Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 8:14

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 knew not that [there were] liers in ambush against him behind the city.

14. when the king of Ai saw it ] It was early on the following morning that the king of Ai discovered the advance of the army against him. The words apply to the forces of Joshua, the ambush was of course hidden from his view. Ai was a “royal” city. Comp. Jos 8:23; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:1; Jos 12:9.

at a time appointed ] Rather, at the place appointed, at some spot before agreed upon suitable for marshalling his forces. It was “before the plain,” i.e. before the “ambush,” at the entrance of the depressed tract which runs down to the Jordan valley, probably = “the wilderness of Beth-aven,” Jos 18:12.

he wist not ] Comp. Jdg 20:34, “And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men but they knew not that evil was near them.” For “wist,” see above, ch. Jos 2:4.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

At a time appointed – Rather, at the place appointed, i. e. some spot suitable for the drawing up of his men, which had been assigned beforehand. This was before the plain, i. e. it was at the entrance of the depressed tract of land which runs down to the Jordan valley, up which lay the route of the Israelites from Gilgal to Ai.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

All his people, to wit, all his men of war, for the rest were left in Ai, Jos 8:16.

At a time appointed; at a certain hour agreed upon between the king and people of Ai, and of Beth-el too, who were their confederates in this enterprise, as it may seem from Jos 8:17. Possibly they might appoint the same hour of the day on which they had fought against Israel with such good success, looking upon it as a lucky hour.

Before the plain, i.e. towards or in sight of that plain or valley in which the Israelites were, that so they might put themselves in battle-array.

He wist not that there were liers in ambush; the former success having made him more careless and secure, as is usual in such cases; God also blinding his mind, and infatuating him, as he useth to do with those which he intends to destroy.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

14. at a time appointedeitheran hour concocted between the king and people of Ai and those ofBeth-el, who were confederates in this enterprise, or perhaps theyhad fixed on the same time of day, as they had fought successfullyagainst Israel on the former occasion, deeming it a lucky hour (Jud20:38).

but he wist not that therewere liers in ambush against him behind the cityIt is evidentthat this king and his subjects were little experienced in war;otherwise they would have sent out scouts to reconnoitre theneighborhood; at all events, they would not have left their townwholly unprotected and open. Perhaps an ambuscade may have been a warstratagem hitherto unknown in that country, and among that people.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 king at the head of them, to give Israel battle:

he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; which was before the city, the same with the valley mentioned, Jos 8:11; the city was built on an eminence, and this plain or valley lay at the bottom of it; and on an eminence on the other side of the valley the army of Israel was pitched; wherefore the king of Ai and all his men of war went out hither to attack Israel, and this is said to be at an appointed time; it is difficult to say what is meant by it, when they seem to have hurried out as best as they could, as soon as they perceived the Israelites were near them: Ben Gersom and Abarbinel think it was the same time of the day they went out at first, which the king might choose as lucky, being before successful, and to encourage the men, that as they conquered then they should now; which seems not amiss, though perhaps it rather designs an appointed place, as their rendezvous, and where to attack Israel, and where they had been before victorious:

but he wist not that [there were] liers in ambush against him behind the city; that he knew nothing of, and therefore took no precaution against them to prevent their design.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(14) When the king of Ai saw it. . . . the city went out.The stratagem succeeded perfectly. Joshua gave them ample time, by his movements in open daylight, to discover what his apparent intentions were, viz., to renew the direct attack upon the city with a larger force. Accordingly, the Canaanites came out before the plaini.e., in the direction of the plain of Jordan (the Arabah. On this word and Emek and Gai used above, see Stanley, Sinai and Palestine)intending to drive Joshua down by the way he had come up. And accordingly Joshua and his army fled in that very direction by the way of the Midbar or wildernessi.e., the mountainous district between Ai and the Jordan valley, and lying in that direction. (Comp. Jos. 7:5.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. At a time appointed In Jdg 20:38, the same word is translated an appointed sign. This makes good sense here; but Gesenius and Furst both say that it is here to be rendered, an appointed place in Joshua’s line, upon which the attack was to be made. This place is mentioned immediately afterwards as the plain, that is, the Arabah, the desert, which is spoken of in Jos 8:15 under the name of the wilderness.

[15.

