Bible Strands
Joshua 8:25
A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of the battle at Ai, quantifying the casualties after Israel’s forces finished pursuing the fleeing army into the wilderness. The words — כָּל־הַנֹּפְלִים (khol-hannopeelim) means “all those who fell,” and בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא (bayyom hahu) specifies “on that day,” anchoring the event to a single, completed military operation. The thread — The total destruction echoes Deuteronomy 20:16, which commands leaving no survivors in the conquered cities, and Joshua 8:26, which notes Joshua kept his spear raised until every inhabitant was devoted to destruction. Why it lands — The verse states a precise death toll to document the fulfillment of the prior divine command, requiring the reader to acknowledge the complete and unmitigated execution of the judgment.
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 so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 20:16 However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.