Joshua placed a smaller group of five thousand men in ambush west of Ai, between it and Bethel, which was 3 kilometers west of Ai. The account of the ambush found here is distinct from that of verse 3. Whereas verse 3 speaks of thirty thousand men, this verse is more modest and speaks of only five thousand. It is not being true to the text to translate “another five thousand men” (Living Bible). The translator must always be conscious of the problems keeping parts of a discourse consistent with each other; however, one must never employ translational techniques as a means of covering over obvious textual difficulties.

He took … and put must not be understood to imply that Joshua accompanied the men. The meaning is “Joshua ordered about five thousand of his men to hide west of the city….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .