Joshua 7:4
in Joshua 7So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
KJV
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
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This verse in Joshua 7
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
So about three thousand men went up
on Joshua 7:4-5
Thirty-six men is a small loss beside this book’s numbers. The words “the hearts of the people melted and became like water” turn on Israel the wording used of Canaan at 2:11. Barnes reads Shebarim as “the quarries”, and the short casualty list points to a line that broke early.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men,....
He, as a public person, interested himself more than any other in this public loss, and is therein an example to princes and great men, and teaches them to lay much to heart the calamities that befal their people: he is also a type of Christ, to whom the blood of his subjects is precious, Ps. lxxii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
About three thousand men - The spies sent to reconnoitre the place (Jos 7:3) reported that the town was meanly garrisoned, and that two or three thousand men would be sufficient to take it. These were accordingly sent up, and were repulsed by the Amorites.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעֲל֤וּ | vaiyaalu | and they went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִן־ | min- | some of | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| שָׁ֔מָּה | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
| כִּשְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת | kishloshet | about three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| אֲלָפִ֖ים | ʾalafim | thousand<s> | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וַיָּנֻ֕סוּ | vaiyanusu | and they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| לִפְנֵ֖י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֥י | ʾanshei | [the] men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הָעָֽי׃ | haai | <the> Ai | H5857 → | 40 times |
וַיַּעֲל֤וּand they went up
vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times
מִן־some of
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
שָׁ֔מָּהthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
כִּשְׁלֹ֥שֶׁתabout three
kishloshetH7969 →432 times
אֲלָפִ֖יםthousand<s>
ʾalafimH505 →505 times
אִ֑ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וַיָּנֻ֕סוּand they fled
vaiyanusuH5127 →159 times
לִפְנֵ֖י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
אַנְשֵׁ֥י[the] men of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הָעָֽי׃<the> Ai
haaiH5857 →40 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:8
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 23:10
One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 30:17
A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:8
Through
Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
- Jeremiah 5:25
Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
- Micah 3:4
Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Deuteronomy 31:17–18
On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them.…
- Proverbs 15:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.