Joshua 8

Jos 8:1-28.

GOD

ENCOURAGES

JOSHUA.

1, 2. The Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not--By the execution of justice

on Achan, the divine wrath was averted, the Israelites were reassured,

defeat was succeeded by victory; and thus the case of Ai affords a

striking example of God's disciplinary government, in which

chastisements for sin are often made to pave the way for the bestowment

of those temporal benefits, which, on account of sin, have been

withdrawn, or withheld for a time. Joshua, who had been greatly

dispirited, was encouraged by a special communication promising him (see

Jos 1:6;

De 31:6-8)

success in the next attempt, which, however, was to be conducted on

different principles.

take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai--The

number of fighting men amounted to six hundred thousand, and the whole

force was ordered on this occasion, partly because the spies, in their

self-confidence, had said that a few were sufficient to attack the

place

(Jos 7:3),

partly to dispel any misgivings which the memory of the late disaster

might have created, and partly that the circumstance of the first spoil

obtained in Canaan being shared among all, might operate both as a

reward for obedience in refraining from the booty of Jericho, and as an

incentive to future exertions

(De 6:10).

The rest of the people, including the women and children, remained in

the camp at Gilgal. Being in the plains of Jericho, it was an ascent to

Ai, which was on a hill.

I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his

city, and his land . . . lay thee an ambush for the city--God assured

Joshua of Ai's capture, but allowed him to follow his own tactics in

obtaining the possession.

3. So Joshua . . . chose out thirty thousand mighty men of

valour--Joshua despatched thirty thousand men under cover of night,

to station themselves at the place appointed for the ambuscade. Out of

this number a detachment of five thousand was sent forward to conceal

themselves in the immediate precincts of the town, in order to seize

the first opportunity of throwing themselves into it

[Jos 8:12].

4. behind the city--is rendered

(Jos 8:9),

"on the west side of Ai."

9. between Beth-el and Ai--Beth-el, though lying quite near in the

direction of west by north, cannot be seen from Tell-el-hajar; two

rocky heights rise between both places, in the wady El-Murogede, just

as the laying of an ambush to the west of Ai would require

[VAN

DE

VELDE;

ROBINSON].

10. Joshua . . . numbered the people--that is, the detachment of

liers-in-wait; he did this, to be furnished with clear evidence

afterwards, that the work had been done without any loss of men,

whereby the people's confidence in God would be strengthened and

encouragement given them to prosecute the war of invasion with vigor.

he and the elders of Israel--the chief magistrates and rulers, whose

presence and official authority were necessary to ensure that the

cattle and spoil of the city might be equally divided between the

combatants and the rest of the people

(Nu 31:27)

--a military rule in Israel, that would have been very liable to be

infringed, if an excited soldiery, eager for booty, had been left to

their own will.

11-14. there was a valley between them and Ai--literally, "the valley."

13. Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley--The deep and

steep-sided glen to the north of Tell-el-hajar, into which one looks

down from the tell, fully agrees with this account

[VAN

DE

VELDE].

Joshua himself took up his position on the north side of "the

ravine"--the deep chasm of the wady El-Murogede; "that night"--means,

while it was dark, probably after midnight, or very early in the

morning

(Joh 20:1).

The king of Ai, in the early dawn, rouses his slumbering subjects and

makes a hasty sally with all his people who were capable of bearing

arms, once more to surprise and annihilate them.

14. at a time appointed--either an hour concocted between the king and

people of Ai and those of Beth-el, who were confederates in this

enterprise, or perhaps they had fixed on the same time of day, as they

had fought successfully against Israel on the former occasion, deeming

it a lucky hour

(Jud 20:38).

but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the

city--It is evident that this king and his subjects were little

experienced in war; otherwise they would have sent out scouts to

reconnoitre the neighborhood; at all events, they would not have left

their town wholly unprotected and open. Perhaps an ambuscade may have

been a war stratagem hitherto unknown in that country, and among that

people.

15-17. Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before

them--the pretended flight in the direction of the wilderness; that

is, southeast, into the Ghor, the desert valley of the Jordan, decoyed

all the inhabitants of Ai out of the city, while the people of Beth-el

hastened to participate in the expected victory. It is supposed by some,

from "the city," and not "cities," being spoken of, that the effective

force of Beth-el had been concentrated in Ai, as the two places were

closely contiguous, and Ai the larger of the two. (See

Jos 12:9).

It may be remarked, however, that the words, "or Beth-el," are not in

the Septuagint, and are rejected by some eminent scholars, as an

interpolation not found in the most ancient manuscripts.

18-25. Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward

the city--The uplifted spear had probably a flag, or streamer on it,

to render it the more conspicuous from the height where he stood. At

the sight of this understood signal the ambush nearest the city,

informed by their scouts, made a sudden rush and took possession of the

city, telegraphing to their brethren by raising a smoke from the walls.

