8:23-29 God, the righteous Judge, had sentenced the Canaanites for their wickedness; the Israelites only executed his doom. None of their conduct can be drawn into an example for others. Especial reason no doubt there was for this severity to the king of Ai; it is likely he had been notoriously wicked and vile, and a blasphemer of the God of Israel.
And so it was, that all that fell that day,.... Partly in the city, and partly in the field, both by the ambush and the army: both of men and women:
were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai; so that the city was not a very large one, and the numbers of inhabitants were comparatively but few, as in Joshua 7:3.
were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai; so that the city was not a very large one, and the numbers of inhabitants were comparatively but few, as in Joshua 7:3.