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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Joshua 8:12

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

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ambush;   Armies;   Strategy;   Thompson Chain Reference - Ambush;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Sieges;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ai;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ambush;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Vale;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ai;   Bethel;   Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ai;   Israel;   Joshua;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ai, Hai ;   Ambush, Ambushment;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ai;   Journeyings of israel from egypt to canaan;   War;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Egypt;   Targum;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ai;   Battle system of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Rime;  

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.
Contemporary English Version
Joshua had already sent five thousand soldiers to the west side of the town to hide and wait to attack.
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;
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 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to their hiding place and waited there, west of Ai, between Ai and Bethel. Joshua spent the night in camp. 10 Early in the morning Joshua got up and called the soldiers together. Then he and the leaders of Israel led them to Ai. 11 The soldiers with him went toward the main entrance to the city and set up camp on the north side, with a valley between themselves and Ai. 12 He took about five thousand men and put them in hiding west of the city, between Ai and Bethel. 13 The soldiers were arranged for battle with the main camp north of the city and the rest of the men to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw Joshua's men, he acted quickly. He and all his men went out toward the Jordan Valley to fight the Israelites at the same place as before, not knowing that he was about to be attacked from the rear. 15 Joshua and his men pretended that they were retreating, and ran away toward the barren country. 16 All the men in the city had been called together to go after them, and as they pursued Joshua, they kept getting farther away from the city. 17 Every man in Ai went after the Israelites, and the city was left wide open, with no one to defend it.

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
The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the floodgates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped,
Genesis 8:3
and the water gradually went down for 150 days.
Genesis 8:5
The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
Genesis 8:6
After forty days Noah opened a window
Genesis 8:7
and sent out a raven. It did not come back, but kept flying around until the water was completely gone.
Genesis 8:8
Meanwhile, Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had gone down,
Genesis 8:10
He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again.
Psalms 27:14
Trust in the Lord . Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the Lord .
Isaiah 8:17
The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.
Isaiah 25:9
When it happens, everyone will say, "He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the Lord ! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us."

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.


 
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