Hai is taken and burnt, and all the inhabitants slain. An altar is built, and sacrifices offered. The law is written on stones, and the blessings and cursings are read before all the people.
By stratageme of an ambushment the citie of Hai is taken and burned, and al the inhabitantes slaine. 29. the king hanged. 30. An Altar built, Sacrifice offered, 32. the law written in stones, the people blessed, and the blessinges and cursinges read before them al.
1And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou dismayed: take with thee all the multitude of fighting men, arise, and go up to the town of Hai: Behold I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.E il Signore disse a Giosuè: Non temere, e non ti sbigottire: prendi teco tutta la moltitudine de' combattenti, e levati su, e va alla città di Hai: ecco che io ho dato in tuo potere il suo re, e il popolo, e la città, e il paese.AND our Lord said to Iosue: Feare not, neither doe thou dread: take with thee al the multitude of fighting men, and rysing goe vp vnto the towne of Hai. behold I haue deliuered into thy hand the King therof, & the people, and the citie and the land.Dixit autem Dominus ad Josue: Ne timeas, neque formides: tolle tecum omnem multitudinem pugnatorum, et consurgens ascende in oppidum Hai. Ecce tradidi in manu tua regem ejus et populum, urbemque et terram. 2And 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.E farai alla città di Hai, e al suo re, come facesti a Gerico, e al suo re: ma vi prenderete tutta la preda, e tutti gli animali: metti gente in aguato dietro alla città.And thou shalt do to the citie of Hai, and to the King therof, as thou hast done to Iericho, and to the King therof: but the praye and al the cattel you shal spoyle for your selues: lay ambushmentes to the citie behind it.Faciesque urbi Hai, et regi ejus, sicut fecisti Jericho, et regi illius: prædam vero, et omnia animantia diripietis vobis: pone insidias urbi post eam. 3And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with him, to go up against Hai: and he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men in the night,E Giosuè si mosse e dietro a lui tutte le schiere dei combattenti per andare ad Hai: e la notte mandò trenta mila scelti combattenti;And Iosue arose, and al the hoste of the men of warre with him, to goe vp into Hai: and thirtie thousand chosen valiant men he sent in the night,Surrexitque Josue, et omnis exercitus bellatorum cum eo, ut ascenderent in Hai: et electa triginta millia virorum fortium misit nocte, 4And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city: and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.E ordinò, e disse loro: Mettetevi in aguato dietro alla città, e non vi allontanate troppo, e state tutti in ordine:and commanded them, saying: Lay ambushmentes behinde the citie: neither retyre you farre of: and you shal al be readie.præcepitque eis, dicens: Ponite insidias post civitatem, nec longius recedatis: et eritis omnes parati.
5But I, and the rest of the multitude which is with me, will approach on the contrary side against the city. And when they shall come out against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, as we did before:Io poi, e tutta l'altra gente che è meco, ci accosteremo scopertamente alla città. E quando quegli usciran fuora a combatterci, noi, come facemmo prima, fuggiremo voltando le spalle:But I and the rest of the multitude, which is with me, wil goe vp on the contrarie side against the citie. And when they shal issue out against vs, as we did before, we wil flee, and turne our backes:Ego autem, et reliqua multitudo, quæ mecum est, accedemus ex adverso contra urbem. Cumque exierint contra nos, sicut ante fecimus, fugiemus, et terga vertemus, 6Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city: for they will think that we flee as before.Perfino a tanto che inseguendoci siensi allontanati molto dalla città, credendo che fuggiam come prima.til pursewing they be drawen forward farre from the citie: for they wil thinck that we flee as before.donec persequentes ab urbe longius protrahantur: putabunt enim nos fugere sicut prius. 7And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall rise out of the ambush, and shall destroy the city: and the Lord your God will deliver it into your hands.Mentre adunque noi fuggiremo, e quelli ci terran dietro, voi uscirete dall'imboscata, ed espugnerete la città, e daralla il Signore Dio vostro in vostro potere.We therfore fleeing, and they pursewing, you shal rise out of the ambushmentes, and shal waist the citie: and our Lord your God wil deliuer it into your handes.Nobis ergo fugientibus, et illis persequentibus, consurgetis de insidiis, et vastabitis civitatem: tradetque eam Dominus Deus vester in manus vestras. 8And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire, and you shall do all things so as I have commanded.E quando l'avrete presa, le appiccherete il fuoco, e ogni cosa farete, come io vi ho comandato.And when you shal take it, burne it, and you shal doe al thinges so, as I haue commanded.Cumque ceperitis, succendite eam, et sic omnia facietis, ut jussi. 9And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the city of Hai. But Josue staid that night in the midst of the people,E li licenziò, ed eglino andarono al luogo dell'imboscata, e si piantarono tra Bethel, e Hai dalla parte occidentale della città di Hai. Giosuè poi quella notte si stette in mezzo all'esercito.And he dismissed them away, and they went on to the place of the ambushment, and sate betwen Bethel and Hai, at the West side of the citie of Hai. But Iosue that night stayed in the middes of the people,Dimisitque eos, et perrexerunt ad locum insidiarum, sederuntque inter Bethel et Hai, ad occidentalem plagam urbis Hai: Josue autem nocte illa in medio mansit populi, 10And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and went up with the ancients in the front of the army, environed with the aid of the fighting men.E alzatosi di grandissimo mattino fece la rassegna della sua gente, e si mise insieme co' seniori a fronte dell'esercito, essendo egli cinto da una guardia di buoni soldati:and rysing early he mustered his soldiars, and went vp with the ancientes in the fronte of the hoste, enuironed with the ayde of the fighting men.surgensque diluculo recensuit socios, et ascendit cum senioribus in fronte exercitus, vallatus auxilio pugnatorum.
11And when they were come, and were gone up over against the city, they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them there was a valley in the midst.Ma quando furono arrivati, e saliti dirimpetto alla città si fermarono dalla parte settentrionale della città, tra la quale, ed essi era di mezzo una valle.And when they were come, and were gone vp directly against the citie, they stoode on the North side of the citie, betwen which and them was a valley in the middes.Cumque venissent et ascendissent ex adverso civitatis, steterunt ad septentrionalem urbis plagam, inter quam et eos erat vallis media. 12And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:Or egli avea fatto scelta di cinque mila uomini, e gli avea messi in aguato tra Bethel e Hai all'occidente della stessa città.And fiue thousand men had he chosen, and sette in the embushmentes betwen Bethel and Hai on the West side of the same citie:Quinque autem millia viros elegerat, et posuerat in insidiis inter Bethel et Hai ex occidentali parte ejusdem civitatis: 13But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of the city. So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the valley.E tutto il rimanente dell'esercito era ordinato in battaglia dalla parte di settentrione, in tal guisa che le ultime file dell'armata toccavano il lato occidentale della città. Giosuè adunque si mosse quella notte, e andò a porsi nel mezzo della valle.but al the rest of the hoste went in battel aray on the North side, so that the last of the multitude did reach to the West side of the citie. Iosue therfore went that night, and stoode in the middes of the valley.omnis vero reliquus exercitus ad aquilonem aciem dirigebat, ita ut novissimi illius multitudinis occidentalem plagam urbis attingerent. Abiit ergo Josue nocte illa, et stetit in vallis medio. 14And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle array, toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush behind his back.Lo che avendo veduto il re di Hai, uscì la mattina in fretta con tutto l'esercito della città, e dispose le schiere verso il deserto, non sapendo dell'imboscata, che gli stava alle spalle.Which when the King of Hai had seene, he made hast in the mourning, and issued forth with al the host of the citie, and bent his armie toward the desert, being ignorant that there lay embushmentes secretly behind his backe.Quod cum vidisset rex Hai, festinavit mane, et egressus est cum omni exercitu civitatis, direxitque aciem contra desertum, ignorans quod post tergum laterent insidiæ.
