Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)You’ll do to Ay and its king what you did to Yericho and its king,[fn] except that you all can plunder its spoil and its livestock for yourselves. Ambush the city from behind.”
8:2We’re not actually given any details about what happened to the king of Yericho.
Key: khaki:verbs.
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 ποιήσεις τὴν Γαὶ, ὃν τρόπον ἐποίησας τὴν Ἱεριχὼ, καὶ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῆς· καὶ τὴν προνομὴν τῶν κτηνῶν προνομεύσεις σεαυτῷ· κατάστησον δὲ σεαυτῷ ἔνεδρα τῇ πόλει εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω. (Kai poiaʸseis taʸn Gai, hon tropon epoiaʸsas taʸn Hieriⱪō, kai ton basilea autaʸs; kai taʸn pronomaʸn tōn ktaʸnōn pronomeuseis seautōi; katastaʸson de seautōi enedra taʸ polei eis ta opisō. )
BrTrAnd thou shalt do to Gai, as thou didst to Jericho and its king; and thou shalt take to thyself the spoil of its cattle; set now for thyself an ambush for the city behind.
ULTAnd you shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its spoil and its livestock for yourselves. Set for yourselves an ambush against the city from behind it.”
USTYour army must do to the city of Ai and its people and king the same thing that you did to the city of Jericho and its people and king. But this time I will allow you to take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. Tell some of your soldiers to hide behind the city and prepare to attack it suddenly.”
BSBAnd you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
OEBTreat Ai and its king as you treated Jericho and its king, except that you may take the spoils and cattle in it for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the town to the west of it.’
WEBBEYou shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
NETDo to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”
LSVand you have done to Ai and to her king as you have done to Jericho and to her king; only spoil its spoil and its livestock for yourselves; for you set an ambush for the city at its rear.”
FBVYou will do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. However, this time you may keep for yourselves the plunder and the livestock. Set up an ambush behind the town.”
T4TYour army will do to the people of Ai and their king like what you did to the people of Jericho and their king. But this time I will permit you to take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. But first, tell some of your soldiers to hide behind the city and prepare to suddenly attack it.”
BBEAnd you are to do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king: but their goods and their cattle you may take for yourselves: let a secret force be stationed to make a surprise attack on the town from the back.
Moffand you shall treat Ai and its king as you treated Jericho and its king, except that you may take the spoils and cattle in it for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the town in the rear.”
JPSAnd thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king; only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves; set thee an ambush for the city behind it.'
ASVand thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: set thee an ambush for the city behind it.
DRAAnd thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof: but the spoils and all the cattle you shall take for a prey to yourselves: lay an ambush for the city behind it.
YLTand thou hast done to Ai and to her king as thou hast done to Jericho and to her king; only, its spoil and its cattle ye spoil for yourselves; set for thee an ambush for the city at its rear.'
DrbyAnd thou shalt do to Ai and to its king as thou didst to Jericho and to its king; only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye take as prey for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.
RVAnd thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: set thee an ambush for the city behind it. (And thou/you shalt/shall do to Ai and her king as thou/you didst/did unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye/you_all take for a prey unto yourselves: set thee/you an ambush for the city behind it. )
SLTAnd do to Ai and to her king as thou didst to Jericho and to her king: only its plunder and her cattle ye shall plunder to yourselves: set to thee an ambush to the city from behind it.
WbstrAnd thou shalt do to Ai and her king, as thou didst to Jericho and her king: only its spoil, and its cattle, shall ye take for a prey to yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
KJB-1769And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it. (And thou/you shalt/shall do to Ai and her king as thou/you didst/did unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye/you_all take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee/you an ambush for the city behind it. )
KJB-1611And thou shalt doe to Ai and her king, as thou diddest vnto Iericho and her king: Onely the spoile thereof and the cattell thereof shall ye take for a pray vnto your selues: lay thee an ambush for the citie, behind it. (And thou/you shalt/shall do to Ai and her king, as thou/you didst/did unto Yericho and her king: Only the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye/you_all take for a pray unto yourselves: lay thee/you an ambush for the city, behind it.)
GnvaAnd thou shalt doe to Ai and to the King thereof, as thou didst vnto Iericho and to the King thereof: neuerthelesse the spoyle thereof and the cattell thereof shall ye take vnto you for a praye: thou shalt lye in wait against the citie on the backside thereof. (And thou/you shalt/shall do to Ai and to the King thereof, as thou/you didst/did unto Yericho and to the King thereof: nevertheless the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye/you_all take unto you for a pray: thou/you shalt/shall lie in wait against the city on the backside thereof. )
ClVgFaciesque urbi Hai, et regi ejus, sicut fecisti Jericho, et regi illius: prædam vero, et omnia animantia diripietis vobis: pone insidias urbi post eam. (Facesque urbi Hai, and to_rule his, like you_did Yericho, and to_rule of_that: loot indeed/however, and everything animantiadiripietisvobis: pone insidias urbi after her. )
8:2 Unlike other ancient nations, who went to war to gain wealth, Israel served as God’s agent of judgment upon the Canaanites; the plunder and the livestock were incidental. • The strategy for capturing Ai was to plan an ambush. Joshua executed God’s simple instructions well. • behind the town: On its west side (8:12).
If it would appear in your language that Yahweh was making a statement here and then contradicting it, you could reverse the order of the clauses so that the exception is stated first and the thing that God required the Israelites to do is stated second. Alternate translation: [Now you may plunder the spoil of Ai and its livestock for yourselves, but otherwise you must do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king]
[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.