Made as if they were beaten The original simply reads were beaten. Keil renders it suffered themselves to be beaten.

The wilderness The eastern slope of the mountains of Judah towards Jericho and the Dead Sea. Captain Wilson says that on the east of Et-Tel “the ground, which at first breaks down rapidly from the great ridge that forms the backbone of Palestine, swells out into a small plain three quarters of a mile broad, before commencing its abrupt descent to the Jordan valley.”] 16. And all the people That is, all capable of military service. We read in Jos 8:24 that some were killed in the city.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And so it was that when the king of Ai saw it, they hastily stirred themselves and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time (or place’) appointed, before the Arabah. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.’

The king of Ai responded as expected. Becoming aware of their movement into the valley during the night, he and his officers roused his troops and came out to battle. After his previous victory he was full of confidence. ‘At the place appointed’ may mean the place that Joshua had selected for battle, a place suitable for carrying out Joshua’s plans. Or it may mean the time that Joshua had expected and arranged for.

“Before the Arabah.” It is difficult to know what this means. The Arabah is the Jordan rift valley. Thus it may have been a point from which the rift valley could be seen, or from where the way down to it could easily be reached. In his confidence the king may have been seeking to ensure that he could prevent escape that way.

This was probably a preliminary sortie to test out the now much larger enemy forces. As we have suggested earlier, and as appears from what follows, he now also had troops from Bethel to call on, as yet hidden from the eyes of Joshua. But the king was not aware of Joshua’s trap and made no provision for it.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ai Taken and Destroyed

v. 14. And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, believing they had only the army to the north of the city to deal with; and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he (the king) and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain, in the only place where a battle in open formation was possible, near the steppes of Beth-aven, east of Bethel; but he wist not that there were liers-in-ambush against him behind the city.

v. 15. And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, they feigned fear and weakness, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

v. 16. And all the people that were in Ai, all the able-bodied men, were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city, leaving the latter altogether unprotected.

v. 17. And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, the inhabitants of the latter city having joined the forces of Ai, that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel, thinking that the army of Israel was fleeing in utter and hopeless rout.

v. 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. Joshua was probably occupying some higher point from which he was easily visible, or he may have been mounted and his figure easily distinguishable even at a distance. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.

v. 19. And the ambush, to whom the outposts had immediately signaled to that effect, arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, whose defenders were all engaged in the pursuit of the Israelites, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.

v. 20. And when the men of Ai looked behind them, their attention being drawn in that direction by the behavior of the Israelites, who turned to watch for the signal of the smoke’s rising, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to nee this way or that way, they were paralyzed with sudden terror; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. The whole situation of the men of Ai, who now saw before them the enemy, behind them the burning town, is admirably pictured in a few strokes.

v. 21. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, for this was the sign for which they had been waiting, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.

v. 22. And the other, the Israelites who had lain in ambush, issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side, caught in a trap from which there was no escape. And they, the Israelites, smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape, the entire army of Ai, together with its allies, being destroyed.

v. 23. And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua, who was to rule regarding his disposal.

v. 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, put all its inhabitants to death.

v. 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, the adult inhabitants.

v. 26. For Joshua drew not his hand back wherewith he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. This he did according to the universal rule of the ancients, which required the general to hold the signal of battle aloft until he desired the battle to be ended.

v. 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,

v. 28. And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an heap forever, a heap of ashes and broken stones, even a desolation unto this day; its ruins were still visible at the time when the author wrote this account.

v. 29. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide, Num 25:4; and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree, Deu 21:23, 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. The entire story teaches that we should indeed use all our physical and mental powers in the work given us by the Lord, but that everything depends upon His almighty power and blessing. It is He who must give us the victory in every battle.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Jos 8:14 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.

Ver. 14. They hasted and rose up early. ] Sine dilatione aut deliberatione, consiliove capto, they made more haste than good speed. Warriors should do nothing rashly, Quia in proelio non datur his errare, as Lamachus said, one error is destructive. “Every purpose shall be established by counsel: therefore with good advice make war.” Pro 20:18 See Trapp on “ Pro 20:18 “

But he wist not. ] And therefore all too late came in with his fool’s Had I known. Leo cassibus irretitus ait, Si praescivissem.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)