15But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.Ma Giosuè, e tutto Israele si ritirarono fingendo di aver paura, e fuggivano per la strada del deserto.But Iosue, and al Israel gaue backe, feyning feare, and fleeing by the way of the wildernes.Josue vero et omnis Israël cesserunt loco, simulantes metum, et fugientes per solitudinis viam. 16But they shouting together, and encouraging one another, pursued them. And when they were come from the city,E quegli, alzate tutti insieme le grida, e animandosi l'un l'altro gl'inseguivano, ed essendosi allontanati dalla città,But they cried alowde together, and encouraging one an other, pursewed them. And when they were gone from the citie,At illi vociferantes pariter, et se mutuo cohortantes, persecuti sunt eos. Cumque recessissent a civitate, 17And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,E non essendo rimaso neppur uno nella città di Hai, e di Bethel, che non inseguisse Israele, avendo lasciate aperte le porte, per cui erano usciti alla rinfusa.and not one remained in the citie of Hai and Bethel, that pursewed not Israel (euen as they had rushed out leauing the townes open,)et ne unus quidem in urbe Hai et Bethel remansisset qui non persequeretur Israël (sicut eruperant aperta oppida relinquentes), 18The 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.Il Signore disse a Giosuè: Alza lo scudo che hai in mano verso la città di Hai, poiché io la darò in tuo potere.our Lord said to Iosue: Lift vp the shield, that is in thy hand, against the citie of Hai, for I wil deliuer it to thee.dixit Dominus ad Josue: Leva clypeum, qui in manu tua est, contra urbem Hai, quoniam tibi tradam eam. 19And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the ambush, that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the city, took it, and set it on fire.E alzato ch'egli ebbe lo scudo incontro alla città, si alzaron subito quelli che erano in imboscata: e andarono alla città, e la presero, e vi misero il fuoco.And when he had lifted vp his shield against the citie, the embushementes, that lay hidde, rose vp immediately: and going to the citie, tooke and burnt it.Cumque elevasset clypeum ex adverso civitatis, insidiæ, quæ latebant, surrexerunt confestim: et pergentes ad civitatem, ceperunt, et succenderunt eam. 20And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back, and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.Ma gli uomini della città, i quali inseguivano Giosuè, volgendosi indietro, e veggendo il fumo che si alzava dalla città fino al cielo, non ebbero più il modo di fuggire in veruna parte, particolarmente quando quelli che facean vista di fuggire, e correvano verso il deserto, con gran valore si azzuffarono con quelli che gli incalzavano.And the men of the citie, that pursewed Iosue, looking backe and seeing the smoke of the citie rise vp euen to heauen, they could no more flee hither and thither: especially whereas they, that had feyned running away, and went toward the wildernes, most valiantly resisted against the pursewe•s.Viri autem civitatis, qui persequebantur Josue, respicientes et videntes fumum urbis ad cælum usque conscendere, non potuerunt ultra huc illucque diffugere: præsertim cum hi qui simulaverant fugam, et tendebant ad solitudinem, contra persequentes fortissime restitissent.
21So Josue, and all Israel, seeing that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned, and slew the men of Hai.E veggendo Giosuè, e tutto Israele, come la città era già presa, e il fumo andava in alto, tornato indietro mise a fil di spada la gente di Hai.And Iosue and al Israel seeing that the citie was taken, and the smoke of the citie rose vp, returning he stroke the men of Hai.Vidensque Josue et omnis Israël quod capta esset civitas, et fumus urbis ascenderet, reversus percussit viros Hai. 22And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.Imperocché e quelli che avevan presa e data alle fiamme la città usciti da questa incontro alle loro genti, cominciarono a offendere i nemici, che erano messi in mezzo. Essendo adunque gli avversarii trucidati dall'una e dall'altra parte in tal guisa che nissuno di tanta moltitudine potè salvarsi,For they also that had taken and burnt the citie, issuing out of the citie against their owne men, beganne to strike the enemies in the middes of them. When the aduersaries therfore were slaine on both sides, so that none of so great a multitude was saued,Siquidem et illi qui ceperant et succenderant civitatem, egressi ex urbe contra suos, medios hostium ferire cœperunt. Cum ergo ex utraque parte adversarii cæderentur, ita ut nullus de tanta multitudine salvaretur, 23And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him to Josue.Lo stesso re della città di Hai fu preso vivo, e presentato a Giosuè.they tooke the King of the citie of Hai aliue, and presented him to Iosue.regem quoque urbis Hai apprehenderunt viventem, et obtulerunt Josue. 24So all being slain that had pursued after Israel, in his flight to the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste the city.Uccisi adunque tutti quelli che avevano inseguito gl'Israeliti fuggenti verso il deserto e fattone nello stesso luogo un macello, tornarono i figliuoli d'Israele a sterminar la città.Therfore al being slaine, that had pursewed Israel fleeing to the desertes, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returning stoke the citie.Igitur omnibus interfectis, qui Israëlem ad deserta tendentem fuerant persecuti, et in eodem loco gladio corruentibus, reversi filii Israël percusserunt civitatem. 25And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand persons, all of the city of Hai.Or il numero di quelli che perirono in quella giornata uomini e donne, fu di dodici mila, tutti della città di Hai.And there were that fel that same day from man vnto woman, twelue thousand men, al of the citie of Hai.Erant autem qui in eodem die conciderant a viro usque ad mulierem, duodecim millia hominum, omnes urbis Hai.
