Joshua 8:28

Joshua 8:28 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.
• New International Version (NIV)So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.

Context of Joshua 8:28

26For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed. 27Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the Lord had commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned the town of Ai, and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day. 29Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today. 30Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal.

Joshua 8:28 word by word

וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ף יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ אֶת־הָעָ֑י וַיְשִׂימֶ֤הָ תֵּל־עוֹלָם֙ שְׁמָמָ֔ה עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Joshuaיְהוֹשׁוּעַyehôshûa‛ yehôshûa‛ · JoshuaH3091
• burntשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• Aiעַי‛ay ‛ayâ' ‛ayâth · AiH5857
• and madeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• it an heapתֵּלtêl · moundH8510
• for everעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769
• a desolationשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
• unto this dayיוֹםyôm · day: todayH3117

Cross-references for Joshua 8:28

• Deuteronomy 13:16Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it. Burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt.
• 2 Kings 19:25“But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen. I planned for you to crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble.
• Isaiah 17:1This message came to me concerning Damascus: “Look, the city of Damascus will disappear! It will become a heap of ruins.
• Isaiah 25:2You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.
• Jeremiah 9:11“I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,” says the Lord. “It will be a place haunted by jackals. The towns of Judah will be ghost towns, with no one living in them.”
• Jeremiah 49:2In the days to come,” says the Lord, “I will sound the battle cry against your city of Rabbah. It will become a desolate heap of ruins, and the neighboring towns will be burned. Then Israel will take back the land you took from her,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 50:26Yes, come against her from distant lands. Break open her granaries. Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble. Destroy her completely, and leave nothing!
• Micah 3:12Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.
• Joshua 4:9Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.

Commentaries on Joshua 8:28

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Unto this day - This last clause was probably added by a later hand.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23-29Verses 23-29 God, the righteous Judge, had sentenced the Canaanites for their wickedness; the Israelites only executed his doom. None of their conduct can be drawn into an example for others. Especial reason no doubt there was for this severity to the king of Ai; it is likely he had been notoriously wicked and vile, and a blasphemer of the God of Israel.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28Before its destruction, the town of Ai had a different name that is now unknown. The writer of the book of Joshua always called the town Ai, which means “ruin.” This name reflects what the town became after it was destroyed.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever--"For ever" often signifies "a long time" (Ge 6:3). One of the remarkable things with regard to the tell we have identified with Ai is its name--the tell of the heap of stones--a name which to this day remains [Van De Velde].Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 8:28

• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Ai
• Joshua
• Ambush
• Heap
• Raise
• Wait
• Exodus, the Book of
• Joshua, Book of
• Palestine
• Palestine Exploration

Commentaries on Joshua 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings