for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.

(3) So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. (4) 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: (5) and I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, (6) (for they will come out after us) till we have 1 drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. (7) Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. (8) And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment

(3) And Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men.-Some difficulty arises from the fact that thirty thousand men are mentioned as having been sent away with general instructions to form an ambush in the first instance, while five thousand were ultimately posted between Bethel and Ai. Were there two distinct bodies in ambush, or only one? It does not seem possible to answer this question with absolute certainty; but we ought to notice in the first place what the aim of Joshua was. He meant to isolate the town of Ai, taking it in front and flank; but there was another town immediately in the rear, less than two miles off. It was necessary, therefore, to employ a sufficient body of men to close the communications between Bethel and Ai from the first.

(4-8) Joshua's general plan of operations is stated in these verses. The following verses explain how it was

worked out.

(9) They went to lie in ambush.-Or, they went to the lurking-place; and remained between Bethel and Ai. The ambush itself (verses 2, 7, 19, 21) is described by a slightly different word.

Among the people-i.e., at Gilgal.

(10) Joshua... numbered.-Or, rather, mustered the people.

He then went up with the elders of Israel at the head of the main body, and made an imposing demonstration with a large force in front of the town.

(11) On the north side.-The lurking-place of the thirty thousand was on the west side, between Bethel and Ai. There is a ravine called the Wady Maheesin which runs nearly east and west, on the north of etTel, and probably Joshua's main body took up a position on the rising ground to the north of this ravine, for it is added, "the ravine (or Gai) was between them and Ai."

(12) And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush . . .-Is this a

He Attacks Ai.

of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you. (9) 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.

(10) And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. (1) And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai. (12) And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city. (13) And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

(14) And it came to pass, when the

fresh body, or only a portion of the thirty thousand mentioned in verse 3? It is, of course, possible that the body of thirty thousand, having closed the communications between Bethel and Ai on the first night, and finding that they were more numerous than was necessary, had rejoined Joshua when he came up, and that a small body of five thousand was told off for the service on the next day. But after carefully studying the natural features of the position by the Ordnance map (of which I have been able to enjoy the advantage at this point of my work), I am inclined to think that both forces were employed-the thirty thousand and the five thousand-and for distinct services. There are two ravines, which come to a head between Beitin (Bethel) and et-Tel (Ai). The body of men who were to fire the town of Ai were posted in the one nearer to Ai. The larger body, whose business was to prevent any interference from the side of Bethel, were posted in the ravine next to that city, where they had been from the first. If it be remembered, as was before observed, that Joshua was attacking a fortified town, which was protected in flank by another town, and that it was necessary to be prepared for all contingencies from the first, the meaning of his movements will be apparent.

(13) Joshua went that night into the valley (Emek).-Not the ravine (or Gai) before mentioned (verse 11), but a wider and more open part of the valley, probably a little further to the south; the object being to draw the men of Ai into a pursuit in the direction of the road to Gilgal.

(14) When the king of Ai saw it. . . . the city went out. The stratagem succeeded perfectly. Joshua gave them ample time, by his movements in open daylight, to discover what his apparent intentions were, viz., to renew the direct attack upon the city with a larger force. Accordingly, the Canaanites came out before the plain-i.e., in the direction of the

1

plain of Jordan (the Arabah. On this word and Emek and Gai used above, see Stanley, Sinai and Palestine) -intending to drive Joshua down by the way he had come up. And accordingly Joshua and his army fled in that very direction by the way of the Midbar or wilderness-i.e., the mountainous district betweeen Ai and the Jordan valley, and lying in that direction. (Comp. chap. vii. 5.)

