8:23-27
The king of Ai was taken alive, and was brought to Joshua. Meanwhile the Israelites continued the slaughter of the Ai army and the inhabitants of Ai. There is much debate over the “genocide” in Joshua. It isn’t actually genocide, but there is no getting away from the fact that it is very bloody. The primary reason for the killing is that it is God’s judgement on the people, and the people were not quaint villagers. Child sacrifice and other such things went on in these places. It was also to protect Israel from following the ways of the pagans. There are attempts to show that some of the descriptions include hyperbole or exaggeration. That may be true as far as it goes, but that does not get away from the facts that many, many people were killed. One thing we can learn is that any notion that “a God of love will not send anyone to hell” is deeply misplaced.
8:28,29
Ai was made into a desolate place, though the Israelites had carried off the plunder. Having been brought to Joshua, the king may have hoped that his life was going to be spared. If so, he was very much mistaken. Joshua ordered him to be killed. He was impaled upon a pole, and a pile of rocks was later made over his body.
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