Upon seeing this, the main body, who had been reigning a flight, turned

round at the head of the pass upon their pursuers, while the

twenty-five thousand issuing from their ambuscade, fell back upon their

rear. The Ai-ites surprised, looked back, and found their situation now

desperate.

23. the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua--to be

reserved for a more ignominious death, as a greater criminal in God's

sight than his subjects. In the mingled attack from before and behind,

all the men were massacred.

24. all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of

the sword--the women, children, and old persons left behind, amounting,

in all, to twelve thousand people

[Jos 8:25].

26. Joshua drew not his hand back--Perhaps, from the long continuance

of the posture, it might have been a means appointed by God, to animate

the people, and kept up in the same devout spirit as Moses had shown,

in lifting up his hands, until the work of slaughter had been

completed--the ban executed.

(See on

Ex 17:10).

28. Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever--"For ever" often

signifies "a long time"

(Ge 6:3).

One of the remarkable things with regard to the tell we have identified

with Ai is its name--the tell of the heap of stones--a name which to

this day remains [VAN DE

VELDE].

Jos 8:29.

THE

KING

HANGED.

29. The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide--that is,

gibbeted. In ancient, and particularly Oriental wars, the chiefs, when

taken prisoners, were usually executed. The Israelites were obliged, by

the divine law, to put them to death. The execution of the king of Ai

would tend to facilitate the conquest of the land, by striking terror

into the other chiefs, and making it appear a judicial process, in

which they were inflicting the vengeance of God upon His enemies.

take his carcass down . . . and raise thereon a great heap of

stones--It was taken down at sunset, according to the divine command

(De 21:23),

and cast into a pit dug "at the entering of the gate," because that was

the most public place. An immense cairn was raised over his grave--an

ancient usage, still existing in the East, whereby is marked the

sepulchre of persons whose memory is infamous.

Jos 8:30, 31.

JOSHUA

BUILDS AN

ALTAR.

30, 31. Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in

mount Ebal--(See on

De 27:11).

This spot was little short of twenty miles from Ai. The march through a

hostile country and the unmolested performance of the religious

ceremonial observed at this mountain, would be greatly facilitated,

through the blessing of God, by the disastrous fall of Ai. The solemn

duty was to be attended to at the first convenient opportunity after

the entrance into Canaan

(De 27:2);

and with this in view Joshua seems to have conducted the people through

the mountainous region that intervened though no details of the journey

have been recorded. Ebal was on the north, opposite to Gerizim, which

was on the south side of the town Sichem (Nablous).

31. an altar of whole stones--according to the instructions given to

Moses

(Ex 20:25;

De 27:5).

over which no man hath lifted up any iron--that is, iron tool. The

reason for this was that every altar of the true God ought properly to

have been built of earth

(Ex 20:24);

and if it was constructed of stone, rough, unhewn stones were to be

employed that it might retain both the appearance and nature of earth,

since every bloody sacrifice was connected with sin and death, by which

man, the creature of earth, is brought to earth again [KEIL].

they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed

peace offerings--This had been done when the covenant was established

(Ex 24:5);

and by the observance of these rites

(De 27:6),

the covenant was solemnly renewed--the people were reconciled to God by

the burnt offering, and this feast accompanying the peace or thank

offering, a happy communion with God was enjoyed by all the families in

Israel.

32. he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of

Moses--(See on

De 27:2, 3, 5);

that is, the blessings and curses of the law. Some think that the

stones which contained this inscription were the stones of the altar:

but this verse seems rather to indicate that a number of stone pillars

were erected alongside of the altar, and on which, after they were

plastered, this duplicate of the law was inscribed.

33. all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges,

stood on this side the ark and on that side--One half of Israel was

arranged on Gerizim, and the other half on Ebal--along the sides and

base of each.

before the priests the Levites--in full view of them.

34. afterward he read all the words of the law--caused the priests or

Levites to read it

(De 27:14).

Persons are often said in Scripture to do that which they only command

to be done.

35. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read

not--It appears that a much larger portion of the law was read on this

occasion than the brief summary inscribed on the stones; and this must

have been the essence of the law as contained in Deuteronomy

(De 4:44; 6:9; 27:8).

It was not written on the stones, but on the plaster. The immediate

design of this rehearsal was attained by the performance of the act

itself. It only related to posterity, in so far as the record of the

event would be handed down in the Book of Joshua, or the documents

which form the groundwork of it [HENGSTENBERG].

Thus faithfully did Joshua execute the instructions given by Moses. How

awfully solemn must have been the assemblage and the occasion! The eye

and the ear of the people being both addressed, it was calculated to

leave an indelible impression; and with spirits elevated by their

brilliant victories in the land of promise, memory would often revert

to the striking scene on mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and in the vale of

Sychar.