The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 195

36,000 men remaining undetected (and rites tmd LXX. prefer the reading Ai (i.,,, they were specially instructed-see next 'll for i'J!), in the margin of our Bibles, to verse-not to station themselves far from that in the text, which is followed by the the city), we have the plain statement in Vulgate and Luther. ver. 12 :::i:,~N CQiN c~:l "he stationed (or Ver. 13.-And when they had set. This had stationed) them as an ambush." may mean the leaders of the detachment of Ver. 5.-We w1ll flee before them. A 30,000. Joshna does not appear to have common expedient of a sagacious general been with them, for he is not mentioned till ~vhen contendin!l _with undisciplined troops the latter part of the verse (see note on 1s a strong pos1t10n. Many instances will ver. 3). Joshua went that n1ght. Having occur to the student of history, and among made all his dispositions, he descended in ot~e~s the celebrated feigned flight of the evening from his vantage-ground on the Willia°:' the Conqueror at Hastings. St. hill into the plain, so as to invite attack in Augustme doubts whether this stratagem the morning, a stratagem which (see next were lawful. Cajetan and the Jesuit com- verse) was completely successful. Some me~tators reply that it was so " quie. men- MSS., however, he.ve 1~:,1 "and he rested," dacium non tarn facile committitur factis que.m verbis" (Cornelius a Lapide). ' for ";J?'.1 "e.nd he went:" here. The valley. Ver. 6.-For they w1ll come. Literally, The word here is P7?l,! not •~ e.s in ver. 11. "and they will come." We have drawn. Therefore the narrow waterless re.vine in Literally, caused to pluck away (see note which the troops in ambush were to lie hid on eh. iv. 18). Luther tre.nslates well by is not meant here, but a wider valley. A con- reissen, and the LXX. by a11"0111rciuwµ,v. sideration of this fact might do something Ver. 8. - According to the command- to settle the much-disputed question of the ment of the Lord. The LXX. seems to have situation of A.i. The PQV. though deep, as read 1"1:!rT i:;17:;, according to this word. the name implies, was a 'valley large enough Ver. 9.-Between Bethel and A1 /see for cultivation or luxariant vegetation (Job above, eh. vii. 2). x.xxix.10; Psa. I.xv. 14; Cant. ii. 1). Even a Ver. 10. - And numbered the people. battle might be fought there (Job xxxix. 21). Or reviewed, or mustered. The word is Such a valley as the.t of Chamonix or Lauter- frequently translated visited in Scripture. briinnen would answer to the description, It then came to mean a visit for the sake of and so would the passes of Glencoe and inspection. The elders of Israel Joshua's Killiecrankie. council, alike of war and of peace. Before Ver. 14.-When the king of Ai saw It. the people. Literally, in their sight (~ara The particle :;i here employed signifies imme- 11'pauw11'ov, LXX.), i.e., at their head. diate action. • At a time appointed. Or, at Ver. 11.-And all the people, even the the signal. Keil, following Luther, woc.ld people of war that were with him. Liter- prefer at the place appointed, which seems ally, all the people, the war that were to agree best with what follows. Some with him, Probably the word l&•N has copies of the LXX. have i1r ,i,6,ia,;. Before ~een omitted by an early copyist. Imply- the pla.in. Literally, before, or in sight of; ing, no doubt, that the non-warlike portion i.e., in the direction of the Arabah (see of the community had been left uncler a above, eh. iii. 16). guard at Jericho (see also ver. 1). On the Ver. 15.-Made as though they were north side. Joshua made a detour, and en- beaten. •' Joshua. conquered by yielding. camped on a hill on the other side of the So our Lord Jesus Christ, when He bowed wady. Now there was a valley. Literally, His head and gave up the ghost, seemed as and the valley was. This valley, the Wady if death had triumphed over Him ; but in Mutyah (see Robinson II. sec. 10, and note His resurrection He rallied again, ancl gave on ver. 2, eh. vii.), is a remarkable feature the powers of darkness a total defeat" of the country round Ai. Our version misses (Matthew Henry). By the way of the wilder- this sign of personal acquaintance with the ness. North-westwaf<I, in the ,lirection of locality on the part of the historian. the wilderness of Bethel (eh. xvi. 1) Ver. 12.-And he took about five thou- Ver. 16.-Were called together. So the sand men (see above, ver. 3). We must Masorites. Perhaps it would be better to trans- translate had taken. The repetition is late, raised a CMJ (" at illi vociferantes." Vul- quite in the manner of the Hebrew writers. gate. "Da schrie das gauze Volk." Luther). This passage is of course, according to the This gives us the scene in all its pictw·esque J~hovist and Elohist theory, "quite irrecon- detail. We hear the exultant shout of the cilable" with the rest of the narrative. So men of Ai, as they thought the victory won. we are told that this is a Jehovistic interpo- The LXX. appear to have read P!~ for Pl!! lation (Knobel). Of the city. The Maso- for they translate ivfoxva,. The city. The 13-l THE BOOR OF JOSHUA. [oa. vm. 1-29.