Ai in the Bible

Meaning: mass; heappar

Thematic Bible



He has come to Aiath, he has passed to Migron; at Michmash he has stored his baggage;


And the sons of Benjamin from Geba lived at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel, and their villages,


And all who fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, all the men of Ai.


The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.


Wail, O Heshbon; Ai is spoiled! Cry, daughters of Rabbah; clothe yourselves with sackcloth, mourn, and run to and fro by the hedges! For their king shall go into exile; his priests and his rulers together.


O, Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns their backs before their enemies?


Wail, O Heshbon; Ai is spoiled! Cry, daughters of Rabbah; clothe yourselves with sackcloth, mourn, and run to and fro by the hedges! For their king shall go into exile; his priests and his rulers together.


And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel. And he spoke to them, saying, Go up and look over the country. And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Let not all the people go up. But let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not make all the people labor there, for they are few. And about three thousand men of the people went up there. And they fled before the men of Ai.

And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take for a prize for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it. So Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up against Ai. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, mighty warriors, and sent them away by night. read more.
And he commanded them, saying, Behold, you will be an ambush against the city, behind the city. You shall not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. And I, and all the people with me, shall go toward the city. And it shall be, when they come out against us, as at the first, we will flee before them, (for they will come out after us) until we have drawn them out of the city. For they will say, They flee before us, even as at the first. And we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize on the city; for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, according to the command of Jehovah you shall do. See, I have commanded you. And Joshua sent them out. And they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night among the people. And Joshua rose up early in the morning and called up the people. And they went up, he and the elders of Israel, in the sight of the people of Ai. And all the people of war with him went up and drew near. And they came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai. And a valley was between them and Ai. And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley. And it happened, when the king of Ai saw, they hurried and rose up early. And the men of the city went out to do battle against Israel, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain. But he did not know that there were some lying in ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel acted as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. And all the people in Ai were called together to run after them. And they ran after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go after Israel. And they left the city open, and ran after Israel. And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear in his hand toward the city. And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand. And they entered into the city, and took it, and hurried and set the city on fire.