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| Ai Destroyed |
A. Nats
Background
The embarrassing failure of Israel to
capture Ai, as mentioned in the previous chapter, which has now been found as a
result of Achan's betrayal, and that the present sin has been punished by the
death of the perpetrator, the Israelites at this time. the point of time once
again be fully supportive of God as His covenant children. The catastrophic
failure at Ai certainly teaches the entire nation an effective lesson, that, if
they obey God, He will bless them, and that, if they disobey Him, they will
suffer.
Verse 1-2
1.
"Do not fear," Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense.
2.
"Do not be dismayed," Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense
3.
"Take all the people,", Qal imperative
4. "Arise,"
Qal imperative
5.
"Go up to Ai," Qal imperative
6.
"See, I have given," Qal imperative followed, Qal perfect
YHWH
renews His encouragement and assurances from Jos. 1:9
- "Take
all the people of war with you" The phrase "all the people of
war" (Jos. 8:3; 10:7; 11:7,18,19,20), can refer to less than the total
number. Compare 1:14-15 with 3:12-13; for the same type of example, also see
8:16 as compared to 8:19.
8:2
"you shall take only its spoils and its cattle as plunder for
yourselves" Jericho was totally dedicated to God (under the ban), but Ai
was only partially under the ban (humans must die, but other things of value
can go to the soldiers and their families, Jos. 8:27).
- "Set
an ambush for the city behind it" YHWH gives the battle strategy ( Qal
imperative). There seems to be some confusion as to how to relate the two
ambushes mentioned in Jos. 8:4 and 12. There has been much speculation, but no
consensus. To me it seems that possibly both cities, Ai and Bethel, were
defeated and burned at the same time (Jos. 8:17).
- "spoil.
. .plunder" These two terms relate to the same thing.
1. spoil can mean "prey," "spoil,"
"booty," or "plunder." It refers to things (sometimes
people) taken in battle, then divided among the soldiers (Gen. 49:27; Jdg. 5:30)
and other covenant partners (cf. Num. 31:26-54; 1 Sam. 30:24).
2. plunder
(Qal imperfect). This term is basically synonymous with spoil. This was the
wages of the soldiers (Ezek. 29:19).
"Fear not, neither
be thou dismayed ..." Joshua indeed had much to
fear, as Matthew Henry said, "The treacherous Israelites were more to be
dreaded than the malicious Canaanites!"[1] As for the reason why God
commanded so many to be involved in the capture of Ai, Calvin thought it was to
give all the people a chance to view the struggle as their own, and "to
reassure the people"[2] by giving them a close-up
view of the coming victory. As Blair put it, "In order that the morale of
all the people could be restored."[3]
see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city,
and his land; this city, though a small one, had a king over it, as most
cities in the land of Canaan had; the number of his people in it were twelve
thousand, and his land were the fields about it; all which were given to Joshua
by the Lord, and were as sure as if he had them already in his hand.
And Yehova said "Take all the people of war with thee ..." Keil stated
that this merely means "the whole army,"[4] but even that limitation
indicated a tremendous number of people. The armed men of Israel at this point
numbered over "600,000 fighting men."[5] With such a vast force
under his command, whatever number might have been needed in a given task would
have been available.
Before the text we must know a
incident about anger of YHWH to Akhan; The shameful failure of Israel to
capture Ai, as related in the previous chapter, having at this time been
discovered as due to the treachery of Achan, and that sin having now been
punished by the death of the offender, the people of Israel at this point in
time are again considered to be in full favor with God as His covenant
children. The disastrous failure at Ai had surely taught the whole nation an
effective lesson, that, if they obeyed God, He would bless them, and that, if
they did not obey Him, they would suffer.
So, there are some point or
summarize what the people (Joshua, armies, and Israel) doing:
1. God
commanded the deployment of a very large force, "all the people,"
against Ai.
2. There
was to be an ambush set behind the city.
3. Another
detachment was to protect against any assistance that Bethel might give Ai.
4. The
main body of Israel would make a feint of frontal assault against Ai.
