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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)Then Yahweh told Yehoshua, “Hold your spear out pointing towards Ay, because I will allow you to defeat it.” So Yehoshua held the spear that was in his hand out toward the city.
Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν, ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐν τῷ γαισῷ τῷ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, εἰς γὰρ τὰς χεῖράς σου παραδέδωκα αὐτήν· καὶ τὰ ἔνεδρα ἐξαναστήσονται ἐν τάχει ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐξέτεινεν Ἰησοῦς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὸν γαισὸν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν· (Kai eipe Kurios pros Yaʸsoun, ekteinon taʸn ⱪeira sou en tōi gaisōi tōi en taʸ ⱪeiri sou epi taʸn polin, eis gar tas ⱪeiras sou paradedōka autaʸn; kai ta enedra exanastaʸsontai en taⱪei ek tou topou autōn. Kai exeteinen Yaʸsous taʸn ⱪeira autou ton gaison epi taʸn polin; )
BrTrAnd the Lord said to Joshua, Stretch forth thy hand with the spear that is in thy hand toward the city, for I have delivered it into thy hands; and the liers in wait shall rise up quickly out of their place.
ULTAnd Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stretch out with the javelin that is in your hand toward the Ai, because I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out with the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
USTThen Yahweh said to Joshua, “Lift up your spear and point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed his spear toward Ai.
BSB § Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance [fn] toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,
8:18Or javelin; twice in this verse, and also in verse 26
WEBBEThe LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand towards Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” ¶ Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand towards the city.
NETThe Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.
LSVAnd YHWH says to Joshua, “Stretch out with the javelin which [is] in your hand toward Ai, for I give it into your hand”; and Joshua stretches out with the javelin which [is] in his hand toward the city,
FBVThen the Lord told Joshua, “Hold up the spear in your hand and point it at Ai, because I'm giving it to you.” So Joshua held up the spear in his hand and pointed it at the town.
T4TThen Yahweh said to Joshua, “Lift up your spear and point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed his spear toward Ai.
LEBAnd Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stretch out the sword[fn] that is in your hand to Ai, because I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the sword that was in his hand to the city.
BBEAnd the Lord said to Joshua, Let your spear be stretched out against Ai; for I will give it into your hands. So Joshua took up his spear, stretching it out in the direction of the town.
MoffIn the morning the townsmen rose and marched out to fight Israel. They beat Joshua and all Israel, who fled in the direction of the desert; 16 all the townsmen of Ai were called out to pursue them, and in their pursuit of Joshua they left the town unguarded. Then said the Eternal to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin in your hand towards Ai, for I put Ai in your power.” And as soon as Joshua stretched out the javelin 19 towards the town, the men in ambush rushed into the town and captured it, while the Israelites who were flying towards the desert turned upon their pursuers, seeing that the men in ambush had captured the town. When the Israelites and Joshua had finished slaughtering the townsmen of Ai who had run into the desert and when they had cut them down, giving no quarter, all Israel then returned to Ai and sacked it. All the folk of Ai fell that day, both men and women, twelve thousand in all; Joshua never withdrew the hand that held his javelin until he had massacred all the folk of Ai. Only the Israelites took the spoils and cattle of the town for themselves, as the Eternal had given orders to Joshua. Ai itself Joshua burned, and made it a heap of ruins; to this day it lies desolate. When the king of Ai saw this, he and his men made an early start; not knowing that an ambush had been laid behind the town they allowed themselves to be drawn away from the town, till not a man was left in Ai who did not go out after Israel. The men in ambush then came out quickly and hurried to set the town on fire, so that when the men of Ai turned round to look, there was smoke rising from the town! They had no chance to flee this way or that, for the pursued turned upon the pursuers when they saw the smoke rising from the town, and the men in ambush rushed from the town to join them, so that the men of Ai were caught between Israelites, some on one side and some on the other; they were slaughtered till not a soul escaped or remained alive. The king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua, who hung him on a tree till evening; at sunset Joshua ordered his body to be taken down from the tree and thrown down at the entrance to the town-gate. They raised a cairn of stones over it, which is there to this day.
JPSAnd the LORD said unto Joshua: 'Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand.' And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
ASVAnd Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
DRAThe Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy hand, towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.
YLTAnd Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Stretch out with the javelin which [is] in thy hand towards Ai, for into thy hand I give it;' and Joshua stretcheth out with the javelin which [is] in his hand toward the city,
DrbyAnd Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that he had in his hand toward the city.
RVAnd the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
WbstrAnd the LORD said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand towards Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand towards the city.
KJB-1769And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. (And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy/your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine/your hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. )
KJB-1611And the LORD said vnto Ioshua, Stretch out the speare that is in thy hand, toward Ai; for I will giue it into thine hand. And Ioshua stretched out the speare that hee had in his hand, toward the city. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))
BshpsAnd the Lorde sayde vnto Iosuah: Stretch out ye speare that is in thine hand towarde Ai, for I will geue it into thy hand. And Iosuah stretched out the speare that he had in his hand, towarde the citie. (And the Lord said unto Yoshua: Stretch out ye/you_all spear that is in thine/your hand towarde Ai, for I will give it into thy/your hand. And Yoshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand, towarde the city.)
