2tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

3tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

4map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

5tn “And Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up [against] Ai.”

6tn Or “commanded, ordered.”

7tn Heb “the people.”

8tn Heb “come out after.”

9tn Heb “from the ambush.”

10tn Heb “take possession of.”

11tn Heb “the city.”

12tn Heb “I have commanded you.”

13tn Or “the place of ambush.”

14map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

15tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”

16tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”

17tn Or “summoned, mustered.”

18tn Heb “the people.”

19tn Or “elders.”

20tn Heb “went up.”

21tn Heb “them” (referring to “the people” in the previous clause, which requires a plural pronoun). Since the translation used “army” in the previous clause, a singular pronoun (“it”) is required in English.

22tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.”

23tn Heb “and the valley [was] between them and Ai.”

24map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

25tn Some Hebrew mss read, “spent the night in.”

26tn Heb “When the king of Ai saw, the men of Ai hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people at the meeting place before the Arabah.”

27tn Or “know.”

28tn Heb “that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.”

29tn Heb “All the people.”

30tc Some textual witnesses read “the city.”

31tn Or “were summoned”; or “were mustered.”

32tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”

map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

33tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”

34tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Ai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

35tn Heb “and ran.”

36tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai.

37tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”

38tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.”

39tn Heb “and these went out from the city to meet them and they were for Israel in the middle, some on this side, and others on the other side.”

40tn Heb “residents.”

41tn Heb “in the field, in the desert in which they chased them.”

42tc Heb “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed.” The LXX omits the words, “and all of them fell by the edge of the sword.” They may represent a later scribal addition.

43tn Heb “fell.”

44tn Heb “Joshua did not draw back his hand which held out the curved sword until he had annihilated all the residents of Ai.”

45tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua.”

46tn Heb “and made it a permanent mound, a desolation, to this day.”

47tn Heb “on a tree until evening.” The words “leaving him exposed” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

48sn For the legal background of this action, see Deut 21:22-23.

49tn Heb “to this day.”

50tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones on which no one had wielded iron.” The expression “whole stones” refers to stones in their natural condition, i.e., not carved or shaped artificially with tools (“wielded iron”).

51tn Or “peace offerings.”

52tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.”

53tn Heb “All Israel.”

54tn Or “elders.”

55tn Heb “like the resident alien, like the citizen.” The language is idiomatic, meaning that both groups were treated the same, at least in this instance.

56tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”

sn Moses’ earlier instructions are found in Deut 11:29.

57tn Or “afterward.”

58tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.”

59tn Heb “walked in their midst.”