26But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.E Giosuè non ritirò la mano che aveva alzata in alto, tenendo lo scudo, fino a tanto che tutti gli abitanti di Hai non furono uccisi.But Iosue plucked not in his hand, which he had strethched forth on high, holding the shield til al the inhabitantes of Hai were slaine.Josue vero non contraxit manum, quam in sublime porrexerat, tenens clypeum donec interficerentur omnes habitatores Hai. 27And the children of Israel divided among them, the cattle and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.I bestiami poi, e la preda della città se la spartiron tra loro i figliuoli d'Israele, come il Signore aveva ordinato a Giosuè.And the cattel and the praye of the citie the children of Israel diuided among them, as our Lord had commanded Iosue.Jumenta autem et prædam civitatis diviserunt sibi filii Israël, sicut præceperat Dominus Josue. 28And he burnt the city, and made it a heap forever:E questi diede alle fiamme la città, e ne fece un cimitero eterno.Who burnt the citie, and made it a heape for euer:Qui succendit urbem, et fecit eam tumulum sempiternum: 29And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet, until the evening and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day.E attaccò alla forca il suo re fino alla sera sul tramontar del sole; quando Giosuè ordinò, che levassero il cadavere di lui dalla croce; e lo gettarono all'entrata stessa della città, avendo ammassato sopra di lui un gran mucchio di sassi, che rimane anche al dì d'oggi.the king also therof he hong on a gibbet vntil euening and the going downe of the sunne. And he commanded, and they tooke downe his corps from the gibbet: and threw it in the verie entring of the citie, heaping vpon it a great heape of stones, which remaineth vntil this present day.regem quoque ejus suspendit in patibulo usque ad vesperam et solis occasum. Præcepitque Josue, et deposuerunt cadaver ejus de cruce: projeceruntque in ipso introitu civitatis, congesto super eum magno acervo lapidum, qui permanet usque in præsentem diem. 30Then Josue built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Hebal,Allora Giosuè edificò un altare al Signore Dio d'Israele sul monte Hebal:Then Iosue built an altar to our Lord the God of Israel in mount Hebal,Tunc ædificavit Josue altare Domino Deo Israël in monte Hebal, 31As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones, which iron had not touched: and he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace offerings.(Come avea comandato Mosè servo di Dio a' figliuoli d'Israele, e conforme sta scritto nel libro della legge di Mosè). E l'altare fu di pietre rozze non tocche col ferro: e offerse sopra di esso olocausti al Signore, e immolò ostie pacifiche.as Moyses the seruant of our Lord had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the volume of the law of Moyses: an Altar of vnhewed stones which yron hath not touched; and he offered vpon it holocaustes to our Lord, and immolated pacifique victimes.sicut præceperat Moyses famulus Domini filiis Israël, et scriptum est in volumine legis Moysi: altare vero de lapidibus impolitis, quos ferrum non tetigit: et obtulit super eo holocausta Domino, immolavitque pacificas victimas.
32And he wrote upon stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.E sopra delle pietre scrisse il Deuteronomio della legge di Mosè, che questi aveva spiegato dinanzi a' figliuoli d'Israele.And he wrote vpon stones the Deuterenomie of the law of Moyses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.Et scripsit super lapides Deuteronomium legis Moysi, quod ille digesserat coram filiis Israël. 33And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and he that was born among them, half of them by Mount Garizim, and half by Mount Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord, had commanded. And first he blessed the people of Israel.E tutto il popolo, e i seniori, e i capitani, e i giudici stavan dall'una e dall'altra parte dell'arca al cospetto de' sacerdoti che, portavan l'arca del testamento del Signore: eranvi e i nazionali, e i forestieri. La metà stava presso il monte Garizim, e l'altra metà presso il monte Hebal, come avea ordinato Mosè servo del Signore. E in primo luogo (Giosuè) benedisse il popolo d'Israele.And al the people, and the ancientes, and the princes and iudges stoode on both sides of the arke, in the sight of the priestes that caried the arke of the couenant of our Lord, as wel the stranger as also the man of the same countrie. the half part of them beside mount Garizim, and halfe beside mount Hebal, as Moyses the seruant of our Lord had commanded. And first in deede he blessed the people of Israel.Omnis autem populus, et majores natu, ducesque ac judices, stabant ex utraque parte arcæ, in conspectu sacerdotum qui portabant arcam fœderis Domini, ut advena, ita et indigena. Media pars eorum juxta montem Garizim, et media juxta montem Hebal, sicut præceperat Moyses famulus Domini. Et primum quidem benedixit populo Israël. 34After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and all things that were written in the book of the law.E di poi lesse tutte le parole di benedizione, e di maledizione, e tutto quel che era scritto nel libro della legge.After this he reade al the wordes of the blessing & the cursing, and al thinges that were written in the volume of the law.Post hæc legit omnia verba benedictionis et maledictionis, et cuncta quæ scripta erant in legis volumine. 35He left out nothing of those things which Moses had commanded, but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with the women and children, and strangers, that dwelt among them.Non trascurò alcuna delle cose ordinate da Mosè; ma tutte le rinovellò dinanzi a tutta la moltitudine d'Israele, e delle donne, e fanciulli, e forestieri che dimoravan con essi.Nothing of those thinges, which Moyses had commanded, did he leaue vntouched, but he repeated al thinges before al the multitude of Israel, the wemen and children and strangers, that dwelt among them.Nihil ex his quæ Moyses jusserat, reliquit intactum, sed universa replicavit coram omni multitudine Israël, mulieribus ac parvulis, et advenis qui inter eos morabantur.
8:1
Year of the World 2553.
Haydock
Men. Masius and Salien (Haydock) suppose that Josue selected out of them 30,000; 5000 of whom were to be placed in ambush, and the rest were to pretend that they were terrified at the approach of the king of Hai, and to flee with Josue. But the text seems to assert that all accompanied their general, (Calmet) excepting such as were left to guard the camp. (Haydock)
8:2
King. There was this difference, that the king of Hai was to be gibbeted, and his corpse stoned, while the city was to be plundered by the Israelites.
Virgil
It. This mode of warfare is equally just, as if the enemy was attacked in the open field. Dolus an virtus quis in hoste requirat? (Virgil)
Haydock
God was pleased to authorize it on this occasion, that his people might be less exposed, being under some apprehensions on account of the former defeat. Some nations have preferred to encounter the enemy openly. (Grotius, Jur. 3:1, 20.) But their example is no law for others. "When the war is just, it matters not whether a person gain the victory by open fighting or by stratagem." (St. Augustine, q. 10.) "It is often prudent to conceal the truth." (contra Mend. x.) People engaged in warfare, allow each other to take such advantages. God could easily have routed these few men by means of the army of Israel, or by a miracle, as he did at Jericho. (Haydock)
Calmet
But he is at liberty to act as he thinks proper. The ambush was laid on the south-west side of Hai, so that those of Bethel might not perceive it, as they came out to the assistance of their countrymen, ver. 17. Five thousand were placed in one place, and 25,000 in another, while the main body of the army, under Josue, took a circuit by the east, and came to attack the city on the north side. (Calmet)
8:4
Haydock
Ready to enter the city, when its soldiers are all in pursuit of us. (Haydock)
8:5
Calmet
And turn, etc. Josue had not fled before. (Calmet)
Hebrew, "against us, as at the first, we will flee before them."
8:8
Haydock
Fire. They were to set some houses on fire for a signal, but the whole city was not to be destroyed (Calmet) till the Israelites had collected the plunder. (Haydock)
8:10
Calmet
Ancients, who had a command in the army, and assisted Josue with their counsel. They gave him an account of the state and numbers of the army. (Calmet)
8:12
Challoner
Five thousand. These were part of the 30,000 mentioned above, ver. 3 . (Challoner)
Haydock
Josue had given orders to have them placed in ambush apart; (Calmet) unless, perhaps, he places these himself in some secret place. (Haydock)
8:13
Night. He spent the forepart of it at Galgal, to prevent any suspicion, ver. 9. But setting out very early, (ver. 10,) he arrived at Hai before sun-rise.
8:14
Desert of Bethel, fit only for pasturage, Josue 18:12.
