Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 8:24
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.
Verse 24. Returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.] This must refer to the women, children, and old persons, left behind; for it is likely that all the effective men had sallied out when they imagined the Israelites had fled. See Jos 8:16.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. The inhabitants of it, the men, who through age or infirmity were unfit for war, and the women, Jos 8:25.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. all the Israelites returned untoAi, and smote it with the edge of the swordthe women,children, and old persons left behind, amounting, in all, to twelvethousand people [Jos 8:25].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai,…. That came out against them:
in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them; both in the arable lands that were sown with corn, and now clothed with it, the wheat especially, not being gathered in, as not yet ripe, and in the pasture ground, designed by the wilderness, see Jos 8:15; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it:
and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword; and were slain by it:
until they were consumed; and not one left:
that all the Israelites returned unto Ai; both the ambush that came out of it, and the army that came against it:
and smote it with the edge of the sword; that is, the inhabitants that were left in it unfit for war, as old men, infirm persons, women and children, as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24. Smote it with the edge of the sword The non-combatant population, without regard to age or sex, were indiscriminately slain. For several considerations in justification of the total excision of the Canaanites, see note on Jos 6:21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And so it was that when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai out in the countryside, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they were all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai and smote it with the edge of the sword.’
Once God’s judgment had been carried out on the army of Ai and Bethel, who were caught in the open country, Israel turned their attention to those who remained in Ai, the older people and the women. They too were smitten with the edge of the sword until not one was left. All were ‘devoted’ to YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jos 8:24 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.
Ver. 24. Returned unto Ai, and smote it. ] Diruendi sunt corvorum nidi, crows’ nests are to be destroyed, lest they nest and lay there again the next year. If this city had been suffered to stand, the Canaanites might have fortified it again against them, while they were led farther to mount Ebal, and mount Gerizim.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 8:24-29
24Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000–all the people of Ai. 26For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation until this day. 29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.
Jos 8:24 Notice the variety of terms used to describe the defeat of the inhabitants of Ai.
1. Israel had finished killing
a. finish, BDB 477, KB 476, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT
b. kill, BDB 246, KB 255, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT
2. All of them were fallen by the edge of the sword
a. fallen, BDB 656, KB 709, Qal IMPERFECT
b. edge of sword, BDB 804 CONSTRUCT 352 (twice)
3. Until they were all destroyed
a. PREPOSITION, BDB 723
b. finished, BDB 1070, KB 1752, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT
4. Struck, BDB 645, KB 697, Hiphil IMPERFECT
The first three of these describe the slaughter of their men of war; number 4 describes the death of the rest of the inhabitants of Ai.
Jos 8:26 This reflects the curse of Deu 21:23. The king was killed by impaling. As Israel raised a memorial heap of stones over Achan, so too, the king of Ai.
Jos 8:28 forever See Special Topic: Forever (‘olam) .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
consumed = spent.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
returned unto Ai: This must refer to the women, children, and old persons left behind; for it seems that all the effective men had sallied out when they imagined the Israelites had fled – Jos 8:16. Jos 10:30-41, Jos 11:10-14, Num 21:24
Reciprocal: Gen 14:10 – fell Deu 7:2 – utterly Jos 8:2 – do to Ai Jos 8:17 – a man Jos 10:20 – had made Joh 11:54 – Ephraim
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 8:24-25. The Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it That is, the inhabitants of it, the men who, through age and infirmity, were unfit for war, and the women, Jos 8:25. Twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai Not strictly, but largely so called; all who were now in Ai, either as constant and settled inhabitants, or as sojourners, and such as came to them for their help.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:24 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 {k} smote it with the edge of the sword.
(k) For the fire, which they had before set in the city, was not to consume it, but to signify to Joshua that they had entered.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
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; Deu 21:22-23). Too, he erected a memorial pile of stones at the former gate of the city (cf. Jos 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 Him 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 (Jos 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?" [Note: Monson, p. 170.]
One writer observed similarities between Jos 7:1 to Jos 8:29 and Deu 1:19 to Deu 3:11; Deu 9:7 to Deu 10:11; Jdg 10:6 to Jdg 11:33; and Jos 20:1-9. 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. [Note: Christopher Begg, "The Function of Josh. 7, 1-8, 29 in the Deuteronomistic History," Biblica 67:3 (1986):420-34.]