Joshua 8:20

And the men of 'Ai turned [and looked] behind them, and they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that had fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

Leeser Tanakh

In The King James Version

And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

In Context

19And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took possession of it, and hastened and set the city on fire.

21For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had seized the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended: they turned back, and smote the men of 'Ai.

Read all of Joshua 8

Cross References

Genesis 19:28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, smoke went up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.

Judges 20:41And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed; for they saw that the evil had overtaken them.

Psalms 48:5(48:6) They indeed saw—[and] so they were astonished; they were terrified, they were confounded.

Isaiah 34:10Night and day shall it not be quenched; for ever shall ascend the smoke thereof: from generation to generation shall it lie waste; no one shall for ever and ever pass through it.

Matthew Henry on Joshua 8:4-23

3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5 And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto 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 (For they will come out… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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