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: Ver. 1. _Fear not, neither be thou dismayed._] For I have found an atonement,... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 2. _Lay thee an ambush behind it._] _Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?_ If t... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 3. _And Joshua chose out thirty thousand._] Whom he commanded to lay some in ambush, to wit the five thousand mentioned in Joshua 8:12 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 4. _Ye shall lie in wait._] See Joshua 8:2 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ver. 5. _We will flee before them._] God also hath his stratagems; he seemeth sometimes to retire, that he may come up... [ Continue Reading ]
Joshua 8:6 (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. Ver. 6. _Till we have drawn them from the city._] Heb., Pulled them. Saith Bristow in his "Motives," Pull the heretics but... [ Continue Reading ]
Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. Ver. 7. _For the Lord your God will deliver it, &c._] Thus, "through faith they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, out of weakness were made strong, waxed v... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 8. _Ye shall set the city on fire._] Of this fire we may say, as Herodotus doth of Troy, set on fire by the Greeks, that the cind... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 9. _Joshua therefore sent them forth, &c._] Thus he fulfilled all parts and points of a good general: being, as Velleius s... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _And Joshua rose up early in the morning._] He is much noted for his early rising: his vigilancy being equal to his valour.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 11. _And all the people, even the people of war._] Not two or three thousand only, as when the... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 12. _Between Bethel and Ai._] Those two confederate cities, in woods and coverts, probably in the wilderness of Bethaven. Jos 18:12-13... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 13. _Joshua went that night._] That is, very early in the morning, Jos 8:9-10 with a small company, t... [ Continue Reading ]
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. _Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness._ Ver. 15. _Made as if they were beaten._] See Joshua 8:2. So Solomon made as if he would divide the living child. Our Saviour "made as if he would have gone farther." Luk 24:28 Gen 19:2 1Ki 3:... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _And were drawn away from the city._] In hope of like success as before; but it proved otherwise. So wicked men _praesumendo sperant, et sperand... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel._] Thus obdurate sinners are even ambitious of destruction. Judgments need not go to find them out; they run to... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 18. _Stretch out the spear._] _Hastam vexillarem,_ the spear whereon hung the colours, for a s... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 19. _And the ambush arose quickly, and they ran, and hasted._] For they knew that opportunities are headlong... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. _And when the men of Ai looked behind them._] They sh... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 21. _And slew the men of Ai._] Who were half dead before with fear and astonishment. Jos 8:20 “ _Hic rogo; non furor eat ne moriare,... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 22. _So they were in the midst of Israel._] See Joshua 8:20 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. Ver. 23. _And the king of Ai they took alive._] His preservation was but a reservation to a more solemn execution: so Rev 19:20 the beast and false prophet were cast alive into the fiery lake, when the remnant were slain with the sword.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
And [so] it was, [that] all that fell that day, both of men and women, [were] twelve thousand, [even] all the men of Ai. Ver. 25. _Were twelve thousand._] A poor few to stand out against such an army; but self-confidence undid them.... [ Continue Reading ]
For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Ver. 26. _For Joshua drew not his hand back._] "The arms of his hands being made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob," Gen 49:24 of whom it is said that "his... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 27. _Only the cattle and the spoil._] For encouragement of the soldiers: so at the sack of Constantinople, Mohammed, the great Turk, caused proclama... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, [even] a desolation unto this day._ Ver. 28. _And Joshua burnt Ai._] _See Trapp on "_ Jos 8:8 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, Ver. 30. _Then Joshua built an altar._] According to Moses's charge. Deuteronomy 11:29 _; _ Deu 27:5-6 _ to mount Ebal._] Which was far up in the country, near Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim. Judges 9:6,7 _; _ Jdg 20:7 The Can... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 31. _Over which no m... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 32. _A copy of the law of Moses,_] _i.e., _ The decalogue or ten commandments, and therewith, likely, the blessings and curses here pronounced on these two mountains: to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 34. _And afterwards he read all the words,_] _i.e., _ He caused them to be read by the Levites, Deu 27:14 and haply the sense to be given, as Nehemiah 8:8 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 35. _And the strangers._] The proselyted strangers that professed the true religion.... [ Continue Reading ]