8:29a

He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening: It is most likely that Joshua ordered his soldiers to kill the king. Then his dead body was hung on a tree. This was a common practice in the Ancient Near East. The bodies of defeated enemies were hung up as an example to others of what might happen to them.

until evening: The phrase until evening means until the sun went down.

8:29b

and at sunset: It may be more natural to begin a new sentence here. For example:

When the sun was setting

Joshua commanded: It may be necessary to make explicit to whom Joshua gave the command. He commanded some of his soldiers. For example:

Joshua told ⌊his soldiers⌋

8:29c

that they take down the body from the tree: The Israelite soldiers took the dead body of the king down from the tree on which it was hanging.

8:29d

and throw it down: The phrase throw it indicates that the soldiers threw down the corpse of the king.

at the entrance of the city gate: The phrase at the entrance of the city gate indicates a place in front of the town gates. A wall enclosed the town and people entered and left the town through the town gate.

8:29e

And over it they raised a large pile of rocks: The clause over it they raised a large pile of rocks indicates that the Israelite soldiers piled stones over the king’s dead body so that it was covered up.

which remains to this day: The pile of stones was still there in front of Ai at the time that the author wrote the book of Joshua.

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