Joshua 7:3

7:3 They returned and reported to Joshua, ¹  “Don’t send the whole army. ²  About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. ³  Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.” ⁴ 

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 ⁵  and defeated them on the steep slope. ⁶  The people’s ⁷  courage melted away like water. ⁸ 

Joshua 8:22

8:22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. ⁹  The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

Joshua 8:24

8:24 When Israel had finished killing all the men ¹⁰  of Ai who had chased them toward the desert ¹¹  (they all fell by the sword), ¹²  all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

Joshua 19:47

19:47 (The Danites failed to conquer their territory, ¹³  so they went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. They put the sword to it, took possession of it, and lived in it. They renamed it ¹⁴  Dan after their ancestor. ¹⁵ )

¹ tn Heb “and they returned to Joshua and said to him.”

² tn Heb “Don’t let all the people go up.”

³ tn Heb “Let about two thousand men or about three thousand men go up to defeat Ai.”

⁴ tn Heb “all the people for they are small.”

⁵ 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”).

⁶ sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

⁷ tn Or “army’s.”

⁸ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”

⁹ tn Heb “and these went out from the city to meet them and they were for Israel in the middle, some on this side, and others on the other side.”

¹³ tn Heb “residents.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “in the field, in the desert in which they chased them.”

¹⁵ tc Heb “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed.” The LXX omits the words, “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword.” They may represent a later scribal addition.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the territory of the sons of Dan went out from them.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “Leshem.” The pronoun (“it”) has replaced the name “Leshem” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn Heb “according to the name of their father.”