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Joshua 8:21–29
“For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves” (Josh. 8:26–27a).
With their city obviously taken and burning behind them, and with the armies of the Israelites turning from their feigned retreat in front of them, the men of Ai are caught in the jaws of a trap. That trap closes swiftly. Joshua and his men turn back on the soldiers of Ai, and the Israelites who have taken and torched the city come out to the battlefield. The writer of Joshua notes that the sudden reversal of the battle from apparent victory to obvious defeat leaves the men of Ai with “no power to flee this way or that way” (8:20). In other words, they are stunned and demoralized, and Joshua and his men hunt down and slay every one of them. The Israelites then return to the city and kill those who had not gone out to the battle, the women, the children, and all others, just as God had commanded them to do (8:2).
It appears that the last survivor of Ai is its king; he is captured alive and brought to Joshua. But Joshua has no leeway from God to show mercy to this pagan leader, so he is hanged on a tree until evening. This does not mean the king is killed by hanging, for hanging is never used in the Old Testament for execution. Rather, the king is put to death in some other way and his body then is displayed on a tree. Moses had said such a display was indicative of God’s curse, and the king of Ai and all his people surely were under a divine curse. But the Israelites are careful to obey Moses’ command that bodies so hung be taken down by sunset and buried (Deut. 21:22–23). This they do, casting the king’s body at the gate of Ai and raising over it a mound of stones, yet another pile to remind Israel of an important event of the conquest. In this pagan king’s death, we see some of the meaning attendant to the death of the Son of God, who was hung on a tree (the cross) as a sign that the curse of God had fallen on Him. His body, too, was taken down and buried by sunset.
As God had given them permission to do, Joshua and the Israelites take for themselves the spoil and the livestock of Ai. They then burn all the remaining remnants of the city so that it is reduced to an ash heap, “a desolation,” as the author of Joshua calls it. It apparently is not rebuilt by the time the book is written, and it is impossible to say today whether any existing cities correspond to ancient Ai. In any case, God’s judgment has come on another city of the Canaanites.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The king of Ai and his people were killed ruthlessly, receiving the just penalty of their sin. Jesus Christ, too, was killed ruthlessly, receiving not the reward of His righteousness but the penalty for our sin. All people deserve God’s curse, but by His grace we have received mercy. Thank and praise Him for the unmerited favor He has shown you.
For Further Study
- Galatians 1:4
- Galatians 3:13
- Titus 2:14
- Hebrews 9:26