Joshua 8:22
in Joshua 8Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the others came forth 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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Joshua 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
When the men of Ai turned and looked back
on Joshua 8:20-22
Israel runs this tactic against Benjamin at Gibeah in Judges 20, with an ambush, a feigned flight and a signal of smoke. The tactic God prescribes here against a Canaanite city is turned on an Israelite tribe two books later. The men of Ai are caught between the two forces.
This site's exposition
no survivor or fugitive remained
No quarter was given, and John Gill notes the one exception. The king of Ai was kept alive, as the next verse records, and brought to Joshua. His sentence waits until verse 29, where he is hanged and then buried under a heap of stones at the city gate.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
You will read in the Holy Scriptures about the battles of the just ones, about the slaughter and carnage of murderers, and that the saints spare none of their deeply rooted enemies. If they do spare them, they are even charged with sin, just as Saul was charged because he had preserved the life of Agag king of Amalek. You should understand the wars of the just by the method I set forth above, that these wars are waged by them against sin. But how will the just ones endure if they reserve even a little bit of sin? Therefore, this is said of them: "They did not leave behind even one who might be saved or might escape."Do you perhaps not believe me that the battle is joined against our sin? Then believe Paul as he says, "Not yet to the shedding of blood have you resisted against sin." Do you see that the fight proposed for you is against sin and that you must complete the battle even to the shedding of blood? Is it not evident that the divine Scripture indicates these things, even as it habitually says, "Sanctify war," and, "You will fight the battle of the Lord"?
When the Jews read these things, they become cruel and thirst after human blood, thinking that even holy persons so struck those who were living in Ai that not one of them was left "who might be saved or who might escape." They do not understand that mysteries are dimly shadowed in these words and that they more truly indicate to us that we ought not to leave any of those demons deeply within, whose dwelling place is chaos and who rule in the abyss, but to destroy them all. We slay demons, but we do not annihilate their essence.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the other issued out of the city against them,.... That is, the ambush, or at least a part of them: so that they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; or, as we commonly say, they were between two fires, the ambush on one side, the army of Israel on the other: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape; not one was saved alive, excepting their king, as in Jos 8:23; no quarter was given them, nor any suffered to make their escape.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֨לֶּה | veeleh | and these [men] | H428 → | 746 times |
| יָצְא֤וּ | yatzeu | they came out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעִיר֙ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| לִקְרָאתָ֔ם | likratam | to meet them | H7122 → | 139 times |
| וַיִּֽהְי֤וּ | vaiyihyu | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | leyisrael | to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בַּתָּ֔וֶךְ | batavekh | in the middle | H8432 → | 418 times |
| אֵ֥לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| מִזֶּ֖ה | mizeh | from this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְאֵ֣לֶּה | veeleh | and these | H428 → | 746 times |
| מִזֶּ֑ה | mizeh | from this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וַיַּכּ֣וּ | vaiyaku | and they struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אוֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בִּלְתִּ֥י | bilti | not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| הִשְׁאִֽיר־ | hishir- | he had left | H7604 → | 133 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| שָׂרִ֥יד | sarid | a survivor | H8300 → | 28 times |
| וּפָלִֽיט׃ | ufalit | and a fugitive | H6412 → |
וְאֵ֨לֶּהand these [men]
veelehH428 →746 times
יָצְא֤וּthey came out
yatzeuH3318 →1067 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעִיר֙the city
hairH5892 →1090 times
לִקְרָאתָ֔םto meet them
likratamH7122 →139 times
וַיִּֽהְי֤וּand they were
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙to Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
בַּתָּ֔וֶךְin the middle
batavekhH8432 →418 times
אֵ֥לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
מִזֶּ֖הfrom this
mizehH2088 →1180 times
וְאֵ֣לֶּהand these
veelehH428 →746 times
מִזֶּ֑הfrom this
mizehH2088 →1180 times
וַיַּכּ֣וּand they struck down
vaiyakuH5221 →499 times
אוֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בִּלְתִּ֥יnot
biltiH1115 →112 times
הִשְׁאִֽיר־he had left
hishir-H7604 →133 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
שָׂרִ֥ידa survivor
saridH8300 →28 times
וּפָלִֽיט׃and a fugitive
ufalitH6412 →
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 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Judges 2:2
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
Through
Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
it leads to
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Job 18:5–6
Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
- Job 5:3
I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
- Psalms 37:35–36
Through
Joshua 10:28On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and put it to the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of…
it leads to
- Joshua 6:21
At the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
- Joshua 6:21
Through
Joshua 6:21At the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
it leads to
- Psalms 137:8–9
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Psalms 137:8–9
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of 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 Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 8.7.