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Joshua 8 · a question people ask

Why was the king of Ai hanged on a tree, and why was his body taken down at sundown (8:29)?

In the text

The chapter says what was done, and not why: "He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree" (8:29) (tap hanged). Taking the body down before night is what Moses' law required: "his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God" (Deuteronomy 21:23). Joshua 8 doesn't cite the law, but in Hebrew hanged, tree and body are the words of Deuteronomy 21:22-23. Joshua does the same with five kings in chapter 10: "They were hanging on the trees until the evening" (10:26), and "At the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees" (10:27). The New Testament quotes that law about Jesus: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’" (Galatians 3:13). That line is drawn on the map from Deuteronomy 21, where the law is given.

The verses

“He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.”
Joshua 8:29 · World English Bible
“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.”
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 · World English Bible
“Afterward Joshua struck them, put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until the evening. At the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and threw them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.”
Joshua 10:26-27 · World English Bible
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,””
Galatians 3:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Joshua 8

Joshua 8: 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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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions