Jump to:

001

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua

Chapter 8
1-2~~And the Jehovah/God said unto Joshua,
"Fear not, neither be you dismayed.
Take all the people of war with you, and arise,
go up to Ai
  {Ai is NOT cherem/accursed (like Jericho was in the previous
  chapter) so it does not have to be destroyed
  Achan did NOT wait on the Lord so he suffered and died}.
See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai,
and his people, and his city, and his land. 2~~
And you shall do to Ai and her king
as you did unto Jericho and her king
only the spoil thereof,
and the cattle thereof,
shall you take for a prey unto yourselves
  {all in the city is yours - just destroy the people}.
You all lay an ambush for the city behind it
  {tough fighters - must ambush them}."

{1st of 3 forces - 30,000 Men - Force E (Enveloping force)}
3~~So Joshua arose,
and all the people of war,
to go up against Ai.
And Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor,
and sent them away by night.

{Note: Force L and Force M are the other two forces. Force M (Main body) under Joshua will retreat. Force L (liaison) will protect the flanks from the town of Bethel that is hostile but close. Then Force E will hide and ambush and burn the city when the men leave the city to chase the retreating force thinking they were cowards like in the first battle. When the soldiers go back to save their city, they will be caught between all three merging forces.}

{Verses 4-8: Details of Attack}
4~~And he commanded them, saying,
"Behold, you shall lie in wait against the city,
even behind the city.
Go not very far from the city,
but be you all ready."

5-8~~"And I, and all the people who are with me,
will approach unto the city
and it shall come to pass,
when they come out against us,
as at the first {in the first losing battle},
that we will flee before them. 6~~
For they will come out after us -
till we have drawn them from the city;
for they will say,
'They flee before us,
as at the first.
Therefore we will tear after them'
  {Ai soldiers will be overconfident and think they can catch them
  this time since they only killed 36 last time}. 7~~
Then you shall rise up from the ambush,
and seize upon the city
for the Jehovah/God your 'Elohiym/Godhead
will deliver it into your hand. 8~~
And it shall be,
when you have taken the city,
that you shall set the city on fire
according to the commandment of the Jehovah/God
shall you do.
So, I have commanded you."

9~~Joshua therefore sent them forth
and they went to lie in ambush,
and abode between Bethel and Ai,
on the west side of Ai
but Joshua lodged that night among the people {at Gilgal}.

10~~And Joshua rose up early in the morning,
and numbered the people,
and went up,
he and the elders of Israel {commanders of the army},
before the people to Ai.

11~~ And all the people,
even the people of war
who were with him, went up,
and drew near,
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 five thousand men
  {Force L - liaison force to protect the flanks},
and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai,
on the west side of the city.

13~~And when they had set the people,
even all the army/host that was on the north of the city,
and those lying in wait on the west of the city,
Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.

14~~And it came to pass,
when the king of Ai saw it,
that they hurried and rose up early,
and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle,
he and all his people,
at a time appointed,
before the plain.
But he was not aware that there were
those lying {in wait} in ambush against him
behind the city.

15~~And Joshua and all Israel
made {pretended} as if they were beaten before them,
and fled by 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 drawn away from the city.

17~~And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel,
that went not out after Israel.
And they left the city open,
and pursued after Israel.

18~~And Jehovah/God said unto Joshua,
"Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai
for I will give it into your hand.
And Joshua stretched out the spear
that he had in his hand toward the city.

{Meanwhile back at the City}
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 hurriedly and set the city on fire.

20~~And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw,
and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven,
and they had no power to flee this way or that way
and the people who fled to the wilderness
turned back upon the pursuers
  {Joshua and Force M - the main body turned back on
  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
  {Force E came out and hit them - they were surrounded}
so they were in the middle of Israel,
some on this side, and some on that side
and they smote them,
so that they let none of them remain or escape.

23~~And the king of Ai they took alive,
and brought him to Joshua.

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 returned unto Ai,
and smote it with the edge of the sword.

{Ai was a Small Town Compared to Jericho - only 12,000 compared to Jericho's over 100,000}

25~~And so it was, that all that fell that day,
both of men and women,
were twelve thousand,
even all the men of Ai.

26~~For Joshua drew not his hand back,
wherewith he stretched out the spear,
until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

27~~Only the cattle and the spoil of that city
Israel took for a prey unto themselves,
according unto the Word/'doctrinal communication'
of the Jehovah/God
which He commanded Joshua.

28~~And Joshua burnt Ai,
and made it an heap for ever,
even a desolation unto this day.

29~~And the king of Ai
he hanged on a tree until eventide
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 raise thereon a great heap of stones,
that remains unto this day.

30-31~~Then Joshua built an altar unto
Jehovah/God 'Elohiym/Godhead of Israel
on mount Ebal {mount of cursing}, 31~~
as Moses the servant of the Jehovah/God
commanded the children of Israel {Deuteronomy 27},
as it is written in the book of the law of Moses,
an altar of whole stones,
over which no man has lift up any iron
and they offered thereon burnt offerings
unto the Jehovah/God,
and sacrificed peace offerings.

{Note: Mount Ebal is the mountain of the curse. See Deuteronomy 27 for this story. Gerizim is the mount of blessing. Certain tribes were on the blessing side and certain ones on the cursing side. They were to then write the first 5 books of the law and }

32~~And he wrote there upon the stones
a copy of the law of Moses,
which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

{Verses 33-36: Who Should Hear the Word?}
33~~And all Israel {EVERYONE},
and their elders, and officers, and their judges
  {categories of leaders},
stood on this side the Ark
and on that side before the priests - the Levites,
who bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Jehovah/God,
as well the stranger {RBT says is a reference to Rahab},
as he who was born among them
half of them over against mount Gerizim {mount of blessing},
and half of them over against mount Ebal {mount of cursing}
  {In-between was the valley of Shechem - strength};
as Moses the servant of the Jehovah/God
had commanded before,
that they should bless the people of Israel. 34~~
And afterward he read
all the words/'doctrinal communication' {dabar} of the law,
the blessings and cursings,
according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35~~
There was not a word of all that Moses commanded,
which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel,
with the women {the women also need to listen to the Word},
and the little ones {and the children were to be taught!!!},
and the strangers who were living among them
  {and all with whom they associate should listen also - in other
  words everyone}.