So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.
Parallel translations
- KJV So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
- BSB So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai.
- NKJV So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.
- NASB So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.
- NLT So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
About three thousand men went up but fled before the men of Ai. The small, weak town routed Israel, revealing that something was deeply wrong.
Overview
The unexpected defeat at insignificant Ai stands in stark contrast to the fall of fortified Jericho. The difference was not military but spiritual: God was no longer with them because of Achan's sin. The flight of Israel's troops signals that without God's presence, even an easy victory becomes impossible.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 28:25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Lev 26:17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Isa 30:17One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
- Isa 59:2But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- Deut 32:30How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 7:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.