The following morning (as is implied by spent the night in verse 13), as soon as the king of Ai saw what was happening, he took action. The Hebrew text says simply “when the king of Ai saw” (Revised Standard Version), the implied object being, most likely, the main Israelite force north of the city. Good News Translation supplies Joshua’s men as object of the verb saw; “the main Israelite force north of the city” or “the Israelite army north of the city” will also suffice as object.

The Hebrew text of verse 14 is wordy and none too clear; a literal translation would be as follows:

• And it was when the king of Ai saw (it), and they hurried and were eager and went out, the men of the city, to encounter Israel in battle, he and all his people, for the appointed time (or, place) facing the valley, and he did not know that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.

He acted quickly of Good News Translation combines two Hebrew verbs (“hurried and were eager”); one may combine the two: “he did not hesitate long.”

The Jordan Valley translates “the Arabah” (Revised Standard Version), which was east of the city.

New English Bible, following the Septuagint, omits the Hebrew phrase represented in the literal translation above by “for the appointed time (place) facing the valley.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Hebrew and translates the phrase as “for the encounter,” saying it “can refer to an agreement, whether of place, time, tactic or sign.” The Bible de Jérusalem footnote translates “place of meeting” (lieu de rendez-vous); Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “a certain place” (un lieu fixé). New American Bible, Revised Standard Version follow a conjecture “to the descent” (as in 7.5). Good News Translation takes the Hebrew to mean “appointed place,” which it interprets to refer to the place of the previous encounter between the forces of Ai and the Israelites, at the same place as before. This problematic phrase may also be represented by the adverb “there”: “to attack them there.”

Not knowing that … from the rear may be better rendered as a complete sentence: “he did not know that other Israelite soldiers were going to attack him from the rear” or “… that Joshua had laid an ambush for him.”

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 .