The prologue: the LORD’s promise
Text, Joshua 8:1-2, KJV: 1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: 2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
The events of chapter 8 clearly took place after chapter 7, where Achan’s sin caused the death of about 36 Israelite soldiers. Achan did confess his sin but he paid the price for it. He not only lost what he had, plus what he had stolen, but he also lost his life.
Now that the sin was made right and the evil was purged, the LORD was ready to lead Israel to the next city. Once again, it was Ai. This time, the LORD gave Joshua a promise that He had already given the king, the people, the city, and the land into Joshua’s hand—a way of saying Israel could expect complete victory.
1 The Arrival at Ai
Text, Joshua 8:3-9, KJV: 3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5 And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, 6 (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. 7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you. 9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
It’s worth remembering that the LORD gave Joshua a couple of mild corrective actions before going against Ai. First, He told Joshua to take all the people, not just a detachment or relatively small group, such as the group at the First Battle of Ai (chapter 7). Second, Israel is going up with the LORD’s complete approval—something that couldn’t have happened before due to the sin of Achan. Third, the LORD promised Israel that even as they could not take anything from Jericho for themselves, now at Ai they could have everything.
Joshua then took the whole army and prepared them to march against Ai. From these, Joshua chose 30,000 “mighty men of valour [sic]” and sent them away by night. He gave this group some specific instructions in verses 4-8. In a word, these men were to be the ones to launch a second, surprise attack against Ai after Joshua led the main army away from the city.
After this, Joshua and the main army, less the 30,000 he had sent to “lie in ambush”, went on to the area between Ai and Bethel. Joshua stayed with the people that night, a sign of true allegiance to those under his command.
And there they waited until the morning.
2 The Advance against Ai
Text, Joshua 8:10-17, KJV: 10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai. 12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. 14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
I have to admire Joshua, as so often it's recorded that he “rose up early in the morning”. Some of us think the day shouldn’t begin before 10:30 AM or so, but not Joshua. One wonders, with all that he had going on, how well he could have possibly slept during that era.
Even so, this is another time when rose up early and here he numbered the people. Ellicott observed that Joshua “mustered” them and then basically made a parade of Israel’s forces in front of Ai (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/joshua/8.htm). Ai was close to Jericho and the people of Ai might well have seen or heard about the non-traditional strategy Israel used in that campaign. If nothing else, Joshua knew about psychological warfare!
After the parade or demonstration, Joshua led the forces to the north side of Ai. There was a valley, verse 11 states, which probably indicates a ravine or something deeper, more severe than just a shallow dip, for lack of a better word, between two pieces of ground. For example, the land between a wide river and a parcel of land between hills are both called “valleys”; the only difference being the size.
Some have observed that these “valleys’ were also “wadis” or dry stream beds. When it rained, watch out; but otherwise this was dry ground. The American southwest, in different states, has similar features called arroyos. I’ve never knowingly seen any but have heard of them. The bottom line is that Joshua and his army would have had to march uphill towards Ai.
This marks the end of Day 2 in this second campaign against Ai. Joshua, this time, took about 5,000 men and had them move to the west of Ai, where, according to an on-line Bible atlas (https://bibleatlas.org/ai.htm), there was another valley. Joshua and the rest then spent the night.
But in the morning, the king of Ai and others saw the Israelites where they had camped for the night. The king took everybody with him “at a time appointed (meaning uncertain)” to fight against Israel but nobody knew there were “liers in ambush” waiting behind the city.
Remembering what had happened before, Joshua led the main set of troops in a fake or feint away from Ai. Israel pretended to be defeated, and “fled by the way of the wilderness” or undeveloped land. Everyone in Ai went to fight Israel, as mentioned, and incredibly nobody was left in the city! They were all in on the fight against Israel, probably hoping that since they’d done away with a few before, they would do away with many this time.
The LORD, however, had other plans and He was not about to abandon His people. This second battle of Ai was nowhere near complete, in spite of what the people of Ai might have thought.
