Joshua 2:5

2:5 When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. ¹  I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!”

Joshua 7:5

7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ²  and defeated them on the steep slope. ³  The people’s ⁴  courage melted away like water. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “And the gate was to be shut in the darkness and the men went out.”

² tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

³ sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

⁴ tn Or “army’s.”

⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”