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OET (OET-LV) And_he/it_was just_as_saw the_king_of (the)_ˊAy and_they_hurried and_they_rose_early and_they_went_out the_men_of the_city to_meet Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) for_battle he and_all people_of_his to_place to_(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the_ˊArāⱱāh and_he not he_knew if/because_that an_ambush to_him/it was_(from)_behind the_city.
OET (OET-RV) When the king of Ay saw the Israelis, he hurriedly got his men ready, and went out early to meet Yisrael for the battle. The king and his people went to a prepared spot overlooking the Yordan valley, but he didn’t know that another group lay in ambush behind the city.
In chapter 7, Israel attacked Ai and the soldiers of Ai defeated them. They were discouraged but they repented of their sin. In chapter 8, God told Joshua to attack Ai again. This time, the Israelites were victorious and defeated Ai.
Verses 8:1–9 describe Joshua’s preparations to attack Ai, with details about the ambush. The soldiers in the ambush left by night ahead of the other soldiers. Verses 8:10–27 describe the movement of the soldiers, and the defeat of Ai. Verses 8:28–29 is a summary of the story.
Here are some other possible section headings:
The fall and destruction of Ai
Israel conquered Ai
When the king of Ai saw the Israelites,
¶ When the King of Ai saw the Israelite army,
¶ But the king of Ai saw Joshua and the Israelites.
When the king of Ai saw the Israelites: The King of Ai saw Joshua’s main army in its place north of the town, ready to attack the town.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
When the king of Ai saw the Israelite army
he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city
he and the people of his city got up early in the morning, and hurried out.
So he and his army went out early
he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city: The phrases he and the men of the city refer to the same group of fighting men in Ai. They can be translated as one phrase. For example:
he and all the men of the town hurried (NIV)
he hurried out: The phrase he hurried out indicates that they went quickly.
to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah.
They went to a place near the valley of the Jordan River, to attack the Israelites.
to meet the Israelites at a place near the valley of the Jordan River and fight them there.
to engage them in battle: The phrase to engage them in battle indicates that the king of Ai intended to fight as he had done the day before.
at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah: The Hebrew text is more literally “at the meeting place near the Arabah.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
to the meeting place near the Arabah (NET)
to meet…at a certain place overlooking the Arabah (NIV)
toward the Jordan Valley to fight…at the same place as before (GNT)
The army of Ai went toward the valley of the Jordan River. Some English versions include the implied information that the place was on the downhill slope toward the Jordan River. For example:
to the descent toward the Arabah (RSV)
on the slope facing the Arabah (NJB)
the Arabah: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as the Arabah refers to the valley of the Jordan River. This was east of the town of Ai. For example:
at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley (NLT)
But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
But the king did not know that there were more soldiers hiding behind the city.
But he didn’t realize that there were Israelite soldiers behind the city.
But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city: The clause an ambush had been set up against him refers to the Israelite soldiers who hid to attack the town by surprise. The king of Ai did not know about these soldiers.
behind the city: The phrase behind the city indicates the direction west of the town.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
כִּרְא֣וֹת מֶֽלֶךְ־הָעַ֗י
just,as_saw king of_(the),Ai
The author does not say specifically what the king of Ai saw. This could mean: (1) that the king saw Joshua. The author has just said that Joshua went and spent the night in the valley near Ai, and the king may have seen him in the morning and concluded that this was the main force of the Israelite army and that he could attack and destroy it. Alternate translation: [as soon as the king of Ai saw Joshua] (2) that the king saw that the Israelite army was north of the city. This could be a more general reference to the king seeing that the Israelites had set up their main camp to the north of the city. Alternate translation: [as soon as the king saw the Israelite army]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys
וַֽיְמַהֲר֡וּ וַיַּשְׁכִּ֡ימוּ
and,they_hurried and,they_rose_early
This phrase expresses a single idea by using two words connected with and. The word hurried tells in what way the men of the city got up early. Alternate translation: [quickly got up early]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
עַמּ֛וֹ
people_of,his
As in [6:5](../06/05.md), the term people refers to soldiers. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: [his soldiers] or [his army]
OET (OET-LV) And_he/it_was just_as_saw the_king_of (the)_ˊAy and_they_hurried and_they_rose_early and_they_went_out the_men_of the_city to_meet Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) for_battle he and_all people_of_his to_place to_(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the_ˊArāⱱāh and_he not he_knew if/because_that an_ambush to_him/it was_(from)_behind the_city.
OET (OET-RV) When the king of Ay saw the Israelis, he hurriedly got his men ready, and went out early to meet Yisrael for the battle. The king and his people went to a prepared spot overlooking the Yordan valley, but he didn’t know that another group lay in ambush behind the city.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.