3 The Attack against Ai
Text, Joshua 8:18-23, KJV: 18 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. 19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire. 20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai. 22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
Joshua had led Israel’s main body of troops away from Ai, pretending they had been defeated just as the case was in the first battle. The king of Ai led every available person out of the city to attack the Israelites, again probably thinking, “We have them this time too!” or maybe a similar thought of easy victory. After all, their own forces had routed the 3000 Israelite warriors only a short time before. So, why not now, was something they might well have been thinking.
But what they didn’t realize is that Joshua had been waiting for just this moment. The LORD commanded him, “Stretch out the spear that’s in your hand. I’m going to give you this city (paraphrased)”. Joshua did so and when the second body of troops saw that signal, they entered into Ai, and quickly set the city on fire.
The soldiers of Ai, though, weren’t expecting any of this and apparently continued after Joshua and the soldiers he was personally commanding. Yet, somebody among the people of Ai must have sensed something was wrong and turned around. He, and then all of them, saw the city was on fire and “the smoke ascended to heaven!” This wasn’t just a signal fire but rather a bonfire, large enough where people a good distance away could see it.
And once they saw the smoke, the people of Ai panicked! They realized there was nowhere to go. No matter which way they tried to flee, they ran into the Israelites. Joshua saw the signs of the ambush and the smoke of the city as well and once they did, they promptly slew the men of Ai. Verse 22 concludes this account of the attack against Ai by saying none of the people of Ai remained or escaped.
One person of Ai, though, did remain alive. He was the king of the city but he was brought personally to Joshua. His fate was to be different than the people of Ai, and the next section provides more information about this.
4 The Aftermath at Ai
Text, Joshua 8:24-29, KJV: 24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. 28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
These verses summarize the final outcome at this second battle of Ai. First, there’s the record that Israel slew all the inhabitants of Ai, both away from the city itself plus inside the city (I’m guessing it, too, was walled like Jericho). Joshua had held his spear aloft until all of the people of Ai were put to death. Lest anyone think this to be cruel or inhuman, remember that this was the command of God Himself (Exodus 23:23-24, 33:12, 34:11; Leviticus 18:25, 27-28; 20:23; and Deuteronomy 19:1, 31:3-5, e.g.).
Verse 27 speaks how Israel could keep all the “prey” or spoils of war for themselves, something they were forbidden to do at Jericho—and paid dearly when Achan violated that commandment (see Joshua 7). Someone once put it this way: at Jericho, God did the fighting and God received the rewards; here, at Ai, Israel did the fighting and Israel could keep the rewards. It’s always best to do things, anything no matter what, God’s way. After all that, Joshua burned what was left of Ai and made it a “heap” forever.
And yet, Joshua wasn’t done. He still had the king of Ai as a captive, but now sentence was passed on this king (the name of this king is not mentioned in Scripture, and not even by Josephus,
https://ccel.org/ccel/josephus/complete/complete.ii.vi.i.html). This king had the misfortune of being hanged on a tree until evening. Then, Joshua took down the body, buried it near the gate of the city, and raised a “great heap of stones” over it. Thus ended the second battle of Ai, and this time Israel was the undisputed champion. Still, though, Joshua wasn’t completely finished—there was one more thing he needed to do.
Epilogue: The Renewal of the Covenant
Text, Joshua 8:30-35, KJV: 30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, 31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
There is a great deal of debate over when and where this event took place, in addition to what Joshua actually wrote on the stones. The important thing is that Joshua was aware of the command to do this (Deuteronomy 27:1-8), and at the first chance he got, he did it. All the people had now heard the words of the Law and every time they passed by this place, they could see these words, too.
The battles of Ai were over, the LORD had promised victory and Israel had achieved it. And they sealed the deal, so to speak, by honoring one of the LORD’s commandments, a visible reminder of the Law they were to follow.
But they were about to run into some trouble, from a source closer than they ever realized.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
