Joshua 8:2

Jos 8:2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.

Ver. 2. Lay thee an ambush behind it.] Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat? If the war be just, the use of stratagems is unquestionably warrantable. Of Decebalus, king of Dacians, in Domitian’s time, a valiant and wise warrior, it is thus storied, Noverat optime insidias faeere, proelium committere, optime uti victoria, et acceptam cladem ferre moderate; He well knew how to lay an ambush, pitch a field, use a victory, take a defeat. {a}

{a} Dio, in Dom.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jos 8:2. Thou shalt do to Ai — as thou didst unto Jericho — That is, overcome and destroy the city and people. This was enjoined to chastise their last insolence, and the triumphs and blasphemies which doubtless their success had produced: and to revive the dread and terror which had been impressed upon the Canaanites by Jericho’s ruin, and had been much abated by the late success of Ai. The spoil thereof — shall ye take for a prey — Neither the silver nor gold, nor any thing else, was separated to the use of the tabernacle, nor ordered to be destroyed, but the people were to enjoy it entirely themselves.

Lay thee an ambush for the city behind it — Ai was not to be taken by miracle, as Jericho had been; now they must exercise their own wisdom. Having seen God work for them, whereby they might learn to depend on him, and give him the glory of all their success, they must now exert themselves, and be inured to self-denial and diligence, and to labour, toil, and hardship. And they must learn to outwit as well as to overpower their enemies. God himself commands them to take the town by stratagem; and therefore we may be sure that to do the like is lawful in other wars. But it must be well observed that no treaty was here violated, no oath or promise broken, no untruth told: to do any thing of this kind cannot be allowable or excusable in any war or case whatsoever. Nay, nothing was here concealed by the Israelites but their own counsels, which surely their enemies had no right to be intrusted with; nothing was dissembled and nothing counterfeited but a retreat, which was no necessary indication at all of their inability to maintain their attack, or of a design not to renew it. Common prudence, had they been governed by it, would have directed the men of Ai to have been upon their guard, and either to have kept within their own walls, or at least not to have ventured forward rashly in pursuit of an army which they saw to be very superior to them in number.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:2 Unlike other ancient nations, who went to war to gain wealth, Israel served as God’s agent of judgment upon the Canaanites; the plunder and the livestock were incidental. • The strategy for capturing Ai was to plan an ambush. Joshua executed God’s simple instructions well. • behind the town: On its west side (8:12).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, on the West side, as verse 9.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(2) Only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take—i.e., the material spoil, not the persons of the inhabitants. (See Jos_11:14.) Jericho was treated exceptionally, in that the material spoil was made chêrem, devoted to destruction, as the thing accursed of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. the spoil thereof] unlike the case of Jericho, is formally conceded to the Israelites.

an ambush] “Put busshementis to the citye bihynde it,” Wyclif. Literally a weaver, a lier in wait, from arab, to weave = “nectere insidias, struere dolos.”

for the city behind it] High up, probably in the main ravine between Ai and Bethel. “Ai must be somewhere between Michmash and Rimmon, a region greatly cut up with gorges and ravines; and as I passed from Beit-în toward Michmash, I could easily understand how Joshua’s ambush of 5000 men could lie hid between Ai and Bethel.” Thomson’s Land and the Book, p. 671.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst to Jericho and her king,.... Burn the one and slay the other:

only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves; which they were not allowed to do at Jericho:

lay thee an ambush for the city behind it; at the west side of it: some have called in question the lawfulness of the ambush, but, as this was appointed by the Lord, there is no room for it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

King. There was this difference, that the king of Hai was to be gibbeted, and his corpse stoned, while the city was to be plundered by the Israelites. --- It. This mode of warfare is equally just, as if the enemy was attacked in the open field. Dolus an virtus quis in hoste requirat? (Virgil) --- God was pleased to authorize it on this occasion, that his people might be less exposed, being under some apprehensions on account of the former defeat. Some nations have preferred to encounter the enemy openly. (Grotius, Jur. iii. 1, 20.) But their example is no law for others. "When the war is just, it matters not whether a person gain the victory by open fighting or by stratagem." (St. Augustine, q. 10.) "It is often prudent to conceal the truth." (contra Mend. x.) People engaged in warfare, allow each other to take such advantages. God could easily have routed these few men by means of the army of Israel, or by a miracle, as he did at Jericho. (Haydock) --- But he is at liberty to act as he thinks proper. The ambush was laid on the south-west side of Hai, so that those of Bethel might not perceive it, as they came out to the assistance of their countrymen, ver. 17. Five thousand were placed in one place, and 25,000 in another, while the main body of the army, under Josue, took a circuit by the east, and came to attack the city on the north side. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To Ai, i.e. the city and people of Ai.

As thou didst unto Jericho and her king, i.e. overcome and destroy them. This was enjoined, partly to chastise their last insolence, and the triumphs and blasphemies which doubtless their success produced; and partly to revive the dread and terror which had been impressed upon the Canaanites by Jericho’s ruin, and had been much abated by the late success of Ai, and their confidence and expectation of further and greater success much raised.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Only the spoil thereof… shall ye take — The spoils of Jericho had been devoted wholly to the Lord, as the first fruits of the conquest of Canaan. But the spoils of Ai and of the other conquered cities (Deu_6:10-11) are now to be appropriated unto the conquerors. The people and their king are to be slain and their city subverted. There was, henceforth, to be no temptation to the sin of Achan. Had he waited obediently and refrained from the accursed thing he might now have innocently enriched himself. So sin generally misses the mark.

Lay thee an ambush — If war itself is ever justifiable, it is right to use the mind as well as the hand, strategy as well as brute force. It is certain that a contest of wit is as proper as a contest of muscle. Says Calvin: “Those are pronounced the best generals whose success is due less to force than to skilful manoeuvres. It is, of course, understood that neither must treaties be violated, nor faith broken in any other way.”

Behind it — As Joshua was east of Ai, the ambuscade, by a flank movement up one of the numerous ravines, was to be made on the west side of the city. See note on Jos_8:9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Only the spoil thereof. Ai was not solemnly devoted, like Jericho, though (see Deu_20:16, Deu_20:17) the Canaanitish people were. Behind it. Joshua was advancing from the southeast. The ambush (breao literally, "a lier in wait," here a band of liers in wait, the word itself originally signifying to plait, weave, hence to design) was therefore (ver. 12) on the opposite, or west side of the city. The question which has been raised whether God could rightly command a stratagem seems scarcely to require discussion.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To Ai - That is, the city and people of Ai. Unto Jericho and her king - That is, overcome and destroy them. This was enjoined to chastise their last insolence, and the triumphs and blasphemies which doubtless their success had produced: and to revive the dread and terror which had been impressed upon the Canaanites by Jericho's ruin, and had been much abated by the late success of Ai.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Take for yourselves as booty. You shall no longer consecrate the spoils.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.