Bible Strands
Joshua 8:17
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the tactical moment after Joshua’s ambush force feigned retreat, drawing the entire population of Ai and Bethel out of their fortified positions to pursue the Israelite army into the open field.
The words — The Hebrew נִשְׁאַר (nish'ar) literally means "he remained," stressing that absolutely no defender stayed behind to guard the gates of either city.
The thread — The text explicitly connects this emptied-city pattern to Deuteronomy 2:30, where God hardens an enemy’s spirit to ensure defeat, and it directly sets up Joshua 8:24, where the returning Israelites slaughter the trapped pursuers.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that the city’s vulnerability resulted from divine intervention rather than human oversight, demanding recognition of God’s authority over enemy decisions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James 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.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Joshua 8:3 So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night
- Joshua 8:24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.
- Joshua 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Job 5:13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
- Isaiah 19:11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?