(17) There was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el. -Another singular justification of the peculiar strategy of Joshua. The road past Beth-el to Ai had been left open. It passes the north end of the two ravines in which Joshua's ambush was posted. At the same time, it would have been easy to conceal a chain of sentinels that could observe it and tell the 35,000 men in ambush what was going on, so that if any attempt had been made by the men of Beth-el to protect Ai, it could easily have been frustrated. But no one suspected any danger, and therefore no such attempt was made. The men of Beth-el and Ai took the road that was left open to them and pursued the Israelites, probably down the ancient way past Mich. mash towards the Shebarim, leaving Beth-el and Ai both unprotected. After they had gone some distance, about a mile or a mile and a half from Ai, this road would bring them past the lower end of the ravine in which the ambush was posted. A second chain of outposts would easily take the signal from Joshua when

and utterly Destroyed.

(21) And when

back upon the pursuers. Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai. (22) 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. (23) And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

a

(24) And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. (25) And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. (26) For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. (27) Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. (28) And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it

b

this point had been passed, and then all was over with the town of Ai.

It is curious that we do not hear of the capture of Beth-el at this time, though it would have been perfectly easy to take it. The king of Beth-el is named in the list of those whom Joshua smote (chap. xii. 16). We read of its capture in Judges i. 22, and of the "entrance into the city" being sought for and betrayed. But that can hardly have been the first capture of the town.

(18) And the Lord said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear.-In the capture of Ai, as in that of Jericho, each stage of the process must be ordered by the Lord. In the former case the hand of Jehovah alone does the work. The ark is borne round the walls until they fall down before it. Against Ai, the hand of Israel is employed, and first of all in Israel the hand of Joshua. He seems to have stretched it out, with the light spear or javelin which he carried, somewhat as Moses stretched forth the rod of God over the contending hosts of Amalek and Israel, until the enemy was discomfited with the edge of the sword.

(27) The spoil of that city Israel took.-The spoil of Ai was assigned to Israel, the spoil of Jericho had been claimed for Jehovah alone.

(28) An heap for ever.-Heb., Tel-ôlam; modern name, Et-tel.

manded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at

The Blessings and Cursings Read.

covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that

с

" raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

27.5.

12.

(29) And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree. (See Note on Deut. xxi. 22, 23.) Heb., on the tree. Why "the tree"? It would appear from chap. viii. 2 and x. 1, that the king of Jericho was also hanged; possibly both were hanged on the same tree, and were exhibited, each in turn, as "the curse of God." But when we read of this treatment of the enemies of Joshua, we cannot but be reminded of the greater Joshua, who fulfilled the curse of God in His own person, and made a show of the "principalities and powers" by triumphing over them in His cross. (Comp. also Esth. ix. 10, 13.) Jericho and Ai are the only cities of Canaan of which the capture by Joshua is recorded in detail. Their capture stands in the narrative, as it was in fact, a specimen of the whole conquest of the Canaanite cities. Two campaigns in like manner are recorded as specimens of Joshua's battles with the enemy in the open field. In the capture of Jericho and in the southern campaign, the hand of God is more especially manifested. In the capture of Ai and in the northern campaign, the labour of Israel in the conflict is more prominent. The whole work is thus presented to us in a twofold aspect, as the work of Israel and the work of God.

A great heap of stones.-Not only the death, but the burial of the king of Ai is recorded, as also the burial of the five kings in chap. x. 27. The same thing was done to Achan (chap. vii. 26), and to Absalom (2 Sam. xviii. 17). This kind of burial is another form of the curse, and is a fitting sequel to the hanging of the body upon the tree.

THE LAW SET UP IN THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY. (30) Then Joshua built.-The word then is not "and" in the Hebrew; as is too often the case where 66 then occurs in our English Old Testament. It is a note of time. Josephus places this transaction later.

