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Joshua 8

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1 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be dismayed. Take with thee all the people of war, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.

2 And 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.

3 And Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men, and sent them away by night.

4 And he commanded them, saying, See, ye shall be in ambush against the city, behind the city: go not very far from the city, and be all of you ready.

5 And I and all the people that are with me will approach to the city; and it shall come to pass when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.

6 And they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first; and we will flee before them.

7 And ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city; and Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.

8 And it shall be when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.

9 And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai. And Joshua lodged that night among the people.

10 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and inspected the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

11 And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew near, and came before the city; and they encamped on the north of Ai; and the valley was between them and Ai.

12 Now he had taken about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.

13 And when they had set the people, the whole camp on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

14 And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hasted and rose early, and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the appointed place before the plain. But he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

15 And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them; and they fled by the way of the wilderness.

16 And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

17 And not a man remained in Ai and Bethel that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

18 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that he had in his hand toward the city.

19 And the ambush arose quickly from their place, and they ran when he stretched out his hand, and came into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.

20 And the men of Ai turned and saw, and behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned upon the pursuers.

21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.

22 And the others went out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; and they smote them, until they let none of them escape or flee away.

23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

24 And it came to pass when Israel had ended slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they had chased them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

25 And so it was, that all who fell that day, men as well as women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.

26 And Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had stretched out with the javelin, until they had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

27 Only, the cattle and the spoil of the city Israel took as prey to themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which he had commanded Joshua.

28 And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day.

29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his carcase down from the tree, and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised upon it a great heap of stones, [which remains] to this day.

30 Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

31 as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which iron had not been lifted up. And they offered up burnt-offerings on it to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings.

32 And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written before the children of Israel.

33 And all Israel, and their elders, and their officers and judges, stood on this side and on that side of the ark before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the stranger as the home-born [Israelite]; half of them toward mount Gerizim, and the other half of them toward mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded, that they should bless the people of Israel, in the beginning.

34 And afterwards he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua read not before the whole congregation of Israel, and the women, and the children, and the strangers that lived among them.

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 8      

Napsal(a) Rev. Julian Duckworth and New Christian Bible Study Staff

Joshua 8: The fall of Ai and the renewal of the covenant.

The events of this chapter - and their spiritual meaning for us - follow on from the previous chapter. After their first setback at Ai, the Children of Israel take the city of Ai by using a clever ruse. Joshua chose thirty thousand men for the battle. The plan was for five thousand of them to hide near the city, while he led the main army to attack the city. Then, Joshua and his forces would pretend to run away, pursued by the men of Ai. Those who had hidden were then to come out, go into the city, and set it on fire. The men of Ai would see this and run back, get ambushed, and be caught between Joshua’s two armies.

It all happened as planned, and Israel took Ai. (See Arcana Caelestia 1557). As with Jericho, everything in Ai was commanded to be destroyed, except that in this case the livestock and the city’s spoils were to be kept. The whole city was burned and its king was hanged on a tree until sunset and then his body was thrown down at the city entrance with a great heap of stones put over it.

The basic spiritual meaning of any battle in the Bible such as this, is to show how a heavenly principle can and will overcome a hellish or evil attack, especially for us, during some temptation - when we seek to resist and fight back.

Evil is only strong in illusion and fear-mongering; when the light of what is true shines on evil it gets shown for what it is. (Heaven and Hell 49)

The city’s name “Ai” means “a heap”. The word gets used several times in the text of the chapter. A heap implies rubble and rubbish. Cities sometimes look noble and well-planned; in Ai’s case it was the very opposite - a heap, a ruin. (Heaven and Hell 586[2])

While Jericho generally represents our wrong thinking, which first stands in the way of our regeneration and spiritual will, Ai represents our evil emotions and our selfish passions. Both of them must fall before we can make further progress.

