Joshua 8:9-22
New English Translation
9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place[a] west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai.[b] Joshua spent that night with the army.[c]
10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered[d] the army,[e] and he and the leaders[f] of Israel marched[g] at the head of it[h] to Ai. 11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.[i] They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.[j] 12 He took 5,000 men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel 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 into[k] the middle of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai and all his people saw Israel, they rushed to get up early. Then the king and the men of the city went out to meet Israel in battle, at the meeting place near the rift valley.[l] But he did not realize an ambush was waiting for him behind the city.[m] 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them, and they retreated along the way to the wilderness. 16 All the reinforcements[n] in Ai[o] were ordered[p] to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;[q] they all went out after Israel.[r] They left the city wide open and chased Israel.
18 The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword[s] in your hand, for I am handing the city[t] 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.[u] They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw[v] the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction.[w] In the meantime the men who were retreating to the wilderness 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,[x] 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.[y] The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.
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- Joshua 8:9 tn Or “the place of ambush.”
- Joshua 8:9 tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”
- Joshua 8:9 tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”
- Joshua 8:10 tn Or “summoned, mustered.”
- Joshua 8:10 tn Heb “the people.”
- Joshua 8:10 tn Or “elders.”
- Joshua 8:10 tn Heb “went up.”
- Joshua 8:10 tn 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.
- Joshua 8:11 tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.”
- Joshua 8:11 tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.”
- Joshua 8:13 tn Some Hebrew mss read, “spent the night in.”
- Joshua 8:14 sn This probably refers to the hill country at the edge of the rift valley between Ai and Jericho. This part of the battle was probably engaged where Israel would have come up to the hill country out of the rift valley from Jericho, an ascent of about 4000 feet (with ups and downs) over ten miles.
- Joshua 8:14 tn Heb “did not know that an ambush for him was behind the city.”
- Joshua 8:16 tn Heb “All the people.”
- Joshua 8:16 tc Some textual witnesses read “the city.”
- Joshua 8:16 tn Or “were summoned”; or “were mustered.”
- Joshua 8:17 tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”
- Joshua 8:17 tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”
- Joshua 8:18 tn Traditionally “spear,” but see HALOT 472 s.v. כִּידוֹן, which argues based upon evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls that this term refers to a curved sword of some type; note the definition “scimitar” given there.
- Joshua 8:18 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Ai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Joshua 8:19 tn Heb “and ran.”
- Joshua 8:20 tn 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.
- Joshua 8:20 tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”
- Joshua 8:21 tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.”
- Joshua 8:22 tn 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.”
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