Joshua 8:1-29 NIV

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:8

And it shall be, when ye have taken the city ,.... Entered it and become masters of it: that ye shall set the city on fire ; not the whole city, only some outlying houses of it, to make a smoke which might be seen both by Israel and the men of Ai, for different purposes; for the spoil of the city was first to be taken before it was utterly burnt with fire: according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do ; plunder the city, destroy the inhabitants of it, and then burn it: ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:9

Joshua therefore sent them forth ,.... The thirty thousand chosen men: and they went to lie in ambush ; as they were ordered, Joshua 8:2 , and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai ; for as Ai was on the east of Bethel, Joshua 7:2 . Bethel must be on the west of Ai, as Jarchi notes: but Joshua lodged that night among the people ; the main body of the army, to direct them in the affair of war, how they should behave the next day, when they came to fight; and to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:10

And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people ,.... To see if there were any wanting, and to put them in proper order for their march: and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai ; these elders were either the seventy elders who went with Joshua as council to him; or it may be rather they were inferior officers, who went at the head of their respective corps under them. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:11

And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, and went up, and drew nigh ,.... To the city of Ai: and came before the city ; as if they intended to besiege it, storm it, or force an entrance into it: and pitched on the north side of Ai ; which was judged fittest for the purpose: now there was a valley between them and Ai ; which the Rabbins call the valley of Halacah, as Jarchi says; so that they were upon a hill, at least on rising ground, and might the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:12

And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush ,.... This was another ambush, as both Jarchi and Kimchi observe; and the latter adds, perhaps he set them nearer the city than the former; though some are of opinion that these are the same ambush spoken of, whose number is here given, being set on the same side of the city; and they suppose that Joshua had with him but thirty thousand men in all, five thousand of which he sent to lie in ambush, and the other twenty five... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:13

And when they had set the people ,.... In battle array, as in 1 Kings 20:12 ; that is, Joshua and the officers of the army: even all the host that was on the north of the city ; where Joshua and the main army were: and the liers in wait on the west of the city : both the first and second ambush; when all, were prepared and got ready by their several officers, to act the part they were to do: Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley ; according to Ben Gersom, to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:14

And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it ,.... Not the ambush on the west side, but the host or army on the north side, or, however, some of his people gave him notice of it: that they hasted and rose up early ; or made haste to rise out of their beds, on the alarm given of Israel's near approach: and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle ; being raised out of their beds and accoutred with armour, and put into a military order, they marched out with their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:15

And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them ,.... Or smitten, as some of them might be in the pursuit: and fled by the way of the wilderness ; not a barren desert, but, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, a place for the pasture of cattle; though perhaps it is the same with the wilderness of Bethaven, Joshua 18:12 . Epiphanius F23 Contr. Haeres. l. 1. tom. 2. makes mention of the wilderness of Bethel and Ephraim as near Jericho. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:16

And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them ,.... Because the host of Israel was very numerous, it was judged proper that all the people in Ai should assist in pursuing them, not only to kill the more in the pursuit, but to carry off the spoil and prisoners they should take; or rather the sense is, that all the people in Ai, which were come out with the king to battle, when they saw Israel flee, "cried" F24 וזעקו "vociferantes", V. L. "vociferati... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:17

And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that went not out after Israel ,.... For as these two places were very near to each other, but a mile apart, they were in confederacy, and acted together, and could easily be called to the help of each other when required: though there is a difficulty how the men of Bethel could join those of Ai, when the ambush lay between them both, Joshua 8:12 ; they either went another way, or the ambush purposely let them pass, for fear of a discovery by a... read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 8:17

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