Joshua 8:1

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ¹  Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! ²  See, I am handing over to you ³  the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.

Joshua 8:17

8:17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel; ⁴  they all went out after Israel. ⁵  They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

Joshua 8:29-35

8:29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. ⁶  At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. ⁷  They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day). ⁸ 

Covenant Renewal

8:30 Then Joshua built an altar for the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 8:31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. ⁹  They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace. ¹⁰  8:32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses. ¹¹  8:33 All the people, ¹²  rulers, ¹³  leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there. ¹⁴  Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony. ¹⁵  8:34 Then ¹⁶  Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 8:35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given ¹⁷  before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them. ¹⁸ 

[8:1]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

[8:1]  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.

[8:17]  ⁴ tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”

[8:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”

[8:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “on a tree until evening.” The words “leaving him exposed” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ⁷ sn For the legal background of this action, see Deut 21:22-23.

[8:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “to this day.”

[8:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones on which no one had wielded iron.” The expression “whole stones” refers to stones in their natural condition, i.e., not carved or shaped artificially with tools (“wielded iron”).

[8:31]  ¹⁰ tn Or “peace offerings.”

[8:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.”

[8:33]  ¹² tn Heb “All Israel.”

[8:33]  ¹³ tn Or “elders.”

[8:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like the resident alien, like the citizen.” The language is idiomatic, meaning that both groups were treated the same, at least in this instance.

[8:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”

[8:34]  ¹⁶ tn Or “afterward.”

[8:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.”

[8:35]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “walked in their midst.”