Joshua 8:17

Easy-to-Read Version

All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel. The city was left open—no one stayed to protect the city.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.

Hebrew Names Version
There was not a man left in `Ai or Beit-El, who didn't go out after Yisra'el: and they left the city open, and pursued after Yisra'el.

King James Version
And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Lexham English Bible
Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

English Standard Version
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

New Century Version
All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel. The city was left open; not a man stayed to protect it.

New English Translation
No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

Amplified Bible
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; so they left the city open and unguarded and they pursued Israel.

New American Standard Bible
So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel, but they had all gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

Geneva Bible (1587)
So that there was not a man left in Ai, nor in Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the citie open, and pursued after Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
So not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they forsook the city, leaving it open, and pursued Israel.

Complete Jewish Bible
Not a man was left in ‘Ai or Beit-El who had not gone after Isra'el; pursuing Isra'el, they left the city wide open.

Darby Translation
And not a man remained in Ai and Bethel that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

George Lamsa Translation
And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

Good News Translation
Every man in Ai went after the Israelites, and the city was left wide open, with no one to defend it.

Literal Translation
And there was not a man left in Ai and Bethel who had not gone out after Israel. And they left the city open, and chased Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
so that there remayned not one man in Hai and Bethel, which wente not out to folowe vpon Israel, and they lefte the cite stondinge open, that they mighte persecute Israel.

American Standard Version
And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Bible in Basic English
There was not a man in Ai and Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and the town was open and unwatched while they went after Israel.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And there was not a man left in Ai and in Bethel, that went not out after Israel: And they left the citie open, and folowed after Israel.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

King James Version (1611)
And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the citie open, and pursued after Israel.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
There was no one left in Gai who did not pursue after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

English Revised Version
And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and sothely not oon hadde left in the citee of Hai and Bethauen, that `pursuede not Israel, and thei leften the citees opyn, as thei hadden broke out,

Young's Literal Translation
and there hath not been left a man in Ai and Bethel who hath not gone out after Israel, and they leave the city open, and pursue after Israel.

Update Bible Version
And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that didn't go out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
And there was not a man left in Ai, or Beth-el that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

World English Bible
There was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, who didn't go out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

New King James Version
There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

New Living Translation
There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

New Life Bible
So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel. They left the city open and ran after Israel.

New Revised Standard
There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, - and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,

Revised Standard Version
There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

Contextual Overview

⁹ Then Joshua sent them to their hiding place and waited. They went to a place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua stayed the night with his people. ¹⁰ Early the next morning Joshua gathered the men together. Then Joshua and the leaders of Israel led the men to Ai. ¹¹ All the soldiers who were with Joshua marched to Ai. They stopped in front of the city. The army made its camp north of the city. There was a valley between the army and Ai. ¹² Then Joshua chose about 5000 men. He sent these men to hide in the area west of the city, between Bethel and Ai. ¹³ So Joshua had prepared his men for the fight. The main camp was north of the city. The other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into the valley. ¹⁴ Later, the king of Ai saw the army of Israel. The king and his people hurried out to fight the army of Israel. The king of Ai went out the east side of the city toward the Jordan Valley, so he did not see the soldiers hiding behind the city. ¹⁵ Joshua and all the men of Israel let the army of Ai push them back. Joshua and his men began running east toward the desert. ¹⁶ The people in the city began to shout and started to chase them. All the people left the city. ¹⁷ All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel. The city was left open—no one stayed to protect the city.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a man: Joshua 8:3, Joshua 8:24, Joshua 8:25, Joshua 11:20, Deuteronomy 2:30, Job 5:13, Isaiah 19:11-13

Bethel: Bethel is not mentioned in the Greek version, and some, with Houbigant and Pilkington, think it was not originally in the Hebrew; because, had the men of Bethel pursued, as well as those of Ai, it would have been said that they left the cities, and not the city, open. The principal strength of Bethel might have been previously taken into Ai, as the strongest place to make a stand in; Bethel being but about three miles westward from Ai.

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:8 - of Bethel Joshua 12:9 - Ai Joshua 12:16 - Bethel Ezra 2:28 - Ai Nehemiah 7:32 - Bethel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:22
God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many more babies.

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 8:13
After that Noah opened the door of the boat. He looked and saw that the ground was dry. This was the first day of the first month of the year. He was 601 years old.

Genesis 8:14
By the 27th day of the second month, the ground was completely dry.

Genesis 8:15
Then God said to Noah,

Genesis 9:1
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Have many children. Fill the earth with your people.

Genesis 9:7
"Have many children and fill the earth with your people."

Psalms 107:38
God blessed them with many children and plenty of animals.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that went not out after Israel,.... For as these two places were very near to each other, but a mile apart, they were in confederacy, and acted together, and could easily be called to the help of each other when required: though there is a difficulty how the men of Bethel could join those of Ai, when the ambush lay between them both, Joshua 8:12; they either went another way, or the ambush purposely let them pass, for fear of a discovery by a skirmish with them, and that Bethel as well as Ai might be cleared of its armed inhabitants, and so fall an easy prey to them as well as Ai: this must be understood only of men of war; for otherwise there were inhabitants left, as old men, and such as were unfit for war, afterwards slain, Joshua 8:24;

and they left the city open: they did not stay to shut the gates, nor left porters or any guards about, to take care of, protect, and defend the city:

and pursued after Israel; with great eagerness and vehemence, not having the least apprehension of their city being in any danger.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or Bethel - See the Joshua 8:1 note.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 8:17. There was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el — It is very likely that the principal strength of Beth-el had been previously brought into Ai, as the strongest place to make a stand in; Beth-el being but about three miles distant from Ai, and probably not greatly fortified. Therefore Ai contained on this occasion all the men of Beth-el - all the warriors of that city, as well as its own troops and inhabitants. Others think that the Beth-elites, seeing the Israelites fly, sallied out of their city as against a common enemy; but that, finding the men of Ai discomfited, and the city taken, they returned to Beth-el, which Joshua did not think proper to attack at this time. From Judges 1:24 we find that Beth-el was then a walled city, in the hands of the Canaanites, and was taken by the house of Joseph.