to render the sign more readily visible at a distance.—C.
z Ex.17.11. ver.7,8,19.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the asmoke of the city ascended up to heaven; and they had no bpower to flee this way or that way: and the cpeople that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.
22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they dlet none of them remain or escape.
23 Ande the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
e ch. 10. 22, 25. 1 Sa. 15.8. Re.19.20.
24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites freturned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
f Nu.21.24,25. ch.10.28,30,32,35,37,39; 11.11,12.
25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of gAi.
g And Beth-el, ver.17.
26 For Joshua hdrew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
h ver.18. Ex.17.11.
27 Onlyi the cattle, and the spoil of that city, Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua.
i Nu.31.22,26. ver.2.
29 And the king of Ai he lhanged2 on a tree until even-tide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raisem thereon a great heap of stones,3 that remaineth unto this day.
l Ps.107.40; 110.5,6. Est.7.10. De.21.23. Ac.12.23. Re.19.17,18.
2 The kings of Canaan lay under the same curse as their subjects, and probably were more deeply criminal. The reserving of the king of Ai for a solemn execution would tend to strike terror into the other kings, contribute to the success of Israel, and give their proceedings the stamp of a judicial process, and of executing the vengeance of God upon his enemies.—Scott.
m ch. 7.26. 2 Sa. 18.17. La.3.53.
3 A custom of marking the graves of the dead, common to most of the Celtic tribes of Europe, of which many examples are to be found in the British islands.—C.
30 Then Joshua nbuilt an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal;4
n Ge. 8.20; 12.7,8. De. 11.29; 27.5,6. Ex. 20.24,25.
4 Joshua celebrates his first victories not by unmeaning rejoicings, but by a visible acknowledgment of God; and thus, at a time when gratified ambition leads many to forget him, and ascribe the glory to themselves, Joshua remembers him, and renders him all the praise. C.——It will be observed that there is no note of time here. The event recorded may have occurred immediately after the capture of Ai, or it may have taken place at a later period, for it is clear that all the events in the book are not given in strict chronological order. There is nothing, however, either impossible or incredible in the supposition that Joshua marched direct from Ai. The way was open. No fortress or strong city lay between Bethel and Shechem; and the fear of the Lord, as we are elsewhere told, had paralyzed the whole inhabitants of the country.—P.
31 As Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, An altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron; and they ooffered thereon burnt-offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
32 And he pwrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he5 wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
p De.27.2,3,8; 17.18. Ex.34.1.
5 'A copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel,' that is, the copy which Joshua wrote in their presence, for the original was not written in their presence by Moses, but on the mount by the finger of God.—C.
33 And qall Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well rthe stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount6 Ebal; as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
34 And afterward she read all the words of the law, the tblessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
Notes
Reflections.—Learn, my soul, that whenever I put away the accursed thing I may expect comfort from God: and that such as honour God with the first-fruits of their substance are gainers at last; while those who greedily grasp the Lord's share become inconceivable losers: that all the people of God ought to strive together in their spiritual warfare: that prudence and caution are as necessary as strength to insure success: that well-timed yielding procures victory as well as pacifies great offences: and that divine assurances of success inspire men with courage and boldness, notwithstanding former disappointments. Let me here behold how God qualifies his armies and infatuates his enemies. Short is the rejoicing of the wicked! and the prosperity of fools will destroy them. But they who fight the Lord's battles receive their glorious reward, when the end of ringleaders in presumptuous rebellion against the Lord is in shame and confusion. Whatever then God requires me to do, let me do it with all my might. Never let my covenanting with God be deferred till I am settled in the world: and let no carnal concern hinder my regard to the one thing needful. If I am in the way of my duty God will grant me special protection. While I serve God with his own, and depend on the atonement of his Son as the foundation of all my reconcilement and relation to him, and fellowship with him—while I heartily believe and consent to his will—let me do everything in his worship exactly according to his prescriptions; and be careful that my wife, children, and servants be acquainted with his word, and attending on his worship, as well as myself.