Paragraph 7:2–5

Joshua sent the Israelite army to fight against the men of Ai, but the Israelites were defeated.

7:2a

Meanwhile: The Hebrew text has a word that introduces the next event in the storyline. The Berean Standard Bible translates it as Meanwhile, but some English versions do not translate this word. Some English versions begin this verse with the connector “now.” Introduce this next event in a way that is natural in your language.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai: The men that Joshua sent were Israelites. They were not people of Jericho. The Israelites were camped near Jericho following the battle. The New Living Translation (2004) makes this clear:

Joshua sent some of his men (New Living Translation (2004))

Ai: Ai is the name of a town. It was smaller than Jericho.

7:2b

which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel: These are the names of small towns. Ai was near the town of Beth-aven and was east of the town of Bethel.

7:2c

and told them: Joshua gave the men instructions before he sent them to Ai. The Hebrew text uses a direct quote for Joshua’s instructions. Some English versions put these brief instructions into an indirect quote.

The NET Bible has a direct quote:

and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land” (NET Bible)

The Good News Translation has an indirect quote:

Joshua sent some men…with orders to go and explore the land (Good News Translation)

Use the kind of quotation that is most natural in your language.

Go up: Ai was at a higher elevation than the Israelite camp. Hebrew verbs keep track of elevation, and thus it says Go up. If your language does not keep track of elevation, it may be more natural to say “go.”

and spy out the land: The phrase spy out the land means “look at the land and learn about it.” Joshua wanted to know information that would help him to plan an attack on Ai.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

find out whatever you can (Contemporary English Version)

land: The word land refers to both the town of Ai and to the land that surrounded it.

7:2d

So: The Hebrew connector that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that 7:2d is the result of 7:2c. Use a natural way to indicate result in your language.

the men went up and spied out Ai: This clause indicates that the men obeyed Joshua’s instructions. In some languages it may not be natural to repeat the information again. If that is true in your language, you may express the idea in a different way. For example:

so they did it
-or-
so the men obeyed Joshua

went up: See the note on “go up” in 7:2c.

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