5. They
would, at first, fall back, pretending to flee, before the king of Ai's attack.
6. Joshua,
with his javelin, or spear, situated strategically, would signal for the ambush
to enter and burn Ai.
A.
Strategy and Ordered to go to Ai (3-9)
This
phrase is a construct relationship between "mighty" and "strength".
It is often used of military persons (Jos. 1:14; 6:2; 8:3; 10:7; Jdg. 6:12;
11:1; 1 Sam. 9:1; 16:18; 1 Kgs. 11:28; 2 Kgs. 5:1; 15:20; 24:14,16). It can be
used of an army (Exod. 14:4,9,17,28; 15:4; 1 Sam. 17:20; 2 Sam. 8:9; 2 Kgs.
6:4,15; 25:1,5,10). The hebrew text written it with yrEäABGI (adjective masculine plural
construct), the stroger, lyIx;êh; mighty
men, valor men. So not just stronger, not just mighty,
but valor also.
Out
of all the men of war; these were a select company, picked men, not the whole
army, as some have thought, for he was ordered to take all the people of war,
as he did: This was an elite fighting force!; great fighting.
How God have to destroy the city with a
million power, how about us to thinking it? God must used the best people, the
selected people, not of any kind people.
8:4 look
the orders of Joshua: “Behold, ye shall
lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the
city, but be ye all ready”. They began talk about the strategy to go to
war. The armies shall hiding behind the city. NIV wrote “to set an ambush”, but
KJV wrote lay in wait. The hebrew text said ~ybiÛr>ao” (qal
participle masculine plural). So,
the simple meaning is “the armies will pretend to ambush behind the city”. that
is, on the west side of it (Jos 8:9). go
not very far from the city, but be ye all ready; to enter into it, as soon
as the forces are drawn out eastward to meet the army of Israel. Joshua
commanded them for not go very far from where they shall lie in wait. But they
have to standby position, `~ynI)kon> (verb
niphal participle masculine plural) to get ready
8:5 Jhosua
explain He and all those people with him will advanced on the city. That is,
Joshua with the main body of the army would march up to the city the next
morning, in order to draw out the inhabitants of it to fight them: Furthermore,
Joshua said that he and his entourage would enter to approach the city. and
when the men of the city invaded them, Joshua and those with him would turn
back from the Aiites
verses 5-8 are
Joshua's directions on the strategy they will launch in the scene of the raid.
the following researchers will develop the structure of the development of the
strategy that will be implemented:
- Yosua and his team will approach unto the city
- And when the people of Ai come out againts Yosua, the
they will flee from them (so they will come out )
- People of Ai will pursue Joshua’s team until they have
lured away from the city
- And then, the other team that Joshua had selected before
that hiding behind the city must arise from ambush and take the city
- After they grab the city, they will burn it.
perhaps in Hebrew it
is not necessary in interpretation in this section, since there are no
grammatical problems that are difficult to interpret.
However, the text of verses 5-8 is an ingenious strategic
direction.
8:9
so Joshua gave these directions. in
the ninth verse is a brief review and immediately pointed to their action in to
do what is said in verses 5-8. this can be said as a result or as a conclusion
of verses 5-8. And here some verb from hebrew text:
~xeäl'v.YIw: (verb
qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine singular suffix 3rd person
masculine plural) then he sent them
Wkl.YE)w: (verb qal waw consec imperfect
3rd person masculine plural) and they went
Wbªv.YEw: (verb qal waw consec imperfect 3rd
person masculine plural) and they have been hiding
!l,Y"ôw: (verb
qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine singular) and they spend
the night
(2) The strategy of sequencing to attack Ai (verses 10-13)
8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people,.... To see if there were any
wanting, and to put them in proper order for their march: ~KeÛv.Y:w: (verb hiphil waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine
singular) and he had risen very early. and went up, he and the elders of Israel,
before the people to Ai; these elders were either the seventy elders who
went with Joshua as council to him; or it may be rather they were inferior
officers, who went at the head of their respective corps under them. In hebrew
text it written l[;Y:“w: (verb
qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine singular) and they go up
8:11 And all the
people, even the people of war that were with him, and went up, and drew nigh,....