Joshua chooses a large number to go against a relatively few in Ai, who nevertheless all rush out to fight Israel. “There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. Thus they left the city open.” (Joshua 8:17)

Joshua’s tactic of drawing out the men of Ai means our challenge to evil - by confronting it with the truths and commandments we know and obey. Joshua’s pretence of fleeing away draws Ai out in glee, interpreting the flight as a real retreat. Then everything turns, and Joshua’s men go forward representing the power of the truth, the Word and our persuasion of their effectiveness in winning. (Arcana Caelestia 6344[4])

Ai’s men see their city on fire, for other Israelites entered Ai and set it ablaze. This represents the self-condemnation of evil, of hell, when it is exposed to what is true, heavenly and of God. But Joshua’s men, lying in ambush and waiting for the moment, represent our keen observation of how our selfish desires work to cause havoc in us. They are 5,000. Symbolically, in the Bible, five or its multiples always stand for a small amount - but enough to use.

Hanging the king of Ai stands for our need to put down the controlling power of any evil which stirs us. And all Ai is destroyed, because all evil must be turned against and refused.

Then, and only then, Joshua remakes the covenant with the Lord God; he builds an altar, he writes a copy on stones of the Law of Moses in the presence of all Israel, the priests stand in two groups in front of two mountains, then Joshua reads the words of blessing and cursing and all the Law of Moses.

After we resist any evil and its temptation, we must re-hear and re-affirm the truth that this was the Lord’s victory, not ours, and re-dedicate ourselves to the life the Lord gives us. (True Christian Religion 13[2])

Swedenborg

Výklad(y) nebo odkazy ze Swedenborgových prací:

Arcana Coelestia 796, 878, 1298, 1453, 2799, 5156, 6752, ...

Apocalypse Revealed 457, 662

Odkazy ze Swedenborgových nevydaných prací:

Apocalypse Explained 585, 655, 937

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The Capture of Ai

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Skočit na podobné biblické verše

Genesis 12:7, 8

Exodus 8:1, 17:9, 12, 13, 20:25

Numbers 15:15, 16, 29

Deuteronomy 2:34, 35, 7:18, 21, 11:29, 13:17, 21:22, 23, 27:2, 8, 14, 28:28, 29:9, 10, 31:11, 12

Joshua 1:9, 2:24, 3:1, 6:2, 21, 7:26, 9:3, 10:7, 22, 26, 27, 11:14, 12:9

Judges 9:32, 20:29, 31, 32, 34, 37, 40, 41

1 Samuel 15:5

Nehemiah 8:2, 3

John 4:20

1 Thessalonians 5:27

Významy biblických slov

jehovah
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

said
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

ai
Hai, or Ai, signifies light derived from worldly things.

joshua
Joshua, the son of Josedech the high-priest,' as in Zechariah 3:1, signifies the law, or the Word.

fear
Fear has various significations according to the thing which causes it. Fear signifies love. Fear, as in Gen 28:17, signifies a holy change.

Fear not
Fear not, as in Revelation 1:17; Daniel 10:5, 12; Matthew 17:5, 7; 28:10, etc., signifies resuscitation to life, and at the same time adoration from...

war
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...

arise
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...

go up
When we talk about "going up" in the modern world, we usually mean either that we're going north – which is toward the top of...

see
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...

given
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...

hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.

city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jer. 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.

land
Generally in the Bible a "country" means a political subdivision ruled by a king, or sometimes a tribe with a territory ruled by a king...

jericho
Jericho' signifies instruction and also the good of life because no one can be instructed in the truths of doctrine but he who is in...

spoil
'To spoil,' as in Genesis 34:27, signifies destruction. 'Spoil,' as in Deuteronomy 13:16, signifies the falsification of truth.

behind
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.

people
"Man" is a tricky word to discuss, because the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses six different words that are generally translated as "man," with...

thirty
'Thirty' has a twofold significance because it is is the product of five and six, and also three and ten. From five multiplied by six,...

thousand
As children, most of us at some point frustrated our mothers into using the phrase “if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand...

valiant
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.

men
"Man" is a tricky word to discuss, because the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses six different words that are generally translated as "man," with...

