Bible Strands
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
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua coordinates the deployment of his forces immediately after receiving divine instructions to execute a multi-stage assault on Ai, directing the army to move out for the nighttime operation.
The words — וַ/יָּ֧קָם (va/i.Ya.kom) records his immediate arising to lead, and וַ/יִּבְחַ֣ר (va/i.yiv.Char) documents his deliberate selection of thirty thousand fighters for the covert advance.
The thread — The motif of concealed readiness and sudden movement parallels the warning patterns in Matthew 24:39, Matthew 24:50, and Matthew 25:6 concerning unexpected arrival and the necessity of constant preparedness.
Why it lands — The passage requires strict adherence to a complex military command and disciplined execution of hidden phases before the final engagement.
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
So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night.
Cross-references
- Matthew 24:39 And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Matthew 24:50 The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate.
- Matthew 25:6 At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- 2 Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.