To the city of Ai: Wl[' (verb
qal perfect 3rd person common plural) they had went up. and came before the city; as if they intended to besiege it, storm
it, or force an entrance into it: and pitched on the north side of Ai;
which was judged fittest for the purpose:
now there
was a valley between them and Ai; which
the Rabbins call the valley of Halacah, as Jarchi says; so that they were upon
a hill, at least on rising ground, and might the more easily be seen by the inhabitants
of Ai, whom they wanted to draw out of their city. Valley in some translation
said camp in hebrew text Wnx]Y:w: (verb
qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine plural) and the
camped
8:12 And he took about
five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush,.... This was another
ambush, as both Jarchi and Kimchi observe; and the latter adds, perhaps he set
them nearer the city than the former; though some are of opinion that these are
the same ambush spoken of, whose number is here given, being set on the same
side of the city; and they suppose that Joshua had with him but thirty thousand
men in all, five thousand of which he sent to lie in ambush, and the other
twenty five thousand remained with him; but it seems clear that all the men of
war were to be taken, and were taken by them, and that out of them thirty
thousand were sent by him to lie in wait at first, and now five thousand more:
between Bethel and Ai, on the west
side of the city; and though they
were on the same side of the city with the first and larger ambush, yet, as
Abarbinel observes, they might be set nearer the city and to the army; and he
supposes the first ambush was to take the city, and the second little ambush,
as he calls it, was placed, that when the men of the city came out, they might
make a noise and a stir, and skirmish with them, that so they might not come
upon the camp suddenly.
8:13 And
when they had set the people,.... In
battle array, as in 1 Kings 20:12; that is, Joshua and the officers of the
army:
even all
the host that was on the north of the city; where Joshua and the main army were:
and the
liers in wait on the west of the city:
both the first and second ambush; when all, were prepared and got ready by
their several officers, to act the part they were to do:
Joshua
went that night into the midst of the valley; according to Ben Gersom, to see whether the guards or
sentinels which were placed there were awake or asleep, lest the men of Ai
should come suddenly upon them and smite them; but perhaps it might be to pray
and meditate.
This passage clears
up the mystery of Bethel absolutely. Bethel and Ai were one, having the same
king, and all of the men of both places engaged in the battle here, and all
were put to death! Also, it may be doubted that Ai itself was anything more
than the principal fortress of Bethel. We have no idea why the name Ai received
so much more emphasis here. "The references to Bethel here are mysterious
and cannot be fully explained."[7] The "king of Ai"
was also the "king of Bethel." This, if not proved, is certainly made
likely by the fact that the Bible flatly declares that Joshua slew the king of
Bethel (Joshua 12:16), and if the occasion discussed here is not when that
happened, when was it? Could there ever have been a better time for Joshua to
destroy Bethel, than this occasion, when not a single man had been left alive?
To understand Ai and Bethel as "A city" instead of "two
cities" clears up everything. It explains why "not a man was left in
Ai or Bethel that went not after Israel" (Joshua 8:17).
In this connection,
we begin to get a glimpse of what kind of book Joshua really is. It is not a
detailed record of everything that happened in the conquest. The events
narrated are given for specific reasons, the religious meaning of each one
being the principal reason for its inclusion. We became familiar with this
characteristic of the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Numbers especially, where the
history of an entire forty years for a whole nation covers only a few pages.
Before leaving this
passage, we wish to express appreciation for Lilley who rejected the common
critical claim of multiple sources here, saying that the problem derives from
the type of "narrative method rather than sources."[8]
The dramatic picture
here is that of the total armies of both Bethel and Ai rushing down the steppes
to destroy what they have mistakenly supposed to be the defeated Israelites.
What a foolish, headlong rush into disaster! Men wonder how such a thing could
happen, but it has happened often. Look at the example of Pharaoh rushing into
the sea-bed itself where a quarter of a million of his best troops along with
the Pharaoh himself went "gurgling down."
