Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 8:29
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 carcass 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.
29. he hanged on a tree ] “He hongid in a gybet,” Wyclif. Hanging is mentioned as a distinct punishment, Num 25:4. In Deu 21:22 we read that in certain cases the criminal was put to death, and after that, his dead body was hung on a tree till eventide; the king of Ai was probably slain and then hanged on a cross or gallows.
as soon as the sun was down ] This was in accordance with the Mosaic Law, which directed, Deu 21:23, that a man’s body should “not remain all night upon the tree.” Comp. also Jos 10:27.
and raise thereon a great heap of stones ] Comp. Jos 7:26. Two words are used for “heap” in Jos 8:28-29. The first ( Tel) indicates the ruins of the city itself, the second ( Gal) the cairn over the king’s grave.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare Deu 21:22-23 notes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. The king of Ai he hanged on a tree] He had gone out at the head of his men, and had been taken prisoner, Jos 8:23; and the battle being over, he was ordered to be hanged, probably after having been strangled, or in some way deprived of life, as in the case mentioned Jos 10:26, for in those times it was not customary to hang people alive.
As soon as the sun was down] It was not lawful to let the bodies remain all night upon the tree. See the note on De 21:23. The Septuagint say the king of Ai was hanged , upon a double tree, which probably means a forked tree, or something in the form of a cross. The tree on which criminals were hanged among the Romans was called arbor infelix, and lignum infelix, the unfortunate, ill-fated, or accursed tree.
Raise thereon a great heap of stones] This was a common custom through all antiquity in every country, as we have already seen in the case of Achan, Jos 7:20.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He dealt more severely with the kings of Canaan than with the people, partly because the abominable wickedness of that people was not restrained and punished, (as it should have been,) but countenanced and encouraged by their evil examples and administrations; and partly because they were the principal authors of the destruction of their own people, by engaging them in an obstinate opposition against the Israelites.
That they should take his carcass down from the tree, according to Gods command in that case, Deu 21:22,23. He chose
the entering of the gate of the city, either as most commodious, now especially when all the city within the gate was already turned into a heap of stones and rubbish; or because this was the usual place of judgment, and therefore proper to bear the monument of Gods just sentence against him, not without reflection upon that injustice which he had been guilty of in that place.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. The king of Ai he hanged on atree until eventidethat is, gibbeted. In ancient, andparticularly Oriental wars, the chiefs, when taken prisoners, wereusually executed. The Israelites were obliged, by the divine law, toput them to death. The execution of the king of Ai would tend tofacilitate the conquest of the land, by striking terror into theother chiefs, and making it appear a judicial process, in which theywere inflicting the vengeance of God upon His enemies.
take his carcass down . . .and raise thereon a great heap of stonesIt was taken down atsunset, according to the divine command (De21:23), and cast into a pit dug “at the entering of thegate,” because that was the most public place. An immense cairnwas raised over his gravean ancient usage, still existing in theEast, whereby is marked the sepulchre of persons whose memory isinfamous.
Jos 8:30;Jos 8:31. JOSHUABUILDS AN ALTAR.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide,…. By way of terror to other kings in the land of Canaan, that should refuse to submit unto him:
and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree; according to the law in
De 21:23; and that the land might not be defiled:
and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city; this was done, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, that it might be publicly known to the rest of the kings of the nations, that they might be afraid to fight with Israel:
and raise thereon a great heap of stones, [that remaineth] unto this day; as a sepulchral monument, showing that there was a person lay interred there; whether there was any inscription on the stone, showing who he was, does not appear; it looks as if it was only a rude heap of stones; and such kind of sepulchral monuments were common in former times in other countries.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
29. And the king of Ai he hanged, etc Though he seems to have treated the king with great severity in order to satisfy the hatred of the people, I cannot doubt that he studied faithfully to execute the divine judgment. Conquerors, indeed, are wont to spare captive kings, because their rank seems to carry something venerable along with it, but the condition of kings was different among those nations in which God wished particularly to show how greatly he detested the wickedness which he had so long tolerated. For while all were doomed to destruction, the divine vengeance justly displayed itself with greater sternness and severity on the leaders, with whom the cause of destruction originated.