8:15
Calmet
Afraid. Hebrew, "made as if they were beaten before them, and fled." Thus they drew on the king of Hai, so as to leave the ambush in his rear. (Calmet)
8:17
Worthington
Not one fit to bear arms. (Worthington)
Haydock
Bethel. As soon as the people of this city perceived the Israelites fleeing, they rushed out to assist the king of Hai in the pursuit. But when they saw the former rally, before they had joined their friends, (Calmet) they very prudently retired, and left the unhappy citizens of Hai to their fate. (Haydock)
Hence all who were slain belonged to the latter city, ver. 25.
8:18
Calmet
Shield, as Moses lifted up his hands, Exodus 17:11. Some translate, "dart, spear," or "sword." (Septuagint; Ecclesiasticus 16:3.) (Calmet)
Haydock
The buckler might be suspended on a spear, (Menochius) that it might be seen afar off (Worthington) by some appointed to keep watch on purpose. (Haydock)
8:23
Grotius
Josue. This king was reserved for greater torments and ignominy. It was the ancient custom to present kings and chief commanders to the victorious general, who rewarded those who brought them. (Grotius)
8:28
For ever, or for a long time. It was rebuilt before the captivity, 2 Esdras 7:31.
8:29
Gibbet. Septuagint, "a cross." Some say that the king was first killed; but that assertion is destitute of proof. The corpse was taken down before night, Deuteronomy 21:22.
8:30
Haydock
Hebal. The Samaritan Chronicle says, on Mount Garizim. No doubt Josue complied with the injunctions of Moses: but we have seen that there are reasons to doubt which mountain he pitched upon, Deuteronomy 27:4. (Haydock)
Calmet
It seems more probable that the altar would be upon Garizim, where the blessings were proclaimed, if the texts of Moses and of Josue did not formally assert the contrary. (Calmet)
Haydock
But if they have been interpolated, nothing certain can be deduced from those passages. Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) says that the altar was between the two mountains, not far from Sichem, which was built at the foot of Garizim; and it is not probable that this historian, the mortal enemy of the Samaritans, would have hesitated to assert that the altar was upon Hebal, if the texts had been so positive, in his time. It is undeniable that the tribes of Levi, and of Ephraim, were upon Garizim; and consequently Josue and the priests must have been there; and who would then officiate at the altar on Hebal? See Kennicott, who ably refutes the insinuations of the infidel, Collins, against the character of the Samaritans. When this altar was erected the learned are not agreed. (Haydock)
Haydock
Some say, immediately after the passage of the Jordan, and that the 12 stones taken from the bed of the river, were used for that purpose. Josephus says five years elapsed, and R. Ismael supposes that the altar was not built during the 14 years after the passage of the Jordan. But it is most probable that Josue complied with the command of God as soon as he had procured a sort of peace, (Haydock) by the conquest of these two cities, and was thus enabled to penetrate into the heart of the country, where Garizim was situated, not in the plain of Jericho, as Eusebius imagined, but near Sichem, (Calmet) about 30 or 40 miles to the north-west of Jericho. (Haydock)
8:31
Kennicott
Iron. Spencer complains that the Protestants have not translated barzel, "iron tool," as [in] Deuteronomy 27:5. This translation is found in their more ancient editions of 1537-49, etc. (Kennicott)
But the difference is very unimportant. The reason of this prohibition is given, Exodus 20:25.
Haydock
He offered; so we read that he wrote, blessed and cursed, etc., because these things were done at least by his authority. It is not necessary to suppose that he engraved the words of the law with his own hands, or that he passed from Garizim, where he had been pronouncing the blessings, to Hebal, in order to denounce the curses. (Haydock)
Kennicott
He probably commissioned some of the princes on Hebal to perform the office of cursing, after he had repeated the blessings himself from Garizim; and the select company of Levites before the ark, having answered or repeated the words, the whole multitude stationed at the foot of each mountain, testified their entire approbation by shouting Amen; the six tribes near Garizim thus ratifying the blessings; and the rest, at the foot of Hebal, giving their consent that the transgressors should be cursed. (Kennicott)
Haydock
Hence Josue must have sacrificed by the hands of the priests. (Haydock)
Calmet
Various instances are produced to shew that princes and prophets have, on extraordinary occasions, performed this office themselves, 1 Kings 6:15., and 7:9., and 3 Kings 18:32. (Calmet)
Haydock
But these must have either received a dispensation from God, or they must have employed the ministry of the legal priests; or, in fine, their actions, like that of Saul, (1 Kings 13:9,) of Absalom, (1 Kings 1:9,) Herod, etc., may have been deserving of blame. (Haydock)
Calmet
The Jews assert that in the desert no one was permitted to sacrifice, except in the tabernacle; but that this prohibition ceased at Galgal, as the ark had no fixed abode, and thus Josue might offer sacrifice himself. Afterwards the law was enforced, while the ark was at Silo. But upon its being removed to Nobe, Maspha, and Gabaon, people resumed their former liberty; and hence there was nothing to hinder Samuel, Saul, and David from offering sacrifice, till the temple was erected. (Outram de Sac. 1:2; Grotius in Deuteronomy 12:8.) This sacred office was formerly exercised by kings, particularly at Athens, where, after the people became more numerous, Theseus appointed the king of sacrifices to keep up the memory of the ancient practice. (Demost. c. Neream.) (Calmet)
Haydock
The like was done at Rome under the republic. (Haydock)
8:32
Stones, of which the altar was formed, (Calmet) or on a separate monument, (Masius) consisting of two stones of black marble, so as to leave the letters prominent, and to fill up the vacuities with white plaster, that they might be seen more plainly, and might, at the same time, be more durable than if they had been only written on the cement, whatever some may have said of the tenacity of the ancient plaster.
Kennicott
Deuteronomy. etc., or copy of the Decalogue, which, by way of eminence, is called the law, Acts 7:53. It is distinguished from the blessings and the curses; (ver. 34,) and Moses referred to it, as already existing, (Deuteronomy 27:3, 8,) though the Book of Deuteronomy was not finished till afterwards. He might point to the very tables contained in the ark. "This law, consisting of only 16 verses, might easily be engraved on this solemn day; whereas to engrave the 80 verses of blessings and cursings, would be improbable; and engraving the Pentateuch, or indeed the Book of Deuteronomy, had been impossible." That the Decalogue was to be thus solemnly proclaimed is evident, from the Samaritan text, Exodus 20:18. (Kennicott)
Haydock
This was the covenant which God had made with his people, (Deuteronomy 4:13,) and which Moses cautions the Israelites to observe; as upon their fidelity, their present and future happiness entirely depended. It was on this title alone that they could hold the land of Chanaan; and therefore Josue takes care thus publicly to admonish them of their duty. (Haydock)
Calmet
The Rabbins say that the whole Pentateuch was written on this occasion in 70 languages, that no nation might plead ignorance. But we can hardly believe that even the Book of Deuteronomy could be written, and read, and explained to the people, as that would require many days. (Calmet)
8:33
Calmet
Hebal. "Gerizim and Ebal, says Maundrell, p. 59, are separated by a narrow valley, not above a furlong broad; and Naplosa, (the ancient Sychem) consisting chiefly of two streets lying parallel, is built at the foot of, and under Gerizim." The princes, representing the different tribes, were stationed on these mountains, and the crowd at the foot of them, while a select company of Levites attended the ark in the midst, and repeated what the princes proclaimed, that the multitude might answer Amen, as they turned successively to them; (Kennicott) or the princes might answer Amen, from the top of the two hills. (Calmet)
Worthington
And first. Protestants, "as Moses....had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel." But if Josue blessed them himself, (Haydock) all superiors might do so, as parents bless their children. (Worthington)
8:34
Haydock
Words. Hebrew, "words of the law, the blessings," etc. (Haydock)
8:35
Kennicott
Repeated. Coverdale's Bible has "Josua caused it to be proclaimed." "It is very common in Scripture to represent a person as doing that which is done by another, in his name and by his authority." (Kennicott)
Haydock
Josue might be in the midst to preside, (Calmet) or rather he would be along with the princes of the six tribes on Mount Garizim, ver. 30. (Haydock)
Calmet
Thus the covenant entered into between God and the Israelites, was solemnly ratified when the latter first entered the promised land. The greatest part of those who had been present at Horeb had perished in the wilderness. (Calmet)
8:12
Five thousand.... These were part of the thirty thousand mentioned above, ver. 3.