We must go a little
further and affirm with Arthur Pink that the same thing is also going on right
this very moment in sinners who have not turned to the Lord:
Before
God destroys the wicked, he gives them a spirit of madness. The rebel against
God must not suppose that his previous immunity from Divine punishment has
endowed him with security. They are most in danger who are least aware of it.
The king of Ai was blind to his own interests; is not the sinner the same? The
king failed to take the most obvious precautions. Are not sinners also guilty of
the same folly, hastening unto eternity utterly unprepared to meet God?"[9]
(1) The attacking tactics of Ai (verses 14-22)
8:14 in
verse 14, King Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried in the morning against them to
fight on the spot (formerly) designated (למּוֹעד, at locum condictum, as in 1Sa
20:35) before the meadow (Arabah, not the Jordan River valley, but the meadow
or desert in Bethaven, see at Jos 7: 2), because he knows nothing about the
ambuscade behind the city.
The second verb is
the Qal infinitive construct of to see; it is preceded by the kaph preposition
as. When an infinitive construct is prefixed with kaph, it can be translated as
a temporal clause, to be understood as when, as, just as, or as soon as.
The subject is listed
later - all the men of the city.
In fact, the subject seems to be mentioned as two sets of subjects: men
of the city and he (the king of Ai) and all of his people. As soon as they saw, the first thing they did
was the Piel imperfect of mâchar Wr‡h]m;y>w:) (pronounced maw khahr), which means to hasten, to hurry, to make haste; its transitive use is to prepare quickly, to bring quickly, to
do quickly. evening, possibly even in the middle of the night. Despite
their previous victory over the Israelites, there must have been some
apprehension in Ai when they saw the Israelites again. However, they will do
the same thing that they did before pour out of Ai and charge the Israelites. The
men quickly assembled, got their weapons ready, made all the preparations that
one does prior to a war, and then waited.There certainly was little sleeping
which occurred that night, as soon as they saw the Israelites out in their
front yard. There were certainly guards watching from the gate or the towers
and they spotted some movement out before them. Whether they had to send some
one out to confirm this or whether they could see it from the city, we are not
told. In any case, that night the king was told and the men were assembled. The
verb for arose early is the Hiphil imperfect of shâkam (pronounced shaw-kahm),
which means to start, to rise, to rise early, to make an early start. This verb
was originally used for leading the backs of beasts for a day’s journey and came
to mean arising early. It is found only in the Hiphil, so we don’t necessarily
give it a causative meaning.
8:15 But the Israelites let them beat them, and fled along the desert (of Bethaven). And Joshua and
all Israel made as if they were beaten before them,.... Or smitten, as some of
them might be in the pursuit: and fled
by the way of the wilderness; not a barren desert, but, according to Kimchi
and Ben Melech, a place for the pasture of cattle; though perhaps it is the
same with the wilderness of Bethaven (Joshua 18:12). makes mention of the
wilderness of Bethel and Ephraim as near Jericho.
8:16 And
all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them,.... Because the host of Israel was very numerous, it
was judged proper that all the people in Ai should assist in pursuing them, not
only to kill the more in the pursuit, but to carry off the spoil and prisoners
they should take; or rather the sense is, that all the people in Ai, which were
come out with the king to battle, when they saw Israel flee, "cried", or shouted, as soldiers do when
victorious, "in" or "while pursuing” after them: in the
hebrew text written ‘WpD>r>YIw:) (verb
qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine plural) and they had pursued.
and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from
the city; at some considerable
distance from it; which was the design to be answered by feigning a flight.
8:17 in this verse tells, and
there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that went not out after Israel,....
For as these two places were very near to each other, but a mile apart, they
were in confederacy, and acted together, and could easily be called to the help
of each other when required: though there is a difficulty how the men of Bethel
could join those of Ai, when the ambush lay between them both, Joshua 8:12; they
either went another way, or the ambush purposely let them pass, for fear of a
discovery by a skirmish with them, and that Bethel as well as Ai might be
cleared of its armed inhabitants, and so fall an easy prey to them as well as
Ai: this must be understood only of men of war; for otherwise there were
inhabitants left, as old men, and such as were unfit for war, afterwards slain,
Joshua 8:24. Whether we look in hebrew text it absolutely empty in that place,
here! ra:åv.nI-al{)w> : w> particle conjunction (and, so) al{ particle negative rav verb niphal perfect 3rd person
masculine singular, so it means: and there is none be left over.
and they (israelities) left the city open: they did not stay to shut the gates, nor left
porters or any guards about, to take care of, protect, and defend the city:
and pursued after Israel; with great eagerness and vehemence, not having the
least apprehension of their city being in any danger.