GnvaThen the Lord said vnto Ioshua, Stretch out the speare that is in thine hande, towarde Ai: for I wil giue it into thine hand: and Ioshua stretched out the speare that hee had in his hand, toward the citie. (Then the Lord said unto Yoshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thine/your hand, towarde Ai: for I will give it into thine/your hand: and Yoshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand, toward the city. )
CvdlThe sayde ye LORDE vnto Iosua: Reach out the speare that thou hast in thine hande, towarde Hai: for I wyll delyuer it in to thy hande. And whan Iosua reached out the speare that was in his hande, towarde ye cite, (The said ye/you_all LORD unto Yoshua: Reach out the spear that thou/you hast in thine/your hand, towarde Hai: for I will deliver it in to thy/your hand. And when Yoshua reached out the spear that was in his hand, towarde ye/you_all city,)
Wyclthe Lord seide to Josue, `Reise thou the scheeld which is in thin hond, ayens the citee of Hay; for Y schal yyue it to thee. (the Lord said to Yosue, `Reise thou/you the shield which is in thin hand, against the city of Hay; for I shall give it to thee/you.)
LuthDa sprach der HErr zu Josua: Recke aus die Lanze in deiner Hand gegen Ai, denn ich will sie in deine Hand geben. Und da Josua die Lanze in seiner Hand gegen die Stadt ausreckte, (So spoke the/of_the LORD to Yosua: Recke out_of the Lanze in deiner hand gegen Ai, because I will they/she/them in your hand give. And there Yosua the Lanze in his hand gegen the city ausreckte,)
ClVgdixit Dominus ad Josue: Leva clypeum, qui in manu tua est, contra urbem Hai, quoniam tibi tradam eam. (dixit Master to Yosue: Leva clypeum, who in by_hand your it_is, on_the_contrary city Hai, quoniam to_you tradam eam. )
stretch_out (Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_said YHWH to/towards Yəhōshūˊa/(Joshua) stretch_out in/on/at/with,javelin which/who in/on/at/with,hand,your to/towards the,Ai that/for/because/then/when in/on/at/with,hand,your give,it and,stretched_out Yəhōshūˊa/(Joshua) in/on/at/with,javelin which/who in=his/its=hand to/towards the=city )
This action was a literal sign to Joshua’s soldiers to attack Ai, as the next verse indicates, but it was probably also a symbolic indication that Ai was to be destroyed. You should retain this action in your translation. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate its meaning in footnote.
[Author’s note: This map and article assume that Ai was located at Khirbet al-Maqatir and Bethel was located at al-Bira. It is beyond the scope of this article to present all the convincing reasons for these assumptions, but they are well summarized in the following articles: “Traditional Site of Bethel Questioned,”“Location of Biblical Bethel and Ai Reconsidered,” and “The Khirbet el-Maqatir Excavations.” The expected locations for Roman mile markers are also included on this map, which confirm that al-Bira is located precisely at the twelfth mile marker from Jerusalem, as Eusebius and Jerome both asserted. All other maps in this Atlas have been recently updated to use these same locations for Ai and Bethel.
Soon after the Israelites entered the Promised Land and captured the city of Jericho, they sent a force of only three thousand men to capture the much smaller fortified town of Ai (Joshua 7). They suffered defeat, however, and the Lord revealed to them that this happened because a man named Achan had taken some of the devoted items from Jericho. So Joshua took Achan and his family to the Valley of Achor and executed them there (see Israel Enters the Promised Land map). Later the Lord told Joshua to attack Ai again, because this time he was going to give them the town. It appears that Ai, which had a direct line of sight to the more powerful city of Jerusalem to the south, must have served as a sort of early warning outpost for the larger city. Thus, capturing Ai was critical to staging an effective battle campaign throughout southern Canaan. So Joshua advanced with thirty thousand troops during the night and camped north of the city, and he positioned a force of five thousand men in ambush between Bethel and Ai, just to the west of Ai. The men in ambush were also just east of the mountain where Abraham had pitched his tent centuries earlier (Genesis 12:8). Joshua himself spent the night in the valley between Ai and the main Israelite camp. Early the next morning, the king of Ai led all the inhabitants of the town in an attack on the main camp of the Israelites, who feigned retreat into the wilderness. After the Israelite army had drawn the people of Ai away from the town, the Israelites hiding in ambush rose up and captured Ai. They set the town on fire, sending a signal to the the main army of Israelites to turn back upon the forces of Ai. The Israelites completely destroyed the people of Ai and reduced the town to a burning heap of ruins.
