Event

Joshua sends thirty thousand men by night to lie in ambush on the west side of Ai

여호수아가 용사 삼만명을 밤에 보내어 아이 서편에 매복시킴

Joshua 8:3–9: Joshua arises, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chooses thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sends them out by night. He commands them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them. They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them, and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.” Joshua sends them out; they go to set up the ambush, and stay between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stays among the people that night.

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Source evidence (1)

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JOS 8:3–9, engwebp
³So Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.
⁴He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
⁵I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.
⁶They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,
⁷and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
⁸It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”
⁹Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.
Publisher text Rights & provenance

AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26

Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.

Unresolved interpretation: Ambush west of Ai: thirty thousand at Joshua 8:3 and about five thousand at 8:12

Joshua 8:3–4 says, “Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night. He commanded them, saying, ‘Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.’” At 8:9 they stay between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai. The Korean Revised Version also reads thirty thousand.
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- JOS 8:3–9, engwebp
  ³So Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.
  ⁴He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
  ⁵I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.
  ⁶They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,
  ⁷and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
  ⁸It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”
  ⁹Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.
  Publisher text Rights & provenance
Joshua 8:12 says, “He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.” The Korean Revised Version reads 또 매복시키니: he set them in ambush there also.
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- JOS 8:10–17, engwebp
  ¹⁰Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
  ¹¹All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.
  ¹²He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
  ¹³So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.
  ¹⁴When the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
  ¹⁵Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
  ¹⁶All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
  ¹⁷There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.
  Publisher text Rights & provenance

Joshua 8:3–9 has the thirty thousand men whom Joshua chose and sent out by night stay in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; 8:12 has him take about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city; and the Korean Revised Version reads 또 (also) at 8:12. This collection records each passage as its text stands and does not decide whether they speak of the same ambush.

All 2 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending

Joshua (son of Nun) — Took part in — Joshua sends thirty thousand men by night to lie in ambush on the west side of Ai

Evidence: Joshua 8:3–9
Joshua sends thirty thousand men by night to lie in ambush on the west side of Ai — Narrated location — Ai

Evidence: Joshua 8:3–9

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[Bibliadatum entry report]

Entry: Joshua sends thirty thousand men by night to lie in ambush on the west side of Ai (event-jos-8-ambush-behind-the-city)
Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/event/jos-8-ambush-behind-the-city
Current wording: Joshua 8:3–9: Joshua arises, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chooses thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sends them out by night. He commands them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them. They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them, and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.” Joshua sends them out; they go to set up the ambush, and stay between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stays among the people that night.
Cited evidence: JOS 8:3–9, engwebp
Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending

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