8:2
Deceiptes • stratagemes are lawful in iust warre; but not falshood, nor breach of promise. •. Aug. q. 10. 〈◊〉 Iosue.
8:12
These fiue thousād were of the thirtie thousand, which were first sent. v. 3. The other 25000 ioyned with Iosues troupe, & entered into the citie.
8:17
Not one fitte to beare armes was left.
8:18
He life his shield vpon a long pike or lance, that it might be sene fitte of.
8:33
Concordance Deut. 27.
Al superiors may blesse their subiectes, Princes their people; and parentes their children.
8:23
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 41.24
… Did I not, after subduing all thine enemies, bring thee into the region of Eshcol? Did I not deliver up thee Sihon, King of the Amorites (that is, the proud one, the leader of them that provoked thee)? Did I not deliver up to thee alive the King of Ai,
8:1
1. TAKE WITH YOU ALL THE MULTITUDE OF WARRIORS, — so that you may attack Hai with all your strength, and from there the rest of the cities of Chanaan, and so that you may add courage to the Hebrews, dismayed by the slaughter of their former men, lest they think they were defeated on account of their small number, and finally so that you may make all the spoils and plunder of the men of Hai common to all.
8:2
2. YOU SHALL DO TO THE CITY OF HAI AND ITS KING, AS YOU DID TO JERICHO AND ITS KING, — so that you burn all the houses of the city, and kill all the citizens together with the king, as you did in Jericho.
8:3
3. AND HE SENT BY NIGHT THIRTY THOUSAND CHOSEN VALIANT MEN. 4. AND HE COMMANDED THEM SAYING: LAY AN AMBUSH BEHIND THE CITY. — You will say: In vers. 12 it is said that Josue placed in ambush only five thousand men, how therefore are thirty thousand given to the ambush here? I answer with Abulensis, that these ambushes were universally of thirty thousand, as is said here, but from them five thousand only were appointed, who, when the men of Hai had gone out of the city to pursue the Hebrews, would enter the city from behind, and set it on fire: but the remaining twenty-five thousand were destined for this, that they would join themselves with Josue against the men of Hai in open battle on the side, and that they would be a help to the five thousand about to invade the city by ambush, if those were discovered, or were attacked; hence he commanded them saying: NOR SHALL YOU RECEDE FURTHER, AND YOU SHALL ALL BE READY, — to defend the ambush of five thousand, if they are attacked, or if that does not happen, to fight with me against the men of Hai. Finally so that you may surround the men of Hai on all sides, and catch and kill those fleeing, so that no one may escape.
8:5
5. AND WHEN THEY SHALL COME OUT AGAINST US, AS WE DID BEFORE (truly by fleeing), WE SHALL FLEE AND TURN OUR BACKS — by simulating flight. 6. UNTIL THE PURSUERS ARE DRAWN FAR FROM THE CITY. — This flight therefore was material only, not formal, as the previous one had been on account of the slaughter inflicted by the men of Ai. "We shall flee" therefore, that is, as follows, "we shall turn our backs," and run backward, as if terrified and fearing to be struck, as before. Wherefore this was a simulation of flight rather than flight itself. And this stratagem is familiar to soldiers in battles. For they simulate flight in order to draw the enemy out of the city, and having drawn them out, they surround and strike them. St. Augustine inquires here whether this simulation is lawful? For it seems to be a lie, which is always shameful and unlawful: for just as a lie is committed by words, so also by deeds, and then it is called simulation, which is nothing other than a lie in the actions of life, namely when someone through these intends to signify something other than what he feels inwardly in his mind, as hypocrites do, who simulate holiness in order to deceive others and to gain their favor for themselves. I answer that it is lawful, because, as Cajetan rightly notes, a lie is not so easily committed by deeds as by words: for words are properly instituted to signify the conceptions of the mind, not deeds; hence words have a determined and precise signification, which if it is contrary to the conception of the mind, is a lie; but deeds have a broad and indeterminate, indeed often doubtful and ambiguous signification. Wherefore even if they seem to be contrary to the conception of the mind, they are not truly contrary, and consequently do not contain a lie, for example if Joshua had said to the men of Ai in words: We flee from fear of you, because we fear to be struck by you, he would have lied. But now he did not say this in words, but seemed to say this by deeds, but truly did not say it. For he fled, that is, he retreated, not in order to signify that he feared the men of Ai and therefore fled, but in order to draw them out of the city to pursue him, and to surround and slay those pursuing. For this is what he truly intended, nothing else, and this is what his material flight, that is his retreat, truly signified: therefore he did not lie, because what he signified by deed, this he intended in his heart. Yet he knew that the men of Ai would interpret his flight otherwise, namely that he was fleeing from fear of being struck, and thus were to be deceived; but he did not signify this deception of theirs by his deed, nor did he formally intend it, but only permitted it to happen for his own advantage, namely in order that, having deceived them in this way, he himself might capture and kill them. The same thing happens daily in battles: hence it is the common sense of soldiers and men that in such military stratagems there is nothing vicious, no lie at all, but an ingenious skill to overcome enemies and to bring about victory. Wherefore such flight by the common estimation of soldiers is not reckoned to be flight, but a simulation of flight, and to bear and signify the simulation by the deed itself, not true flight. There is therefore no lie in this flight, because the flight itself from the common use and estimation of men indicates and signifies not flight, but only a simulation of flight. For soldiers cannot signify a simulated flight otherwise than by simulating flight, which when they do, they signify that which they intend in their heart, and consequently do not lie, although enemies thinking them to be truly fleeing are deceived and deceived; but this happens not from the signification of the soldiers, but from the suspicion and imprudent and rash judgment of the enemies, whose fault and punishment they themselves impute to themselves, not to others. The saying of Plato is famous: "Enemies are overcome more by skill and art than by strength," of which the one belongs to the commander, the other to the soldiers. Hear the Emperor Leo in the Tactics, chapter xx, 185: "All ambushes have more violent assaults than other incursions; yet those which are made from behind are far the most violent. For if you compare such ambushes at some time, you will see them to be far better and more effective than those which are made from the side." And number 8: "Tell one thing to enemies," he says, "do another yourself. Do not share grave and secret matters with many, but with few and your most faithful friends. For thus we have said it is often necessary to deceive enemies." And number 53: "We command you to be guileless in all parts of life, except in war; but there also in those imperial counsels cunning helps, where you will deceive the enemy by it." According to that: "Whether cunning or valor, who would inquire in an enemy?" The reason is that here no injustice intervenes, nor is faith given to the enemy broken, but the matter is conducted with military skill and prudence, by which it comes about that the war plans of enemies are concealed from them, and victory is made more certain and secure, and is obtained with less loss of soldiers. Wherefore Xenophon in the Hipparchus: "Nothing," he says, "is more useful in war than stratagems." Antigonus, when asked how enemies ought to be attacked, said: "Either by stratagem or by force; either openly or by ambush." Lysander says: "If the lion's skin should not suffice in battles, the fox's skin must certainly be put on." Ammianus, book XVII, reports from King Sapor, "that there are some who greatly praised prosperous outcomes of war, whether they were achieved by strength or by stratagems." Agesilaus in Plutarch: "To deceive enemies in war," he said, "is not only just and very glorious, but also pleasant and profitable." Brasidas, a distinguished commander, in Thucydides, book V, asserted: "Those stratagems of war have the most beautiful praise, by which enemies are most deceived and friends are most helped." Yet the battle and victory are more noble if they are fought out in open combat and the enemy is overcome. Whence when a certain commander advised Alexander the Great to use the opportunity of night against Darius: "Far be it," he said, "from me to seek stolen victories." In the same opinion was that Virgilian Turnus, in the Aeneid book IX, where, detesting the ancient stratagems of the Greeks and threatening open Latin battles to the Trojans, he thus insists: "Let them not fear the darkness and cowardly thefts of Pallas, with the highest guardians of the citadel slain, nor the horse hidden in a blind belly. It is certain in the light that we shall surround the walls with fire."
