Verse 2
2. Only the spoil thereof… shall ye take The spoils of Jericho had been devoted wholly to the Lord, as the first fruits of the conquest of Canaan. But the spoils of Ai and of the other conquered cities (Deuteronomy 6:10-11) are now to be appropriated unto the conquerors. The people and their king are to be slain and their city subverted. There was, henceforth, to be no temptation to the sin of Achan. Had he waited obediently and refrained from the accursed thing he might now have innocently enriched himself. So sin generally misses the mark.
Lay thee an ambush If war itself is ever justifiable, it is right to use the mind as well as the hand, strategy as well as brute force. It is certain that a contest of wit is as proper as a contest of muscle. Says Calvin: “Those are pronounced the best generals whose success is due less to force than to skilful manoeuvres. It is, of course, understood that neither must treaties be violated, nor faith broken in any other way.”
Behind it As Joshua was east of Ai, the ambuscade, by a flank movement up one of the numerous ravines, was to be made on the west side of the city. See note on Joshua 8:9.
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