Joshua 8:12

Contemporary English Version

Joshua had already sent five thousand soldiers to the west side of the town to hide and wait to attack.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

Hebrew Names Version
He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beit-El and `Ai, on the west side of the city.

King James Version
And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Lexham English Bible
And he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

English Standard Version
He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

New Century Version
Then Joshua chose about five thousand men and set them in ambush in the area west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

New English Translation
He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

Amplified Bible
And Joshua took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

New American Standard Bible
Then he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And hee tooke about fiue thousande men, and set them to lye in waite betweene Beth-el and Ai, on the Westside of the citie.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Beit-El and ‘Ai, to the west of ‘Ai.

Darby Translation
Now he had taken about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Joshua chose about 5000 men. He sent these men to hide in the area west of the city, between Bethel and Ai.

George Lamsa Translation
And Joshua took five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city;

Good News Translation
He took about five thousand men and put them in hiding west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.

Literal Translation
And he took about five thousand men and set them as an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He had taken aboute a fyue thousande men, and set them in the hynder watch betwene Bethel and Hai, on the west syde of the cite,

American Standard Version
And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Bible in Basic English
And taking about five thousand men, he put them in position for a surprise attack on the west side of Ai, between Beth-el and Ai.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he toke vpon a fiue thousande men, and set them to lye in wayte betweene Bethel and Ai, on the westsyde of the citie.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai.

King James Version (1611)
And he tooke about fiue thousand men, and set them to lye in ambush betweene Bethel and Ai, on the West side of the citie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the ambuscade was on the west side of the city.

English Revised Version
And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Berean Standard Bible
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
`Sotheli he hadde chose fyue thousynde men, and hadde sette in buyschementis bitwixe Bethauen and Hay, in the west part of the same citee.

Young's Literal Translation
And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city;

Update Bible Version
And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

New King James Version
So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

New Living Translation
That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town.

New Life Bible
Then he took about 5,000 men and hid them between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

New Revised Standard
Taking about five thousand men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he took about five thousand men, - and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:

Revised Standard Version
And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Contextual Overview

⁹ now go! The thirty thousand soldiers went to a place on the west side of Ai, between Ai and Bethel, where they could hide and wait to attack. That night, Joshua stayed in camp with the rest of the army. ¹⁰ Early the next morning he got his troops ready to move out, and he and the other leaders of Israel led them to Ai. ¹¹ They set up camp in full view of the town, across the valley to the north. ¹² Joshua had already sent five thousand soldiers to the west side of the town to hide and wait to attack. ¹³ Now all his troops were in place. Part of the army was in the camp to the north of Ai, and the others were hiding to the west, ready to make a surprise attack. That night, Joshua went into the valley. ¹⁴The king of Ai saw Joshua's army, so the king and his troops hurried out early the next morning to fight them. Joshua and his army pretended to be beaten, and they let the men of Ai chase them toward the desert. The king and his army were facing the Jordan valley as Joshua had planned. The king did not realize that some Israelite soldiers were hiding behind the town. ¹⁶So he called out every man in Ai to go after Joshua's troops. They all rushed out to chase the Israelite army, and they left the town gates wide open. Not one man was left in Ai or in Bethel. Joshua let the men of Ai chase him and his army farther and farther away from Ai.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

five thousand: Joshua 8:2, Joshua 8:3

of the city: or, of Ai

Reciprocal: Joshua 8:1 - take all Joshua 8:9 - between Joshua 8:13 - on the west Judges 9:25 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 8:2
God stopped up the places where the water had been gushing out from under the earth. He also closed up the sky, and the rain stopped.

Genesis 8:3
For one hundred fifty days the water slowly went down.

Genesis 8:5
The water kept going down, and the mountain tops could be seen on the first day of the tenth month.

Genesis 8:6
Forty days later Noah opened a window to send out a raven, but it kept flying around until the water had dried up.

Genesis 8:8
Noah wanted to find out if the water had gone down, and he sent out a dove.

Genesis 8:10
Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again.

Psalms 27:14
Trust the Lord ! Be brave and strong and trust the Lord .

Isaiah 8:17
Meanwhile, I patiently trust the Lord , even though he is no longer pleased with Israel.

Isaiah 25:9
At that time, people will say, "The Lord has saved us! Let's celebrate. We waited and hoped— now our God is here."

Isaiah 26:8
You are the one we trust to bring about justice; above all else we want your name to be honored.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush,.... This was another ambush, as both Jarchi and Kimchi observe; and the latter adds, perhaps he set them nearer the city than the former; though some are of opinion that these are the same ambush spoken of, whose number is here given, being set on the same side of the city; and they suppose that Joshua had with him but thirty thousand men in all, five thousand of which he sent to lie in ambush, and the other twenty five thousand remained with him; but it seems clear that all the men of war were to be taken, and were taken by them, and that out of them thirty thousand were sent by him to lie in wait at first, and now five thousand more:

between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city; and though they were on the same side of the city with the first and larger ambush, yet, as Abarbinel observes, they might be set nearer the city and to the army; and he supposes the first ambush was to take the city, and the second little ambush, as he calls it, was placed, that when the men of the city came out, they might make a noise and a stir, and skirmish with them, that so they might not come upon the camp suddenly.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He took - Rather “had taken;” the words refer to the ambuscade which Joshua had detached during the previous night.