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Joshua 8 Bible study: According to the LORD's word
The LORD sent Joshua back to Ai with words Moses had spoken to a generation that wouldn't go up (8:1; Deuteronomy 1:21), and the ambush that took the city was the LORD's own plan (8:2). Then, on Mount Ebal, Joshua read every word Moses commanded to everyone, "with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them" (8:35).
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“There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.”
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“In Joshua 8, the LORD himself tells Joshua to set an ambush behind Ai.”
Is that in Joshua 8, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Go up, and don't be afraid
The last chapter ended in a defeat at Ai: "they fled before the men of Ai", and "The hearts of the people melted, and became like water" (7:4-5). Now the LORD sends Joshua back: "Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land" (8:1). The first time, the spies had said, "Don’t let all the people go up" (7:3). This time it is "all the warriors". The promise is the one he gave at Jericho, "Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand" (6:2), and the words reach back further. At Kadesh Barnea (Deuteronomy 1:19), Moses had said, "Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession… Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 1:21). In Hebrew, behold, go up and Don't be afraid… dismayed are the same words in both verses, and set there is the verb given here. That generation "wouldn’t go up" (Deuteronomy 1:26). This one goes.
Where it leads to Jesus
They will hear my voice
Joshua 8:35leads toJohn 10:16
Joshua read the law "before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them" (8:35), and around the ark stood "the foreigner as well as the native" (8:33). Jesus said, "I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd" (John 10:16). Jesus doesn't cite Joshua 8, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some hear in both the same gathering: those from outside, the foreigner beside the native (8:33) or the sheep "not of this fold" (John 10:16), hearing God's word and standing with his people. Others read John 10:16 within Jesus' own picture of himself as the good shepherd, who says, "I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:15), and read Joshua 8:35 as the reading of the law that Moses had commanded for "the foreigners who are within your gates" (Deuteronomy 31:12), without looking ahead to John 10.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Joshua 8
That was a taste
The rest of Joshua 8 is waiting in Favor
- A plan the LORD gave
- Everything as commanded
- Every word, before everyone
- A heap forever
- Two laws Paul quotes, in one chapter
- 14 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Joshua 8 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
צָוָהtsavahsay tsa-VAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "lay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, order". Every "commanded" in this chapter is this verb, seven times. Joshua commands the ambush: "He commanded them" (8:4), and "Behold, I have commanded you" (8:8). The spoil is kept "according to the LORD’s word which he commanded Joshua" (8:27). "At sundown, Joshua commanded" (8:29). And three times it is Moses: the altar "as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded" (8:31), the people standing "as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first" (8:33), and "There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read" (8:35). The book says of Joshua later, "He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses" (11:15).
For your group
Joshua 8 Bible study questions
- 1Israel went back to Ai after losing there (7:4-5), with the LORD's word, "Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed" (8:1). Where do you need to go back and try again at something where you failed before?
- 2Joshua read "the blessing and the curse" (8:34), and didn't leave out a word (8:35). Why might it matter to hear the hard parts of the Bible along with the comforting ones?
- 3The women, the little ones and the foreigners all heard the law read (8:35). Who around you might be left out of hearing God's word, and what could your group do about it?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Joshua 8 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Joshua 8 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Joshua 8 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home