sent
'Being sent' everywhere signifies, in an internal sense, going forth, as in John 17:8. In similar manner, it is said of the holy of the...

night
The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state...

commanded
To command is to give an order that something must be done, and is directed to an individual, or a group. It is an imperative,...

go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...

us
Angels do give us guidance, but they are mere helpers; the Lord alone governs us, through angels and spirits. Since angels have their assisting role,...

the first
'Resurrection' signifies salvation and eternal life. 'The first,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part...

first
Why would it be insulting for a man to refer to his married partner as his “first wife”? Because it implies there will be a...

flee
Flight, as in Matthew 14:20, signifies removal from a state of the good of love and innocence. Flight, as in Mark 8:18, signifies the last...

before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's...

after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.

say
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

rise
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...

rise up
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...

God
When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is...

fire
Just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping you warm or scary in burning down your house, so fire in the spiritual sense...

the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...

word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

bethel
When Jacob had his famous dream, of a staircase leading to heaven, he named the place "Bethel," which is Hebrew for "the house of God."...

rose
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...

early
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...

morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...

Elders of Israel
The elders of Israel (Deut. 1:13, 15) represent celestial men.

elders
Elders are mentioned in the Bible mainly in two ways: First the elders of Israel: and second the 24 elders seated about the throne of...

israel
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...

near
'Nigh' denotes truth in affinity with good.

came
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...

encamped
'Pitch,' as in Genesis 14:10, denotes lusts. 'Burning pitch,' as in Isaiah 34:9, signifies direful fantasies.

north
'North' signifies people who are in obscurity regarding truth. North,' in Isaiah 14:31, signifies hell. The North,' as in Jeremiah 3:12, signifies people who are...

Five thousand men
Five thousand men besides women and children, as in Matthew 14:15, 21, signifies all who are of the church in truths from good; men, those...

five
Five also signifies all things of one part.

camp
Camps in the Bible represent spiritual order – a person’s (or a church community’s) whole collection of desires for good and true ideas on how...

midst
The "midst" of something in the Bible represents the thing that is most central and most important to the spiritual state being described, the motivation...

valley
Mountains in the Bible represent people's highest points, where we are closest to the Lord - our love of the Lord and the state of...

saw
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...

hasted
'To hasten' or 'hastiness' in the internal sense, does not denote what is quick, but what is certain, and also what is full, thus every...

battle
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...

plain
'A plain' signifies good and truth in the natural self, because 'the people who dwell in plains,' or 'beneath mountains and hills' are in the...

knew
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...

fled
To flee signifies to escape, and be rescued. To flee signifies to be overcome.

way
'To set a way,' as in Genesis 30:36, signifies being separated.

wilderness
'Wilderness' signifies something with little life in it, as described in the internal sense in Luke 1:80 'Wilderness' signifies somewhere there is no good because...

pursue
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...

pursued
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...

man
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...

open
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.

stretch
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

stretch out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

javelin
'Lances' signify combating truths.

give
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...

stretched
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

stretched out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

quickly
'To hasten' or 'hastiness' in the internal sense, does not denote what is quick, but what is certain, and also what is full, thus every...

place
'A dry place,' as in Luke 11:24, signifies states of evil and falsity which are in the life of someone who does the work of...

turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...

smoke
'Smoke' signifies divine truth in extremes, because 'fire' which gives off smoke, signifies love. 'Smoke' also signifies the same thing as 'cloud' in many places....

heaven
"Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – more like our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend...

side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.

smote
'The smitten' signify people who are oppressed by the falsities of ignorance.

inhabitants
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.

field
When we have a desire to be good people and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?" "What should...

fallen
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...

sword
A 'sword,' in the Word, signifies the truth of faith combating and the vastation of truth. In an opposite sense, it signifies falsity combating and...

returned
There are many instances in the Bible which describe people turning back, looking back or going back. In most cases it is a negative, sometimes...

