Joshua 8:29

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 the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide,.... By way of terror to other kings in the land of Canaan, that should refuse to submit unto him: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree; according to the law in Deuteronomy 21:23; and that the land might not be defiled: and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city; this was done, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, that it might be publicly known to the rest of the kings of the nations, that they might be afraid to fight with Israel: and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day; as a sepulchral monument, showing that there was a person lay interred there; whether there was any inscription on the stone, showing who he was, does not appear; it looks as if it was only a rude heap of stones; and such kind of sepulchral monuments were common in former times in other countries.

(29) And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree. —(See Note on Deuteronomy 21:22-23 .) Heb., on the tree. Why “ the tree”? It would appear from Joshua 8:2 ; Joshua 10:1 , that the king of Jericho was also hanged; possibly both were hanged on the same tree, and were exhibited, each in turn, as “the curse of God.” But when we read of this treatment of the enemies of Joshua, we cannot but be reminded of the greater Joshua, who fulfilled the curse of God in His own person, and made a show of the “principalities and powers” by triumphing over them in His cross. (Comp. also Esther 9:10 ; Esther 9:13 .) Jericho and Ai are the only cities of Canaan of which the capture by Joshua is recorded in detail. Their capture stands in the narrative, as it was in fact, a specimen of the whole conquest of the Canaanite cities. Two campaigns in like manner are recorded as specimens of Joshua’s battles with the enemy in the open field. In the capture of Jericho and in the southern campaign, the hand of God is more especially manifested. In the capture of Ai and in the northern campaign, the labour of Israel in the conflict is more prominent. The whole work is thus presented to us in a twofold aspect, as the work of Israel and the work of God. A great heap of stones.—Not only the death, but the burial of the king of Ai is recorded, as also the burial of the five kings in Joshua 10:27. The same thing was done to Achan (Joshua 7:26), and to Absalom (2Samuel 18:17).

Joshua 8:29 . The king of Ai he hanged on a tree — He dealt more severely with the kings of Canaan than with the people, because the abominable wickedness of that people was not restrained and punished, (as it ought to have been,) but countenanced and encouraged by their evil examples; and because they were the principal authors of the destruction of their own people, by engaging them in an obstinate opposition against the Israelites. Down from the tree — According to God’s command in that case, Deuteronomy 21:22 . The gate of the city — Which place he chose either as most commodious, now especially, when all the city within the gate was already turned into a heap of stones and rubbish; or because this was the usual place of judgment, and therefore proper to bear the monument of God’s just sentence against him, not without reflection upon that injustice which he had been guilty of in that place.

29 . he hanged on a tree ] “He hongid in a gybet,” Wyclif. Hanging is mentioned as a distinct punishment, Numbers 25:4 . In Deuteronomy 21:22 we read that in certain cases the criminal was put to death, and after that , his dead body was hung on a tree till eventide; the king of Ai was probably slain and then hanged on a cross or gallows. as soon as the sun was down ] This was in accordance with the Mosaic Law, which directed, Deuteronomy 21:23 , that a man’s body should “not remain all night upon the tree.” Comp. also Joshua 10:27 . and raise thereon a great heap of stones ] Comp. Joshua 7:26 . Two words are used for “heap” in Joshua 8:28-29 . The first ( Tel ) indicates the ruins of the city itself, the second ( Gal ) the cairn over the king’s grave. Joshua 8:29

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded {m} that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day. (m) According as it was commanded, De 21:23.

He dealt more severely with the kings of Canaan than with the people, partly because the abominable wickedness of that people was not restrained and punished, (as it should have been,) but countenanced and encouraged by their evil examples and administrations; and partly because they were the principal authors of the destruction of their own people, by engaging them in an obstinate opposition against the Israelites. That they should take his carcass down from the tree, according to God’s command in that case, Deu 21:22,23 . He chose the entering of the gate of the city, either as most commodious, now especially when all the city within the gate was already turned into a heap of stones and rubbish; or because this was the usual place of judgment, and therefore proper to bear the monument of God’s just sentence against him, not without reflection upon that injustice which he had been guilty of in that place.

Jos 8:29. The King Hanged. 29. The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide—that is, gibbeted. In ancient, and particularly Oriental wars, the chiefs, when taken prisoners, were usually executed. The Israelites were obliged, by the divine law, to put them to death. The execution of the king of Ai would tend to facilitate the conquest of the land, by striking terror into the other chiefs, and making it appear a judicial process, in which they were inflicting the vengeance of God upon His enemies. take his carcass down … and raise thereon a great heap of stones—It was taken down at sunset, according to the divine command (De 21:23), and cast into a pit dug "at the entering of the gate," because that was the most public place. An immense cairn was raised over his grave—an ancient usage, still existing in the East, whereby is marked the sepulchre of persons whose memory is infamous.

He had the king of Ai hanged upon a tree, i.e., put to death, and then suspended upon a stake (see Numbers 25:4 ) until the evening; but at sunset he had him taken down (in accordance with Deuteronomy 21:22-23 ), and thrown at the entrance of the town-gate, and a heap of stones piled upon him (as in the case of Achan, Joshua 7:26 ).

[Bible] 8:21. So Josue, and all Israel, seeing that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned, and slew the men of Hai. 8:22. And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved. 8:23. And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him to Josue. 8:24. So all being slain that had pursued after Israel, in his flight to the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste the city. 8:25. And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand persons, all of the city of Hai. 8:26. But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain. 8:27. And the children of Israel divided among them, the cattle and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue. 8:28. And he burnt the city, and made it a heap forever: 8:29. And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet, until the evening and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day. 8:30. Then Josue built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Hebal, 8:31. As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones, which iron had not touched: and he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace offerings. 8:32. And he wrote upon stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.