Text -- Joshua 8:1-11 (NET)

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! See, I am handing over to you the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 8:2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!” 8:3 Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. 8:4 He told them, “Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready! 8:5 I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. 8:6 They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them. 8:7 Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8:8 When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.” 8:9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. Joshua spent that night with the army. 8:10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered the army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched at the head of it to Ai. 8:11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 8:1

¹ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

² tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

³ tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

NET Notes: Jos 8:2

¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

NET Notes: Jos 8:3

¹ tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:4

¹ tn Or “commanded, ordered.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:5

¹ tn Heb “the people.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:6

¹ tn Heb “come out after.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:7

¹ tn Heb “from the ambush.”

² tn Heb “take possession of.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:8

¹ tn Heb “the city.”

² tn Heb “I have commanded you.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:9

¹ tn Or “the place of ambush.”

² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

³ tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”

⁴ tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”

NET Notes: Jos 8:10

¹ tn Or “summoned, mustered.”

² tn Heb “the people.”

³ tn Or “elders.”

⁴ tn Heb “went up.”

⁵ 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.

NET Notes: Jos 8:11

¹ tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.”

² tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.”