When the people had dealt with the sin of Achan as God had commanded, Israel was ready to engage the enemy again.
8:1-2 In view of Israel's defeat God's encouraging words were necessary to strengthen Joshua's resolve (cf. 1:9). God promised to give victory, but He specified the strategy. This time the Israelites could keep the spoil themselves. "You shall take only"(v. 2) means, "Only you shall take."
8:3-13 Out of the 40,000 Israelite soldiers, Joshua chose 30,000 for this battle. Of these he sent 5,000 to hide in ambush west of the town. The remaining 25,000 (double the population of Ai, v. 25) approached Ai from the north. "Took"(v. 12) makes better sense if read "had taken."
8:14-23 Evidently men from Bethel, Ai's neighbor, joined with the men of Ai to repulse Israel's attack (v. 17). These two cities had apparently made a treaty for mutual defense.
Stretching out his javelin (v. 18) was Joshua's prearranged signal to his men in ambush to attack. It symbolized that victory came from the Lord (cf. Exod. 17:8-12).
8:24-29 Joshua carefully obeyed the Lord's directions given here and previously in the law. He killed all the inhabitants of the town, utterly destroyed Ai, and killed the king whom he also hanged on a tree until sunset (Num. 25:4; Deut. 21:22-23). He also erected a memorial pile of stones at the former gate of the city (cf. 7:26).
This section, in contrast to the previous one, shows that God gives victory when His people acknowledge their dependence on Him by trusting and obeying His Word.
"It is interesting to note again that this first victory in the Hill Country was in the region of Ai and Bethel, exactly where some of the most significant promises had been given to Abraham and Jacob hundreds of years earlier, (. . . Genesis 13 and 28.10-22). In addition to the strategic nature of the region, these earlier promises may have played a part in Joshua's decision to begin his campaign precisely here. Joshua's bold move toward this part of the Hill Country may have been just what was needed to unify the Canaanites in the Bethel region. Up to this point they appear to have been in disarray in the face of the Israelite threat (Joshua 5.1). What better place to make their stand than here at the entrance to the strategic region of Bethel and the Central Benjamin Plateau?"106
One writer observed similarities between Joshua 7:1-8:29 and Deuteronomy 1:19-3:11; 9:7-10:11; Judges 10:6-11:33; and 20:1-48. He concluded that the biblical writer used similar motifs and terminology in these passages to impress on his readers by repetition three major lessons. First, Israel's occupation of the Promised Land was not a sure thing but depended on her obedience to God. Second, defeat in the land need not be final and irreversible. Third, to regain the land the people had to deal with the guilty in Israel, and they had to return to obeying the Lord.107
