So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
Parallel translations
- WEB So about three thousand men of the people went up there, 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 28:25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Lev 26:17And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
- Isa 30:17One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
- Isa 59:2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
- Deut 32:30How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut 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.