Joshua 8:1-3

Context

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 you³ the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 8:2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho⁴ 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.⁵ Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night.

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

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

[8:1] ³tn 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.

[8:2] ⁴map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[8:3] ⁵tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.”