Joshua 8:23 - Meaning and Application

Here we see how Israel made full use of their victory over Ai.

They destroyed everything in the city, not just those caught in the field. Men, women, and children were put to the sword, and none were left (Joshua 8:24). God, the righteous Judge, had already pronounced sentence on them because of their wickedness, so Israel was only carrying out his justice. The men of Beth-el are mentioned once as allies of Ai (Joshua 8:17). They had their own king, who is later counted among the thirty-one kings Joshua defeated (Joshua 12:16), but because Ai was a stronger fortress, they joined themselves to Ai for safety and for mutual support. That choice likely led to their own ruin, since it brought them down with Ai. In all, the slain numbered only 12,000, a small force compared with all the thousands of Israel. But those whom God means to destroy, he blinds and confuses.

Joshua kept holding out his spear until the slaughter was finished (Joshua 8:18, 26). Some think this spear was not used to strike the enemy, but to rally and encourage Israel, perhaps with a signal or banner at its tip. If so, it showed Joshua’s self-control. Even though his heart was full of courage and he may have wanted to rush into the thick of battle sword in hand, he stayed in the lower role God had given him, like a standard-bearer, until the work was done. By holding out the spear, he led the people to look to God for help and to give God the praise.

They also took the city’s goods for themselves (Joshua 8:27). In this way, the wealth of sinners is given to the righteous. Much of the spoil the Israelites had brought out of Egypt, after borrowing from their neighbors, had already been used for the tabernacle they set up in the wilderness, and now they are repaid with interest. It is likely that all the spoil was gathered together and then shared out by Joshua in fair portions, as happened with the Midianites (Numbers 31:26 and following). It was not seized in disorder or greed, because God is a God of order and fairness, not confusion.

Then they burned the city and left it in ruins (Joshua 8:28). Israel was still living in tents, so this city, like Jericho, was to be burned. There was no special curse on anyone who rebuilt it, but it seems it was not rebuilt, unless it was later known as Aijah (Nehemiah 11:31). Some think it stayed in ruins because Israel had once suffered defeat there, and the memory of that shame was to be buried in the city’s ashes.

The king of Ai was taken alive and put to death, not as a soldier in war, but as a criminal under justice. Joshua ordered him to be hanged, and then his dead body was thrown down at the gate of his own city and covered with a heap of stones (Joshua 8:23, 29). There must have been some special reason for such severity, likely that he had been openly wicked and hateful, perhaps even speaking against the God of Israel after his first success over Israel’s army. Some note that his body was placed at the city gate, where he had once sat in judgment. That way, the honor he had been proud of was brought into contempt, and he was punished for the unfair orders he had made in the very place where he had made them. In this, the Lord made himself known by the judgments he carried out.