8:9
9. JOSHUA REMAINED IN THE MIDST OF THE PEOPLE. — Let the king therefore be in the midst of his kingdom, as a center in a circle, so that he may equally illuminate, care for, direct and administer all things round about, just as the heart is in the midst of man, and the sun in the midst of the world. See Julius Frontinus in the four books which he wrote On Stratagems; and in book II, chapter v, he recounts many examples of stratagems. Take a few from many. Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, drew out Cyrus, the Persian commander, who was contending in equal battle, by a feigned retreat into straits known to her soldiers, and there, suddenly turning her forces about, aided by the nature of the place, she defeated him. The Egyptians, about to fight in battle in those fields which had marshes adjoining them, covered them with seaweed, and when battle was joined, feigning flight, they drew the enemies into ambushes, who, carried more swiftly through unknown places, stuck fast in mud and were surrounded and destroyed. Maharbal poisoned wine with mandrake, which brings on sleep; then in the dead of night, leaving certain baggage within the camp and all the wine poisoned, he feigned flight: and when the Barbarians, having seized the camp, poured themselves out in rejoicing and eagerly drank the medicated wine and lay stretched out like the dead, he returned and captured them and slew them. Hannibal, knowing that both his camp and the Romans' camp were in places which lacked wood, deliberately left many herds of cattle within the rampart in a desert region: and when the Romans, having obtained them as it were as plunder, burdened themselves with food in the greatest difficulties of wood-gathering and in unhealthy places, Hannibal, withdrawing his army by night, greatly afflicted them, secure as they were and heavy from half-raw meat. All these things are very similar to these stratagems of Joshua, and the stratagems of great commanders.
8:10
10. HE REVIEWED HIS COMPANIONS, — both so that he might arrange from them a line of battle by hundreds of soldiers to fight against the men of Hai; and so that from the number taken at the beginning it might afterwards be established whether anyone had fallen in the coming battle, and how many they would be; and finally so that he might send forward a few bands of soldiers, but command the greater part of the army to follow at a considerable distance; lest they might be seen by the men of Hai. For if the men of Hai had seen the whole army of the Hebrews, which was six hundred thousand, they would have been dismayed and would not have dared to go out from the city: but now, seeing the small number of those who were sent forward, they dared to attack them, as they had done before.
8:12
12. AND HE HAD CHOSEN FIVE THOUSAND MEN, AND HAD SET THEM IN AMBUSH BETWEEN BETHEL AND HAI. — In that order and for that purpose which I said in verse 3, namely to seize and occupy the city made empty by the citizens going out. For Bethel the Septuagint wrongly have Betharen. For Bethel should be read with the Hebrews, Chaldeans and Romans, equally as in verse 9.
8:13
13. AND ALL THE REST OF THE ARMY DIRECTED THEIR LINE TOWARD THE NORTH (of the city of Hai), SO THAT THE REARGUARD OF THAT MULTITUDE TOUCHED THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY. — For rearguard (novissimi), in Hebrew it is עקבו akebu, which the Chaldean, Masius, Pagninus and Vatablus translate as ambushes. For the root עקב ekeb signifies heel; hence עקב akab means to supplant, to lie in ambush, to deceive: whence Jacob is the same as supplanter. But Our [translation], the Septuagint, Arias and others better translate it as last, or rearmost: for in Hebrew עקב ekeb, because it signifies heel, which is the extreme part of man, hence it signifies the extreme and last part of a thing. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Joshua directed the line of his army toward the Northern part of the city of Hai, yet so that the last column, or rearguard, toward the Western part of the city, where the ambushes lay hidden, would spread themselves out, so that namely they could join themselves to the ambushes, and if need be, could render aid. To the same sense therefore it comes down, whether you translate ambushes or whether you translate rearguard; for the ambushes were toward the West, there likewise were the rearguard spreading themselves out. JOSHUA THEREFORE WENT THAT NIGHT (with all the remaining army), AND STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VALLEY. — This verse seems to conflict with verse 9, where it is said: "And Joshua that night remained in the midst of the people." But I answer that they do not conflict. For this is an anacephalaeosis, or recapitulation. The order of the deed therefore was this: Joshua by night, having sent forward the ambushes, followed them with all the people the same night (not the following, as Masius wishes) to the middle of the valley, which was midway between himself and the city of Hai; but so that the greater part of his army would not be so visible, and would be covered either by a hill, or by ditches, chariots or forests, lest the men of Hai, seeing so great a multitude, would be terrified, nor would dare to go out from the city. Joshua therefore remained that night in the middle of the people or of the camps, but toward the end of the night, namely at early dawn, with a few chosen companions with him he hastened toward the city, to draw the men of Hai out. What therefore he says here, "that night," understand as ending, that is at dawn, or at early dawn in the twilight. The men of Hai therefore, seeing him with a few, immediately burst forth from the city against him, and being surrounded by the multitude of the Hebrews gradually opening up, all were slain to a man. Let the commander of war learn here from Joshua to be vigilant and early-rising, and let him hear the Emperor Leo in the Tactics, chapter II, number 4: "For it is fitting that he be sober and watchful, so that in the greatest array of armies he may keep watch with his mind as if awake. For at night, when the mind rests most, the Emperor's, often his judgment changes by turning it over, often it is confirmed by thinking."