8:18,19 At
the command of God Joshua now stretched out the javelin
in
his hand towards
the town.
"Stretch out the javelin ..." Holmes made fun of this outstretched
javelin as a signal, saying, "It looks like a piece of sympathetic
magic."[10] At this
sign the ambuscade rose hastily from its
concealment, rushed into the town, and set it on fire.נטָה בַּכִּידוֹן signifies
to stretch out the hand with the spear. The object יד, which
is missing (vv. 19, 26), may easily be supplied from the appositionאֲשֶׁר בְּיָדְךָ . The raising of the
javelin would probably be visible at a considerable distance, even if it was
not
provided with a small flag, as both earlier and later commentators
assume, since Joshua would hardly be in the mist of the flying Israelites, but would take his
station as
commander upon some eminence on one side. And the men in ambush would have scouts
posted to watch for the signal, which had certainly
been arranged beforehand, and convey the information to the others.
Verse 18, the Lord
said unto Joshua, stretch out the spear that is in thy hand towards Ai,....
hjen>û(stretch)
verb qal imperative masculine
singular, stretch out long!. On which was a flag, as Abarbinel and Ben Melech think;
and which is not improbable, and served for a signal for the ambush to come out
and seize the city, as both they and Jarchi observe, as well as a signal also
to the army of Israel to prepare to turn and face about, and engage with the
enemy; though they did not actually do this until they saw the smoke of the
city, Joshua 8:21,
for I
will give it into thine hand; hN"n<+T.a, (give) verb qal imperfect 1st person
common singular suffix 3rd person feminine singular nun = I will give it
(f: place). of which the stretching out of his spear seems also to be a
confirming sign to him, and which he kept stretched out until all the
inhabitants of Ai were destroyed, Joshua 8:26,
and Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city: and
therefore must turn himself towards it; and it is highly probable that at the
same time there was a full stop of the army, and that they immediately turned
or prepared to turn about. jYEôw: w> particle conjunction (and) hjn (stretch) verb qal waw consec imperfect 3rd person masculine
singular. So and he stretched.
Verse 19, And the
ambush arose quickly out of their place,.... As soon as the sentinels set
in proper places observed the signal, and gave them notice of it, which was the
stretching out of the spear, as appears by what follows. to ensure proper text
support that the Hebrew text says, WcWr’Y"w: : w> particle conjunction #wr (fast, run, quckly, hurry) verb qal waw consec imperfect 3rd
person masculine plural. and they in the hurry, and they in the
quickly. So, of course Joshua and armies scurry.
and
they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand; and the spear in his hand; from whence it is plain,
that though the Lord is said to bid Joshua do this now, he had orders from him
for it before and the ambush must have been made acquainted with it before they
were sent away; and this was only a renewal of the order from the Lord, and
which pointed out the proper time, the very crisis, when it should be stretched
out:
and they entered into the city; without any difficulty, the gates being open: WaboïY"w: (come; bring; brought; enter) verb qal waw consec imperfect 3rd
person masculine plural apocopated = and they entered.
