Joshua 7:5
3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
- KJV
- And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
- WEB
- The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.
- ASV
- And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; and they chased them [from] before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the descent; and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
- DARBY
- And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men; and they pursued them from before the gate to Shebarim, and smote them on the descent. Then the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
- BLB
- And the men of Ai struck down from them about thirty and six men, and they chased them from the face of the gate as far as Shebarim, and they struck them down on the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became water.
- ÅB
- Og Ai-mennene slo ihjel omkring seks og tretti mann av dem og forfulgte dem fra porten like til stenbruddene og hugg dem ned i bakkene; da ble folkets hjerte fullt av angst, og deres mot ble rent borte.
- OTB
- Mennene fra Ai slo ned omkring trettiseks av dem, jaget dem fra byporten til steinbruddene og slo dem ned på skråningene. Folkets hjerter smeltet og ble som vann.
- B1930
- Og Ai-mennene slo ihjel omkring seks og tretti mann av dem og forfulgte dem fra porten like til stenbruddene og hugg dem ned i bakkene; da blev folkets hjerte fullt av angst, og deres mot blev rent borte.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Joshua 2:9
And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Read in contextJoshua 2:11
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
Read in contextLeviticus 26:36
And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 1:44
And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
Read in contextNahum 2:10
She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
Read in contextPsalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Read in contextIsaiah 13:7
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
Read in contextJoshua 5:1
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
Read in context