Edge of the sword
The edge of the sword (Gen. 34:26) signifies what is false and evil in a state of combat.

fell
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...

day
The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a...

women
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...

back
Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to...

the inhabitants
'The inhabitants of Teman,' as in Jeremiah 49:20, signifies the evils and falsities opposed to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.

everlasting
'Perpetual' in the literal sense, means to the end of one’s life, after death, and eternity.

hanged
'To hang,' as mentioned in Genesis 41:13, signifies rejecting. 'Hanging' represents the damnation of profanation.

tree
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...

evening
Since the light and warmth of the sun represent the Lord’s wisdom and love, it makes sense that evening, a time when the light and...

down
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...

sun
The 'sun' signifies celestial and spiritual love. The 'sun' in the Word, when referring to the Lord, signifies His divine love and wisdom. Because the...

carcase
The body (Matt. 6:22), signifies the man (homo). "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree" (Deut. 21:23), signifies lest it should be...

entrance
In a general sense, doors in the Bible represent the initial desires for good and concepts of truth that introduce people to new levels of...

gate
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...

great
The word "great" is used in the Bible to represent a state with a strong degree of love and affection, of the desire for good;...

heap
Galeed, a heap and a witness, mentioned in Genesis 31:47, signifies quality on the part of good of the divine natural principle.

stones
Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in...

built
wrought (also entwined or entwisted) is predicated of the natural scientific principle, and in Isaiah 45:13, of divine natural truth.

altar
The first altar mentioned in the Word was built by Noah after he came out of the ark. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals...

mount
'Hills' signify the good of charity.

moses
Moses's name appears 814 times in the Bible (KJV), third-most of any one character (Jesus at 961 actually trails David at 991). He himself wrote...

servant
“Servant” literally means “a person who serves another,"" and its meaning is similar in reference to the spiritual meaninngs of the Bible. Our lives in...

children
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....

written
In John 8:2-11, the Lord wrote twice on the ground, when the woman taken in adultery was brought to him, which signifies the condemnation of...

book
(Rev. 10:9.) "And I went unto the angel, saying, give me the little book," signifies the faculty of perceiving the quality of the Word from...

iron
'Iron,' in Deuteronomy 8:9, signifies natural or rational truth. Iron' signifies natural truth, and consequently, the natural sense of the Word. At the same time,...

Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.

peace
In ordinary life, we tend to think of "peace" as essentially "a lack of conflict." As a nation, if we're not at war, it's a...

wrote
In John 8:2-11, the Lord wrote twice on the ground, when the woman taken in adultery was brought to him, which signifies the condemnation of...

judges
It’s easy to see the connection between judging and truth. In a court of law, the judge’s whole purpose is to find the truth. In...

stood
'To stand,' and 'come forth' as in Daniel 7:10, refers to truth. In Genesis 24:13, it signifies a state of conjunction of divine truth with...

ark
A coffin (Gen. 1:26) signifies that wherein something is shut up or concealed.

priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.

bore
Like many verbs, the spiritual meaning of "bearing" something depends greatly on context – what it is that's being borne, and why. It is further...

half
Half and double in reference to numbers in the world have a similar signification as the numbers themselves.

bless
The Lord is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, could give us love and wisdom of...

words
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

curse
The Lord is love itself, and his love for us never wavers and never changes. What does waver and change is the degree to which...

congregation
A congregation is a group of people with common loves, interests, and purposes. It often refers to a church group. In the Word it is...

strangers
The word "stranger" is used many times in the Bible, and it is sometimes paired with the word "sojourner". They are different concepts in the...

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 Compare Joshua with Jesus
Complete a chart comparing Joshua and Jesus. Who were theys fighting? Where did they go? How did they show courage?
Activity | Ages 9 - 13

 The Capture of Ai
A New Church Bible story explanation for teaching Sunday school. Includes lesson materials for Primary (3-8 years), Junior (9-11 years), Intermediate (12-14 years), Senior (15-17 years) and Adults.
Teaching Support | Ages over 3

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