Verse 21 essentially repeats the information in verse 20, but this time the focus is on the Israelites, while in verse 20 it is on the enemy.

Because of the duplication of information in verses 20-21, the two may be translated as a unit. Such restructuring may be advisable, since there is already a good deal of repetition in the narrative. One pattern might be:

• When the men from Ai looked back, they saw the smoke from their city rising to the sky. Joshua and his men also saw the smoke, and they knew that the other Israelite soldiers had captured the city and set it on fire. Now there was no place where the men of Ai could run for safety. So Joshua and his men turned around and began killing them.

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 .