CHAPTER IX.-(1) And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; (2) that they gathered themselves together, to fight with

The LXX. places verses 1 and 2 of chap. ix. before this passage. But there seems no reason for moving the transaction from the place where we find it in the text. By the capture of Ai, Joshua had obtained command over the road to Shechem. We hear of no strong place north of Beth-el in that part of the country. From other passages (see on chap. xvii. 18) there seems reason to think that a large part of this district was wooded and uncleared. The confederacy of the southern kings had its centre far to the south of this, and there was a considerable distance between Shechem and the strong places to the north. It is in keeping with what we have already observed regarding the purpose of the conquest of Canaan, that the law of the God of Israel should be as soon as possible proclaimed and set up in the heart of the country, to be thenceforward the law of the land. For the enactment that was here carried out, see Deut. xi. 26—30, xxvii. 2, &c. Observe also that the command there given required the work to be done as soon after the passing of Jordan as possible. The possibility of reading the law from this position, so as to be heard by the whole congregation, has been proved by actual experiment.

(30, 31) An altar. . . in mount Ebal... -This was explicitly commanded in Deuteronomy. The blessing was put on mount Gerizim, the altar and the curse on mount Ebal. We do not hear elsewhere of any sacrifice on Ebal. But it is certain that God accepted sacrifices in many places in Canaan. (Cf. Exod. xix. 24.)

IX.

PREPARATIONS OF THE CANAANITES FOr War. (1, 2) These verses record the general preparation of the natives of Canaan for the last struggle with Joshua.

Joshua and with Israel, with one 1 accord.

(3) And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, (4) they did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; (5) and old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. (6) And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto

make Peace with Joshua.

ites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. (11) Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals 2 with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants : therefore now make ye a league with us. (12) This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: (13) and these bottles of wine, which we

come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.

(7) And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? (8) And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? (9) And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, (10) and all that he did to the two kings of the Amor

hand

THE GIBEONITES MAKE PEACE WITH JOSHUA (chap. ix. 3-27).

(3) The inhabitants of Gibeon.-Hivites, as appears by verse 7. Gibeon was one member of a tetrapolis, or community of four cities, as is seen in verse 17. Their deception of Joshua and the Israelites on this occasion is a curious compensation for what was done by Simeon and Levi to the Hivites long before, when Jacob first came to Shechem from Padan-Aram (see Gen. xxxiv.). On that occasion, the inhabitants of a single city of the Hivites were put to the sword by Israel, by means of a stratagem; on this occasion, a stratagem saved four Hivite cities from destruction by Israel's sword.

(4) They did work wilily.-Literally, and they also dealt with subtilty. The stratagem does not seem a very profound one, or one that would have been difficult to detect. But we may remember a fact of Israel's experience which puts it in a somewhat different light. The Israelites themselves had come from a far country, but their raiment had not "waxed old upon them," nor did " their feet swell," these forty years. Of bread they had no need, when there was manna, and God gave them water for their thirst. Of worn garments and stale provisions they had no experience, and therefore, when the Gibeonites presented themselves in this extraordinary garb and guise, it is not unnatural that they were not detected by the eyes of Israel.

They made as if they had been ambassadors.-The verb thus translated does not occur

rent and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.

(14) And 8 the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. (15) And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

(16) And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among (17) And among them.

the

elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. By the alteration of a letter, the Targum, LXX., and some other versions make it mean," they gat them provision." (5) Clouted-i.e., patched.

(7) Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?Literally, Peradventure thou art a dweller in the midst of me; and how shall I make a covenant with thee? The Israelites assume the ownership of Canaan as already theirs.

(9, 10) All that he did in Egypt, and to the two kings of the Amorites.-The Gibeonites carefully abstain from referring to more recent exploits, as the passage of Jordan, the taking of Jericho and Ai; they mention only those which might have had time to reach them in the "far country" from which they asserted that they came.

(14) And the men took of their victuals.And they accepted the men from (the appearance of) their provisions. This, which is the view taken in our marginal reading, seems to be the more probable interpretation, and follows the Targum. "The men hardly refer to any one but the ambassadors of the Gibeonites.

can

(16) Their neighbours, and they that dwelt among them.-Literally, and that they (the Gibeonites) were dwellers in the midst of him (Israel). (So verse 7.)

(17) Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim.-The first three of these were assigned to Benjamin (chap. xviii. 25, 26), the last to Judah (xv. 60), in the division of the land. The fact that the larger portion of the territory of the Gibeonites