Joshua 8:10-17 meaning

In Joshua 8:10-17, the battle against Ai begins.

In the previous section, Joshua chose a contingent of 30,000 warriors. He commissioned them at night to lie in ambush to the west of Ai, a small Canaanite city near Beth-Aven, east of Bethel. He instructed the rest of the people to stay in the camp to launch a full-frontal assault and flee before the enemy, dragging them away from the city to allow the 30,000 soldiers to seize it. The men obeyed Joshua and went west of Ai. Meanwhile, Joshua spent the night in the camp with the people (vv. 3-9).

In Joshua 8:10-17, we learn that when the night was over, Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people (v. 10). In ancient times, armies often initiated battles in the morning (Judges 9:33, 1 Samuel 11:11, 2 Chronicles 20:20). Hence, the Psalmist commented that God would protect His holy city "when morning dawns" (Psalm 46:5).

Joshua was a vigilant and energetic man. He was so courageous that he got up early to do his job. Here, he mustered the Israelites. The verb mustered means to assemble, usually in the context of war. It tells the reader that Joshua summoned and arranged the soldiers in a certain way so that they could be ready for military service (1 Samuel 11:8, 13:15, 1 Kings 20:15).

Having mustered the Israelite warriors, Joshua went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. That means that the soldiers marched under Joshua and followed the elders, those reputable and wise men who served as local authorities in their towns and among their tribes (Deuteronomy 1:13, 27:1). Then, all the people of war who were with him [Joshua] went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city (v. 11).

Joshua led the second contingent of soldiers. He and the soldiers took the initiative to attack their foes to fulfill God’s command (vv. 1-2). They camped on the north side of Ai to be visible to the enemy. Now there was a valley between him [Joshua] and Ai, a deep ravine in the hills. Joshua and the main fighting force marched west of the city. The purpose was so that when the warriors of Ai attacked them, they could flee east, back toward their base to allow the ambush to unfold.

Meanwhile, Joshua directed a third contingent of soldiers to set an ambush (Joshua 8:2). He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city (v. 12). In doing so, he ensured his deceptive maneuver worked successfully. Thus, they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city (v. 13). In short, the troop on the north side was the vanguard, while the people in ambush to the west were the rear guard. Once all preparations were in place, Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley, scouting it out to see where the battle would begin.

Israel's military preparation caught the attention of their enemy. It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle (v. 14). The king of Ai and his people thought the second battle against Israel would be a replay of the first. In their mind, they would defeat the Israelites and cause them to retreat, as they did in the first attack. Thus, the king and his people acted quickly to meet Israel at the appointed place before the desert plain (Arabah), an arid valley running from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba, the northern tip of the Red Sea. But the king of Ai did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. He focused on the main fighting force not knowing there was an ambush waiting for him and his army on the west side of Ai.

Next, Joshua and all of Israel started putting their ruse into action to trap the people of Ai. They pretended to be beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness (v. 15). They used a feigned retreat, pretending to withdraw in order to lure their foes into a position of vulnerability. This military tactic worked smoothly for Joshua: All the people in the city were called together to pursue them (v. 16). Like the first attack, the soldiers of Ai used the same strategy against Israel. This time, however, they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. They likely thought the battle would be the same as the first one, so they left the city to chase God’s people. Thus, not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel (v. 17).

Ai was about two miles east of Bethel. In addition to their geographical proximity, it seems there was some military alliance between these two cities, allowing one to help the other during the war. Thus, the soldiers of Ai and those of Bethel went after Israel. They did not think twice because they assumed they would win the battle based on the previous battle. They were so eager to defeat Israel that they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel, thinking they had the chance to destroy the supposed cowardly Israelites once and for all, or at least drive them far away. But the men of Ai and Bethel were playing right into Joshua's hand.

In the ancient world, cities had walls and gates to protect the citizens from outsiders (Deuteronomy 17:5, Joshua 2:7, Nehemiah 13:19, Hosea 11:6). A city gate was the seat of community governance (Deuteronomy 6:9, Proverbs 1:21). It had massive structures with chambers between the entrances. For this reason, some watchmen often slept right by it (Psalm 127:1b). The city of Ai also had gates, but its soldiers failed to shut them when they followed the Israelite army. Now that the warriors of Ai left it unprotected, the ambush would soon unfold.