We may add, that the ignominious punishment inflicted on the king rendered it still less necessary to deal leniently with the common people, and thus prevented the Israelites from indulging an unseasonable mercy, which might have made them more sluggish or careless in executing the work of universal extermination.
God purposely delivered the king alive into the hand of Joshua, that his punishment might be more marked and thus better adapted for an example. Had he fallen in the conflict promiscuously with others, he would have been exempted from this special mark of infamy; but now even after his death, the divine vengeance pursues his corpse. Nay, after being hung, he is thrown forth at the gate of the city where he had sat on his throne in judgment, and a monument is erected for the purpose of perpetuating his ignominy to posterity. His burial, however, is mentioned to let us know that nothing was done through tumultuous impetuosity, as Joshua carefully observed what Moses had prescribed in the Law, (Deu 21:23) namely, that those hung on gibbets should be taken down before sunset, as a spectacle of the kind was held in abomination. And, certainly, while it is humane to bury the dead under ground, it is inhumanly cruel to cast them forth to be torn by wild beasts or birds. Therefore, that the people might not be accustomed to barbarity, God allowed criminals to be hung, provided they did not hang unburied for more than one day. And that the people might be more attentive to this duty, which otherwise might readily have been neglected, Moses declares that every one who hangs on a tree is accursed; as if he had said, that the earth is contaminated by that kind of death, if the offensive object be not immediately taken away.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(29) And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree.(See Note on Deu. 21:22-23.) Heb., on the tree. Why the tree? It would appear from Jos. 8:2; Jos. 10:1, that the king of Jericho was also hanged; possibly both were hanged on the same tree, and were exhibited, each in turn, as the curse of God. But when we read of this treatment of the enemies of Joshua, we cannot but be reminded of the greater Joshua, who fulfilled the curse of God in His own person, and made a show of the principalities and powers by triumphing over them in His cross. (Comp. also Est. 9:10; Est. 9:13.)
Jericho and Ai are the only cities of Canaan of which the capture by Joshua is recorded in detail. Their capture stands in the narrative, as it was in fact, a specimen of the whole conquest of the Canaanite cities. Two campaigns in like manner are recorded as specimens of Joshuas battles with the enemy in the open field. In the capture of Jericho and in the southern campaign, the hand of God is more especially manifested. In the capture of Ai and in the northern campaign, the labour of Israel in the conflict is more prominent. The whole work is thus presented to us in a twofold aspect, as the work of Israel and the work of God.
A great heap of stones.Not only the death, but the burial of the king of Ai is recorded, as also the burial of the five kings in Jos. 10:27. The same thing was done to Achan (Jos. 7:26), and to Absalom (2Sa. 18:17). This kind of burial is another form of the curse, and is a fitting sequel to the hanging of the body upon the tree.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. The king of Ai he hanged For the reason, see note on Jos 8:23.
On a tree The Septuagint says, on a double tree, which the Vulgate renders, a fork-shaped gibbet.
Until eventide This was in accordance with the law, (Deu 21:23,) “that the land be not defiled.” Among the ancient Israelites hanging alive seems not to have been practiced, but, as Deu 21:22, implies, the victim was first slain and then hanged. Comp. Jos 10:26 ; 2Sa 4:12.
At the entering of the gate Probably the dead body was cast into a pit. Thus the Septuagint translates this passage.
A great heap of stones See note on Jos 7:26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening, and at the going down of the sun Joshua gave a command, and they took his carcase down from the tree and tossed it down at the entering of the gate of the city, and raised on it a great heap of stones to this day.’