and
took it; took possession of it, and the
strong holds in it:
and hasted and set the city on fire; that is, they made haste to set some houses on fire as
the signal to the army of Israel to return. WtyCiîY:w:> (burn) verb hiphil waw consec imperfect
3rd person masculine plural, and they burn
8:20,21,22
The men of Ai then turned round behind them, being evidently
led to do so by the Israelites, who may have continued looking round to the
town of Ai when the signal had been given by Joshua, to see whether the men in ambush had taken it and set it on fire, and as
soon as
they saw that this
had
been done began to offer still further resistance to their pursuers, and to defend
themselves vigorously against them. On looking back to their town the Aites saw the smoke of the town ascending towards heaven: “and there were not hands in them to flee hither and thither,” they were utterly unable to flee. “Hand,” as
the organs of enterprise and labour, in the sense of “strength,” not
“room,” for which we should expect to findלהֶם instead ofבָּהֱם . There is an
analogous
passage in Psa.76: 6,“None of the men of might have found their
hands.” For the people that fled to the wilderness
(the Israelitish army) turned
against the pursuers (the warriors
of
Ai), or, as
is added by way of explanation in v. 21, when Joshua and all Israel saw the town in the hands
of
the ambuscade, and the smoke ascending, they turned round and smote the people of Ai; and (v. 22) these (the Israelites
who had formed the ambuscade) came out of the town to meet them. “These” (Eng. the other), as contrasted
with “the people that fled” in v. 20, refers
back to “the ambush” in v. 19. In this way the Aites
were in the midst of the people of Israel, who came from this side and that side, and smote them to the last man. “So that they let none of them remain:” as in Num. 21:35 and Deut. 3: 3, except that in this case it is strengthened still further byוּפָלִיט , “or escape.”
Verse 20, And when the men of Ai looked behind them,.... On some account or
another, perhaps observing that the army of Israel made a full stop and was
gazing at the city; they saw, and,
behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven; from whence they
concluded an enemy was there, and had set fire to it: it seems like the city
had overed the smoke of fire, hl'ø[' (go up, bring up, over) and it over the city
and they had no power to
flee this way or that way; for if they turned back to their city there was an enemy, how powerful
they knew not, possessed of it, and whom they might expect would meet them; and
if they pushed forward, there was the whole army of Israel against them, which
now turned and faced them, showing no fear of them: in the hebrew text in based
language write hy"“h'-al{w>, al particle negative (no, not){
hyh (become, be happend,
occur) verb qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular, so the clear writting is and he doesn’t not occur, and he doesn’t no
be. Its means
the people of the city cannot be doing anything.
and the people that fled
to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers; the people of Israel, that fled by the way
of the wilderness, Joshua 8:15, turned about, and fell upon the men of Ai that
pursued them.
Verse 21,
and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city; which they knew by
the smoke, as follows: dk;Ûl'-yKi( (capture, take, catch) verb qal perfect 3rd person
masculine singular, for they had taken, which they captured. and that the smoke of the city ascended; in large columns, which sufficiently
indicated that the whole city was taken and fired by the ambush: then, or, "and":
they turned again and slew
the men of Ai; great
numbers of them.
Verse 22, And the other issued out of the city against them,.... That is, the
ambush, or at least a part of them:
so that they were in the
midst of Israel, some on
this side, and some on that side; or, as we commonly say, they were between two
fires, the ambush on one side, the army of Israel on the other: hebrew text
said ~t'êar"q.li (call,
meet, encounter) verb qal infinitive construct suffix 3rd person masculine
plural, to they have met.
and they smote them (WKßY:w), so that they let none of them remain or
escape; not one was
saved alive, excepting their king, as in Joshua 8:23; no quarter was given
them, nor any suffered to make their escape. In the hebrew text write Alß-ryai(v.hi (remain) particle preposition suffix 3rd person masculine singular. to they
let none remain them.
[1] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol.2 Joshua
(New York: Fleming H. Revell Company), 44
[2] Alfred Plummer, The Pulpit Sommentary vol.3 Joshua
(Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), 132
[3] Hugh J. Blair, The New Bible Commentary, Revised, Joshua
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1970), 242
[4] Robert Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary, Joshua
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), 148
[5] Ibid.;
[6] John Rea, Wycliffe BIble Commentary on the Bible,
Joshua (Chicago: Moddy Press, 1962), 215
[7] Marten H. Wounstra, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1981) 147
[8] John Lilley, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Joshua
(Grand Rapids: ZOndervan Publishing COmpany, 1979), 319
[9] Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings from Joshua (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1964), 222
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