8:14
14. TOWARD THE DESERT, — that is toward the line of Joshua, which was coming from the Northern part of the city, where likewise was the desert; or, as others translate it, a level place: for both signify in Hebrew ערבה araba. The Hebrews add למועד lammoed, that is, at the appointed time, namely that hour which had been appointed for the sortie by the king.
8:15
15. AND JOSHUA AND ALL ISRAEL GAVE WAY, FEIGNING FEAR, — that is flight from fear; as if they pretended, fearing to be struck by the men of Hai, as they had previously been struck by them. In Hebrew it is ינגעו innageu, that is they were struck, that is, they feigned themselves to be struck, or they conducted themselves as if they were being struck and put to flight. For thus the Hebrews often explain their words by seeming or appearing. 16. AND THEY SHOUTING TOGETHER, AND ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER PURSUED THEM. — The Interpreter renders the sense faithfully, even if not word for word. For word for word the Hebrew is, and all the people in the city were called out or roused, pursuing them, as if to say, the men of Hai going out from the city, seeing the Hebrews fleeing, by their shouting roused all who remained in the city, to pursue them, so that not one remained in the city.
8:17
17. AND NOT EVEN ONE REMAINED IN THE CITY OF HAI AND BETHEL. — See here the rashness and stupidity of the men of Hai, arising from overconfidence in their previous victory. For they ought to have left some to guard the city, and to close its gates, lest the Hebrews occupy it by ambush; but blinded by God wishing to deliver them to the Hebrews, they did neither.
8:18
18. THE LORD SAID TO JOSHUA: LIFT UP THE SHIELD WHICH IS IN THY HAND AGAINST THE CITY OF HAI. — For shield, in Hebrew it is כידון kidon, which Josephus also, Symmachus and Theodotion translate as shield. The Septuagint, however, the Chaldean and more recent translators render it as breastplate, or missile, or spear, or standard. It is probable that Joshua held up the shield with a spear on high, so that he could be seen by those lying in ambush behind the city, which he had arranged; and this was a sign given to them by Joshua (although Scripture does not express it), by which they were warned to attack the city from behind, now empty of its inhabitants. Secondly, this raising of the shield by Joshua was a sign of the present aid, power and divine vengeance, just as also the raising of the hands of Moses against Amalec, while Joshua fought with him; whence also he called the altar erected by him in victory: "The Lord is my exaltation," or "The Lord, the Lord is my standard," Exodus xvii, 12 and following. See the remarks there. Hence Joshua held the shield raised on high for as long as all the inhabitants of Hai were being slain, as is said in verse 26. Allegorically Origen: Joshua or Jesus stretches forth his hands toward Hai, that is, the world laid waste by the demon, and devoted to devastation (for this is what Hai signifies in Hebrew) and destruction on account of sins by God, when Jesus Christ affixed his hands to the cross, and held them affixed, until all victory against the demon and the world was accomplished. Hear St. Augustine, sermon 93 On the Seasons, adapting allegorically the raising of the hands of Moses against Amalec (which applies much more to the raising of Joshua's spear here) to the raising of the hands of Christ on the cross against the devil: "Observe, brethren: Moses indeed raises his hands, but does not stretch them out. To whom then was it reserved to stretch out his hands, except to our Lord Jesus Christ, who stretched out on the cross to embrace the whole world, spreads forth the arms of mercy? Moses therefore raised his hands; and although he did not stretch them out, yet by this raising he showed forth the mystery of the cross. See, brethren, even then through the Sacrament of the cross the hostile nations were overcome. And we, most beloved brethren, if with the Lord's help we raise our hands, we overcome the devil. We ought to receive works in our hands: if therefore thy works are such that thou canst raise them on high in the sight of the Lord, thou canst also extinguish thy adversaries in thyself. Who raises his hands well, except he who through almsgiving continually treasures up in heaven?" Furthermore, the shield on the spear aptly represents the cross of Christ, because the cross is to us both shield and spear: for it itself supplies all weapons both defensive and offensive. For it is to us a shield to repel all temptations of the flesh and the demon. It is a spear to pierce and subdue the flesh.
8:19
19. THEY SET IT ON FIRE, — by throwing fire into some of the houses of the inhabitants of Hai, so that they might raise smoke, which would be a sign to Joshua and the Hebrews that the city was already captured by them. For afterwards Joshua commanded the whole city to be burned again, verse 28.
8:20
20. AND THEY SAW THE SMOKE OF THE CITY ASCENDING UP TO HEAVEN. — "To heaven," that is, very high. It is a hyperbole. AND THEY HAD NO POWER TO FLEE THIS WAY OR THAT WAY. — For they had behind them their own city Hai already set on fire by the enemy, on the left another part of the ambush of thirty thousand, and in front and on the right the whole remaining army of the Israelites, who stretching themselves from east to south had shortly before feigned flight; now turned around and attacking them, they surrounded them on all sides, which was Joshua's plan, so that none of the enemy would escape. The Hebrew has, they had not to them for fleeing iadaim, that is, hands, that is, place: thus Masius and Pagninus; or ability: thus the Chaldean and Vatablus. For iadaim signifies both, namely both place and strength or ability.
8:27
27. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DIVIDED THE SPOILS OF THE CITY AMONG THEMSELVES. — In Jericho all the spoil was burned, because God had appointed it as a curse to strike terror into the other cities. In Hai, however, God gave the spoil to the Hebrews, so that he might enrich the poor and encourage them for the battles to follow.
8:28
28. WHO SET THE CITY ON FIRE, AND MADE IT A HEAP FOREVER, — In Hebrew, Joshua destroyed Hai and reduced it to a perpetual heap, and to desolation unto this day; in Chaldean, he made it a desolate heap desolate forever unto desolation. For forever in Hebrew is עולם olam, which word often does not signify eternal or perpetual, but a long time, which is nevertheless interrupted by some remarkable change of things. Thus Hai here, according to its name, was laid waste by Joshua and lay waste, but was built again and inhabited after a thousand years in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, chapter xi, verse 31, when namely a new age appeared after the Babylonian captivity, and a new world. In Hai therefore was fulfilled that of Isaiah xxiv, 10: "The city of vanity is broken down, all joy is departed, the gladness of the earth is taken away." See the remarks there.
8:29
29. AND HE ALSO HANGED THEIR KING ON A GIBBET. — The Septuagint: on a double wood. For indeed in a cross and gibbet there must be two pieces of wood, one erect, the other transverse, either in the manner of a cross, or in the manner of the Greek letter τ, or the Hebrew letter ת, which Origen here, in homily 8, interprets allegorically concerning the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ, he says, was double, that is, it consists in a double and twofold manner: because visibly Christ was crucified on the cross, but invisibly the devil himself was crucified, according to that passage in Colossians II: "The handwriting that was against us, he hath taken it away, nailing it to his cross, despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath triumphed over them in the wood of the cross." For thus the Greek has it, for which the Latins have "in himself." The cross therefore was a trophy of the devil, on which he himself was crucified and triumphed over. Hence Paul said: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world," Galatians vi. For we are crucified to the world when the prince of the world comes and finds nothing in us; and the world is crucified to us when we do not receive the desires of sin. Thus far Origen. Moreover Josephus, in his manner, narrates all these things with pomp, so that they may be more pleasing to the ears of Vespasian and the Romans, and so that he may consult for the fame and honor of his nation among them, namely the Jews. Whence he has many things discordant with Holy Scripture, indeed contrary to it, as when he says that the Hebrews took and preserved the little ones, women and servants of the city of Hai, when Scripture expressly asserts in chapter viii, verse 25, that all its inhabitants from man to woman were slain.
