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Joshua 8:4

in Joshua 8

with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:

KJV

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:

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This verse in Joshua 8

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

sent them out at night

on Joshua 8:3-4

Verse 3 sends 30,000 men and verse 12 sets 5,000 in the same place. Barnes suspects a copyist’s error in the number, and Henry takes verse 12 as the account doubling back on one ambush of five thousand. Others read a main force with a smaller detachment drawn from it.

This site's exposition

not too far from it

Behind the city means its west side, as verse 9 later states. John Gill explains the order to stay close. The ambush had to be near enough to enter the town as soon as its fighting men were drawn out eastward to meet the army.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And he commanded them, saying,.... At the time he sent them away: behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city; that is, on the west side of it, Jos 8:9, go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready; to enter into it, as soon as the forces are drawn out eastward to meet the army of Israel.

The words behind it

17 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.

  • וַיְצַ֨וand he commanded

    vaytzavH6680 →494 times

  • אֹתָ֜ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • רְ֠אוּsee

    reuH7200 →1300 times

  • אַתֶּ֞םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • אֹרְבִ֤ים[are] lying in wait

    ʾorevimH693 →41 times

  • לָעִיר֙for the city

    lairH5892 →1090 times

  • מֵאַחֲרֵ֣י<from> behind

    meachareiH310 →715 times

  • הָעִ֔ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תַּרְחִ֥יקוּyou go far away

    tarchikuH7368 →

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הָעִ֖ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • מְאֹ֑דvery

    meodH3966 →300 times

  • וִהְיִיתֶ֥םand you will be

    vihyitemH1961 →3559 times

  • כֻּלְּכֶ֖םall of you

    kulekhemH3605 →5413 times

  • נְכֹנִֽים׃prepared

    nekhonimH3559 →217 times

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

Related verses

12 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.

Judges 20:29So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.5 works2 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 works1 Samuel 15:2This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.2 worksActs 23:21Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”2 worksEcclesiastes 7:19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.2 worksJudges 9:25The leaders of Shechem set up an ambush against Abimelech on the hilltops, and they robbed all who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Samuel 15:5Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.2 worksJudges 20:36Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah.2 worksJudges 20:33So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah.2 worksEcclesiastes 9:16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”2 worksJoshua 8:16Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.2 works2 Kings 7:12So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.’”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

    1 Samuel 15:2

    This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 25:17–19

      Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,

    • Numbers 24:20

      Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”

    • Exodus 17:8–16

      After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.

    • Hosea 7:2

      But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 7:19

    Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 1:9–11

      For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and…

    • Proverbs 21:22

      A wise man scales the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.

  • Through

    Acts 23:21

    Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they…

    it leads to

    • Acts 23:12–14

      When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

    • Exodus 23:2

      You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 8 →