Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
35,156 commentary entries
All active commentary sources
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:14
When the king of Ai saw it. The particle כְ here employed signifies immediate action. At a time appointed. Or, at the signal. Keil, following Luther, would prefer at the place appointed, which seems to agree best with w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:15
Made as though they were beaten. "Joshua conquered by yielding. So our Lord Jesus Christ, when He bowed His head and gave up the ghost, seemed as if death had triumphed over Him; but in His resurrection He rallied again…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:16
Were called together. So the Masorites. Perhaps it would be better to translate, raised a cry ("at illi vociferantes." Vulgate. "Da schrie das ganze Volk." Luther). This gives us the scene in all its picturesque detail.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:17
Or Bethel. These words are not in the LXX; and they may possibly have been a marginal gloss, for the intervention of the people of Bethel in this battle is very unintelligible. See note on Joshua 7:2. On the other hand,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:18
The spear. כִידוֹן, a kind of long and slender lance, probably, like those of our lancers, with a flag attached. It is thus described by Kimchi. Jahn, in his 'Archesologia Biblica,' takes this view. But the Vulgate here…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:19
On trying again. A Jewish proverb says there are three men who get no pity—an unsecured creditor, a henpecked husband, and a man that does not try again. This faculty of trying again is one of the qualities of noble nat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:20
And they had no power. Literally, no hands. Our version here follows the Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee versions. The LXX. and Vulgate render no direction in which to fly. But in this case לָהֶם would seem preferable to בָ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:22
So that they let none of them remain or escape. Literally, until there remained to them neither remainder nor fugitive.
Matthew Henry on Joshua 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 t…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 8:23-29
We have here an account of the improvement which the Israelites made of their victory over Ai. 1. They put all to the sword, not only in the field, but in the city, man, woman, and child, none of them remained, Joshua 8…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:24
In the wilderness. The LXX. must have read בַמּוֹרָד in the going down, or descent. Returned unto Ai and smote it. According to God's command, the defenceless inhabitants must share the fate of the army (see Deuteronomy…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:25
All the men of Ai. Clearly all the population, as the context shows.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:26
Utterly destroyed. Hebrew, הֶחֶרִים (see note on Joshua 6:17).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:27
Only the cattle (see Joshua 8:2).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:28
And Joshua burnt Ai. He continued the work of destruction which the ambush had begun, until the city was entirely destroyed. The word in verse 19 ( שׂרף) has rather the sense of kindling a fire; the word here ( יצת( ere…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 8:30-35
As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, De 11;…
Sacrifice Offered on Mount Ebal; The Reading of the Law. (b. c. 1451.)
SACRIFICE OFFERED ON MOUNT EBAL; THE READING OF THE LAW. (B. C. 1451.) This religious solemnity of which we have here an account comes in somewhat surprisingly in the midst of the history of the wars of Canaan. After th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The altar on Ebal, and the reading and recording of the law. We come on this scene unexpectedly. War, with its stratagems, its carnage, its inversion of ancient order, was filling our mind. But suddenly, instead of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
Sacrifice and law. This religious solemnity is a fulfilment of the command given by Moses in Deuteronomy 27:1-26. It is expressive of the fidelity of Joshua to the sacred traditions of the past, and his loyalty to the D…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The fruits of victory. "Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord.… And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses … And he read all the words of the law." There is always danger in the moment after victor…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
EXPOSITION THE COPY OF THE LAW.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30
Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. This passage has been pronounced to be an interpolation by Meyer, De Wette, Maurer, Rosenmuller, Knobel, and others. The LXX. does not introduce it h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The setting up the law. The provision for the due observance of God's law was one of the most remarkable features of the invasion of Canaan by Joshua. Twice was the command given in Deuteronomy by Moses (Deuteronomy 11:…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:31
As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded (see Exodus 20:25; Deuteronomy 27:4, Deuteronomy 27:5). Here, and in Joshua 8:33, we find the writer making an extract from the Book of Deuteronomy. As has been before said, th…