8:30
30. THEN JOSHUA BUILT AN ALTAR TO THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL ON MOUNT EBAL. — "Then," namely at that time when Jericho and Hai having been conquered, Joshua could safely proceed with the Hebrews to Shechem, to the mountains Garizim and Hebal, so that when they now possessed the land promised by God, they might confirm the covenant once made with God through Moses on Mount Sinai, and that in the same place in which the patriarch Abraham, when he first entered Canaan leaving his land of Chaldea, called by God, had erected an altar to God, Genesis chapter XII, verse 7. See what is said in Leviticus chapter xi, verse 30. Moreover that these mountains Garizim and Hebal are situated near Shechem, not near Jericho, as Eusebius or Jerome wishes in the Hebrew Places, Josephus expressly teaches in book IV of the Antiquities, final chapter, St. Jerome in the Epitaph of St. Paula, Adrichomius and others.
8:33
33. AND FIRST HE BLESSED. — Our text clearly separates and divides what in the Hebrew is mixed together in this way: As the Lord commanded Moses to bless the people of Israel. Understand, thus Joshua did according to the form of blessing prescribed by God, Numbers VI. 34. AFTER THIS HE READ, — that is, he ordered to be read by the Levites. For thus God had commanded through Moses, Deuteronomy chapter xxvii, where I have explained this entire rite of blessing and cursing; wherefore I shall not repeat it here.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
8:3
Luzah (Hebrew Láz "Almond", Septuagint Ἀουζά)
… Jacob had there while traveling from Beersheba to Haran (Gen. 28:11-28). It was situated almost in the center of Palestine, and in the division of the Promised Land it came to lie on the borders of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin (cf. Josh. 16:1 ff.; 8:3).
8:9
Hai (Heb. Ha-'Aj, always with the article 'the ruin'; Septuagint Ia)
… A Canaanite city to the east and near Bethel and Bethaven (Gen. 12:8; Josh. 8:9; 12:9), a little to the north of Machmas (Is. 10:28), identified with the ruins of et-Tell, located 2 km east of Bejtin (v. BETHEL) and 2 km north of Dejr Divān on the Muḥmas-Bejtin road.
8:14
… It designates (in opposition to the "mountain" har, the "low plain" šēfēlāh, the "south" nēgēbh: Josh. 11:16; 12:8) the depression (or stretches of it) extending from the south of the Hermon to the Elanitic Gulf (e.g.: Josh. 8:14; 11:2, 16; 12:1, 3, 8; 18:18) along the valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and from there to the Red Sea. Precisely this last stretch (never mentioned in the Bible) is today called …
8:21
… For the most part, however, not a single piece of wood was used, but two; already the Septuagint uses for the word 'šs the phrase ξύλον δίδυμον (Josh. 8:21). The larger piece of wood, erected and fixed to the ground, gave its name to the punishment: σταυρός is the pole driven into the earth. …
8:30
… In fact, altars were later legitimately erected on Ebal (Jos. 8:30), among the 3 transjordanian tribes and at Shechem (ibid. 22:9-34; 24:26 ff.); in the time of Samuel, at Mizpah, Ramah, Gilgal and Bethlehem (I Sam. 7:5-17; 9:13; 10:8; 14:35; 20:16).
The conviction of the Mosaic origin handed down in Israel (Josh. 1:7 ff.; 8:30-35; 1 Kings 2:3) is accepted in the New Testament (Mark 12:16 - Ex. 3:2, 6). The historical authority of Exodus is presupposed and affirmed by the whole Old Testament: the slavery and …
GARIZIM (Arabic Gebel et-Tôr). - Mountain (868 m.) of central Palestine, dominating to the north the biblical city of Shechem (near present-day Nablus), facing Mount Ebal (938 m.), where the Israelites, according to Moses' command (Deut. 11:30), held the solemn ceremony of curses and blessings (Josh. 8:30-32).
HEBAL. - A mountain (938 m.) north of the valley of Shechem, where Joshua, after the entry into the Promised Land, erected steles inscribing on them a copy of the Law; there he also raised an altar, renewed the covenant among the tribes and pronounced the Blessings (Josh. 8:30-32). In the Samaritan Pentateuch the name H. is tendentiously replaced by "Gerizim," so as to draw upon this mountain all the sacred memories and to have the place authenticated by Moses …
… Some exegetes affirm with serious probability that it was not the Samaritans who changed the text in their favor by substituting "Gerizim" for "Ebal" in Deut. 27, 4, but rather the Jews who substituted "Gerizim" for "Ebal" in Deut. 27, 4 and Jos. 8, 30 (ed. Meyer, C. C. Torrey, R. H. Pfeiffer, and already B. Kennicott); God would have ordered an altar rather on the mountain of cursing than on that of blessing which, even according …
Sichem (Heb. Šēḥḥem «Nuca»; Gr. Sychem or Sychima)
… At the beginning of the Israelite conquest Joshua held there a solemn assembly of all 12 tribes (Josh. 8:30) and there the covenant pact was confirmed and renewed (ibid. 24:1); it was among the Levitical and refuge cities (ibid. 20:21). In the time of the Judges there was still in the city …
8:31
the work of Moses, varied in several forms, belongs to the whole biblical tradition: "Book of the Law of Moses" (Josh. 8:31; 23:6; 2 Kings 14:6); "Book of Moses" (2 Kings 2:3; 2 Chron. 35:12; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1); practically equivalent to it are those of "Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses" …
… unbloody offerings (libation of wine, offering of flour kneaded with oil, Num. 15:4-11). Often together with the holocaust a peace sacrifice was offered: a rite of festive intimacy that followed the act of pure adoration to Yahweh (cf. Ex. 18:12; 24:5; Josh. 8:31; Judg. 20:26; 21:4; 1 Sam. 6:14 ff., etc.).
… incorporated in Deut., sometimes more generically the exposition, whether parenetic or legal, of Israel's duties, and in this latter sense t. occurs ("the book of the t.," "the t. of Moses," etc.) in the "deuteronomic" sections of Josh. and Kings (Josh. 1, 7-8; 8, 31-34; 22, 5; 23, 6; I Kings 2, 3; II Kings 10, 31 to 23, 24-25: 10 times).
8:33
… A similar tendency existed already before their secession, and we witness the curious fact that certain "anti-Samaritanisms" were handed down by the Samaritans themselves out of their veneration for tradition, as additions to the text of Deut. 11, 29; 27, 12; Jos. 8, 33, which even today in the Masoretic text assign to Gerizim the function of mountain of blessing, while to Ebal that of mountain of cursing. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.