The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 177

histo1:i- of secret sin, which, though unseen necessarily a very strong one, Ai is men. by any earth[~- eye, does ne,erthelcss pollute tioned as early as Gen. xii. 8, and we find the offender, nnd through him the Church that it was inhabited down to the C1t1itivity, of (i od, by lowering his geneml stnndard of for the " men of Bethel nnd Ai " are thought and action, enfeebling his monl mentioned (and, it may be observed, in close sense, checking the grow! h of his inner and proximity to those of Rama, Gebo, and dc"<'otional life. nntil, by a 1-esolnte act of 111iclunash-see lsn. x. 28 above cited) in Ezm repentance nnd restiiniion towards God, the ii. 28. Sec also Ncb. xi. 31, above cited. sin is finally ncknowledged and put away. The name Ai, or ruins, found so early, " A l<:'wd man is 11 pernicious creature. That implies that the aboriginal iul111hitants he damnes his own sonle is the least part of had built a city in that almost inaccessible his mischicfe ; he commonly drawes ,cn- situation. Lieut. Conder gives o. very vivid geance upon a thousand, either by the desert description of the site et-Tel in 'Pales- of his sinne. or by the infection" (Bp. tine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement,' Hall). April, 1874. There are, he says, "huge , er. 2.-Ai. 'V or 'VO " the nuns" (cf. mounds of broken stone o.nd shingle ten feet lim and lje-abarim, the r11i11.s or heaps of high. The town," he adds, "must have Aharim, Kum. xxxiii. 44, 45; and lim, been pounded small, and the fury of its de- Josh. n. 29. Probably it is the same as struction is still evidenced by_ its complete- tl'~l!Q which we find mentioned in conjunc- ness." He continues: "The po.rty for the ambush, following the ancient causeway tion with Bethel in eh. xviii. 22, 23. It from Bethel to Jordan (which we have re- becomes t-:•v in Neh. xi. 31, and the feminine covered throughout its entire length) as fur form is fo'i:;nd in Isa. x. 28. The latter, as Michmash, would then easily ascend the from the mention of Micbmash in the great wady west of Ai, and arrive within a route of Sennacherib inimediat.ely after- quarter of a mile of the city without having wards, is probably the same ns Ai. Robin- ever come in sight of it. Here, hidden by son and Keil - the former very doubt- the knoll of Bnrjums and the high ground fully - place it at Tnrmus Aya, an near it, a force of almost any magnitude eminence crowned with ruins above Deir might wait unsnspected. The main body in Duwiin. But Vandevelde contests this, the meanwhile, without diverging from the and places it at Tell-el-Hajar, i.e., the Tell road, would ascend the gently sloping valley or heap of roins; and G. Williams and e.nd appear before the town on the open Capt. Wilson ha"<'e independently fixed on battle-field which stretches away to its east the same spot, though they call it et-Tel, and south. From the knoll the figure of or " the heap,,. and suppose the "el-Hajar" J osbua would be plainly visible to either to ba"<'e been added in answer to the ques- party, \Vith his spear stretched against the tion, " ..,-bat heap? " This situation seems sky " (see eh. viii. 18). But the site still best to suit the requirements of the narra; eludes investigation. Lieut. Kitchener, Mr. ti..-e. For it is "on the southern brow of Birch, Mr. Guest; would place it at Kh-Haiy, the Wady-el-l\fotyab" (Vandevelde), near or the rock Rimmon. When those who have that "wild entanglement of hill and velley- visited the country are so divided in opinion, at the head of the Wady Haritb," which nothing but silence remains for those who "climbs into the heart of the mo1mtains of have not. Beth-aven (cf. 1 Sam. xiv. 23). Benjamin till it meets the central ridge of This place has not yet been identified. It the country at Bethel" (Stanley,' Sinai and was close by Ai, and not far from Bethel, as· Palestine,' p. 202). Its situation, unlike the transference of its name to Bethel by that of Turmns Aya, is calculated to give Hosea (iv. 15; v. 8; x. 5) shows. It could co"<'er to an ambush of 5,000 men, and it not have been a place of any importance, or also answers to the conditions in its near- the historian would not have found it neces- ness to Micbmash, from which Turmus Aya sary to explain where it was. Hosea has is more than three hours' journey distant. perhaps derived his knowledge of it from The Tell is "covered with heaps of ruins" this passage. Some writers have identified (Capt. Wilson, 'Palestine Exploration Fund it with Bethel. But this is obviously in- Qnarterly Statement,' iv. p. 124). Conder, correct, since the literal rendering of the however (' Handbook,' p. 254), identifies Hebrew here places Ai " in the immediate Ai with Haiyan, two miles from Bethel, proximity of Beth-aven, eastward of Bethel." in ihe same Wady, but why, be gives The LXX. omits all reference to Beth-avcn. no hiut. A fortress so •itnated was one But there are many various readings. Bethel which J osbua coultl. not leave in bis Formerly Luz (Gen. nviii. 19; xxxv. 7; rear, and so its capture was a matter Jndg. i. •23). The last-citecl passage seems of necessity. By its position, if not from to prove that Bethel was not among the the number .of its inhabitants, it waa cities taken during Joshua's campaign; CD. VII, 1-o,] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 115