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Joshua 8:9

in Joshua 8

So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the ambushment, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

KJV

Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Beth–el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

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This verse in Joshua 8

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

So Joshua sent them out

on Joshua 8:9-11

The whole army goes up this time, where the spies at 7:3 had said two or three thousand would do. Joshua spends the night among the people and musters them at first light. Clarke marks the word at verse 10 as the one for inspecting a rank.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Joshua therefore sent them forth,.... The thirty thousand chosen men: and they went to lie in ambush; as they were ordered, Jos 8:2, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; for as Ai was on the east of Bethel, Jos 7:

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And he went up. He fulfilled that which God had said to him, “If he goes at their head, they will cross, and if not, they will not cross.”
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 8:10:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁלָחֵ֣םand he sent out them

    vaiyishlachemH7971 →845 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֗עַJoshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙and they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמַּאְרָ֔בthe ambush

    hama'ravH3993 →

  • וַיֵּשְׁב֗וּand they remained

    vaiyeshevuH3427 →1079 times

  • בֵּ֧יןbetween

    beinH996 →407 times

  • בֵּֽית־Beth-

    beit-H1008 →142 times

  • אֵ֛ל-el

    ʾelH1008 →142 times

  • וּבֵ֥יןand between

    uveinH996 →407 times

  • הָעַ֖י<the> Ai

    haaiH5857 →40 times

  • מִיָּ֣םfrom [the] west

    miyamH3220 →396 times

  • לָעָ֑יof <the> Ai

    laaiH5857 →40 times

  • וַיָּ֧לֶןand he stayed

    vaiyalenH3885 →84 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֛עַJoshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • בַּלַּ֥יְלָהin the night

    balaylahH3915 →233 times

  • הַה֖וּא<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

  • בְּת֥וֹךְin among

    betokhH8432 →418 times

  • הָעָֽם׃the people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Chronicles 13:13Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to ambush from the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah, the ambush was behind them.3 worksNehemiah 7:32the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;2 worksGenesis 32:21So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.2 worksGenesis 12:8From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.2 worksJoshua 8:12Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.2 worksEzra 2:28the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Joshua 7:2Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.2 worksJoshua 8:2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”2 worksNehemiah 11:31The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages;2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Genesis 12:8

    From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD,…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 11:31

      The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages;

    • Genesis 4:26

      And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

    • Genesis 21:33

      And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

    • Genesis 28:19

      and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:2

      To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their…

  • Through

    Nehemiah 7:32

    the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;

    it leads to

    • Joshua 8:17

      Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezra 2:28

      the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

  • Through

    Ezra 2:28

    the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

    it leads to

    • Genesis 12:8

      From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD,…

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

Joshua Burns the Town of Ai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua Burns the Town of Ai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 8 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Joshua 8 →