- 50-
CHAPTER 8 : Unsuccessful Attack upon Ai - Achan's Sin, and Judgement
- Ai attacked a second time and taken.
(JOSHUA 7-8:29)
THE conquest of Jericho without fight on the part of Israel had given them full pledge
of future success. But, on the other hand, also, might it become a source of greatest
danger, if the gracious promises of God were regarded as national rights, and the
presence of Jehovah as secured, irrespective of the bearing of Israel towards Him. It was
therefore of the utmost importance, that from the first it should appear that victory over
the enemy was Israel's only so long as the people were faithful to the covenant of their
God.
In their progress towards the interior of the land, the fortress next to be taken was Ai.
Broken up as the country seems to have been into small territories, each under an
independent chieftain or "king," who reigned in his fortified city and held sway over the
district around,^79 a series of sieges rather than of pitched battles was to be expected. Ai,
situated on a conical hill about ten miles to the west of Jericho, was a comparatively
smaller city, numbering only 12,000 inhabitants (Joshua 8:25). Yet its position was
exceedingly important. Southwards it opened the road to Jerusalem, which is only a few
hours distant; northwards it commanded access to the heart of the country, so that, as
we find in the sequel, a victorious army could march thence unopposed into the fertile
district of Samaria.
Moreover, the fate of Ai virtually decided also that of Bethel. The latter city, ruled by
another independent "king,"^80 lay to the west of Ai, being separated from it by a high
intervening hill. This hill, about midway between Bethel and Ai, possessed special
interest. It was the site of Abram's altar, when he first entered the land (Genesis 12:8).
Here also had the patriarch stood with Lot, overlooking in the near distance the rich
luxuriance of the Jordan valley, when Lot made his fatal choice of residence (Genesis
13:4, 10). Standing on this hill, a valley is seen to stretch westward to Bethel, while
eastward, around Ai, "the wadys which at first break down steeply... descend gradually
for about three quarters of a mile, before taking their final plunge to the Jordan valley.
The gently sloping ground is well studded with olive trees."^81 This rapid sketch of the
locality will help us to realize the events about to be recorded.
The advance now to be made by Israel was so important, that Joshua deemed it a proper
precaution to send "men to view Ai." Their report satisfied him that only an army-corps
of about 3000 men was requisite to take that city. But the expedition proved far from
successful. The men of Ai issued from the city, and routed Israel, killing thirty-six men,
pursuing the fugitives as far as "Shebarim" ("mines," or perhaps "quarries" where stones
are broken), and smiting them "in the going down," that is, to about a mile's distance,
(^)