The king of Ai was hanged on a tree. He may well have been killed first, compare Jos 10:26; Deu 21:22; 2Sa 4:12. This was the token of a criminal and one who was accursed (Deu 21:22). It demonstrated why Ai had been ‘devoted’, because it was a sinful city full of all the abominations of the Canaanites. But the body could not remain there after nightfall lest it bring defilement on the land (Deu 21:23) and so at the going down of the sun it was taken down and given an ignominious burial. The pile of stones heaped on it were a permanent witness to YHWH’s victory and to the end of sinners. Everyone who passed by that heap of ruins would see the pile of stones and would remember what YHWH had done for Israel and what He had done to the king of Ai.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 29. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree An end worthy of a prince who, doubtless, had by his example encouraged his subjects to resist the commands of God, and so to fill up the measure of their guilt.
Until even-tide See the law, Deu 21:22-23.
The king of Ai alone survived the general slaughter, and he was only spared to meet a more ignominious doom. He is hanged in terrorem, that the kings of Canaan may hear and tremble; and on his corpse a monument is raised in the gate of the desolate city, to warn all beholders of the end of those who fight against God. Let wicked kings, who oppress God’s people, still look to this heap, and remember that the same avenging God lives and reigns. The people of the city, to the number of twelve thousand, are sacrificed to the divine justice, and the spoil divided among the host, as an encouragement to them to go on boldly in fighting the Lord’s battles. Note; They who endure hardships, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, shall find to their comfort, that they who do his work shall reap his wages. The spear of Joshua now, like Moses’s arm, is no longer lifted up. Note; In death, the believer shall no longer need to lift up the banner of war, nor to wield the sword of the spirit; but retire, to enjoy the fruit of his victories among the saints triumphant in the camp of the Lord of Hosts.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 8:29 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.
Ver. 29. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree, ] i.e., Either on a gallows, or cross. The Septuagint has it, upon a double tree, a intimating the cross, propter dua ligna quae se invicem intersecant, because of the two pieces standing across, as the threads in the woof and warp; whence the Jews at this day, in derision of Christ crucified, call him the woof and warp, b because these two make the figure of the cross.
That they should take his carcass down from the tree.
a .
b Stamen et subtegmen.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as soon as. Compare Deu 21:22, Deu 21:23 and Jos 10:27, that remaineth. Figure of speech Parenthesis (relative). App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the king: The kings of Canaan lay under the same curse as their subjects and probably were more deeply criminal. The reserving of the king of Ai for a solemn execution, would tend to strike terror into the other kings, contribute to the success of Israel, and give their proceedings the stamp of a judicial process, and of executing the vengeance of God upon his enemies. Jos 10:26-28, Jos 10:30, Jos 10:33, Deu 21:22, Deu 21:23, Est 7:10, Psa 107:40, Psa 110:5, Act 12:23, Rev 19:17, Rev 19:18
as soon: Jos 10:27
a great heap: Jos 7:26, 2Sa 18:17
Reciprocal: Gen 40:19 – hang thee Jos 8:2 – do to Ai Jos 8:23 – General Jos 10:29 – Libnah Jos 12:9 – Ai 2Sa 21:6 – hang Est 2:23 – hanged
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 8:29. The king of Ai he hanged on a tree He dealt more severely with the kings of Canaan than with the people, because the abominable wickedness of that people was not restrained and punished, (as it ought to have been,) but countenanced and encouraged by their evil examples; and because they were the principal authors of the destruction of their own people, by engaging them in an obstinate opposition against the Israelites. Down from the tree According to Gods command in that case, Deu 21:22. The gate of the city Which place he chose either as most commodious, now especially, when all the city within the gate was already turned into a heap of stones and rubbish; or because this was the usual place of judgment, and therefore proper to bear the monument of Gods just sentence against him, not without reflection upon that injustice which he had been guilty of in that place.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded {m} 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.
(m) According as it was commanded, De 21:23.