Joshua 7:2

Amplified Bible

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Update Bible Version
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

English Revised Version
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

New Century Version
Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, which was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, "Go to Ai and spy out the area." So the men went to spy on Ai.

New English Translation
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel) and instructed them, "Go up and spy on the land." So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which [is] beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

World English Bible
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out Ai.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne Josue sente men fro Jerico ayens Hai, which is bisidis Bethauen, at the eest coost of the citee Bethel, he seide to hem, Stie ye, and aspie ye the lond. Whiche filliden `the comaundementis, and aspieden Hay;

Young's Literal Translation
And Joshua sendeth men from Jericho to Ai, which [is] near Beth-Aven, on the east of Bethel, and speaketh unto them, saying, `Go up and spy the land;' and the men go up and spy Ai,

Berean Standard Bible
Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

Contemporary English Version
While Israel was still camped near Jericho, Joshua sent some spies with these instructions: "Go to the town of Ai and find out whatever you can about the region around the town." The spies left and went to Ai, which is east of Bethel and near Beth-Aven.

American Standard Version
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Bible in Basic English
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is by the side of Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and make a search through the land. And the men went up and saw how Ai was placed.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iosuah sent men from Iericho to Ai, which is besyde Bethauen, on the east syde of Bethel, and spake vnto them, saying: Get you vp, and viewe the countrey. And the men went vp, & viewed Ai,

Complete Jewish Bible
Y'hoshua sent men from Yericho to ‘Ai, which is next to Beit-Aven, east of Beit-El, telling them to go up and spy out the land. So the men went up, reconnoitered ‘Ai,

Darby Translation
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the country. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Easy-to-Read Version
After they defeated Jericho, Joshua sent some men to Ai. Ai was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, "Go to Ai and look for weaknesses in that area." So the men went to spy on that land.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke unto them, saying: 'Go up and spy out the land.' And the men went up and spied out Ai.

King James Version (1611)
And Ioshua sent men from Iericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-auen, on the East side of Bethel, and spake vnto them, saying, Goe vp and view the countrey. And the men went vp, and viewed Ai.

New Life Bible
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel. He said to them, "Go and spy out the land in secret." So the men went and spied out Ai.

New Revised Standard
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai which was beside Beth-aven on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them saying, Go up and spy out the land. So the men went up, and spied out Ai.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Ioshua sent men from Iericho to Ai, which is beside Bethauen, on ye East side of Bethel, and spake vnto them, saying, Goe vp, & view the countrey. And ye men went vp, & viewed Ai,

George Lamsa Translation
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aon, on the east side of Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Good News Translation
Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, a city east of Bethel, near Bethaven, with orders to go and explore the land. When they had done so,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Josue sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel, he said to them: Go up, and view the country: and they fulfilled his command, and viewed Hai.

Revised Standard Version
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-a'ven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joshua sent men to Gai, which is by Baethel, saying, Spy out Gai: and the men went up and spied Gai.

Christian Standard Bible®
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.

Hebrew Names Version
Yehoshua sent men from Yericho to `Ai, which is beside Beit-Aven, on the east side of Beit-El, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out `Ai.

King James Version
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

Lexham English Bible
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, "Go up and spy out Ai." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Literal Translation
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, on the east of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan Iosua sent out men from Iericho vnto Hai, which lyeth besyde Bethaue on ye eastsyde of Bethel, he sayde vnto the: Go vp, and spye the londe. And whan they had gone vp, and spyed out Hai,

THE MESSAGE
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (The Ruin), which is near Beth Aven just east of Bethel. He instructed them, "Go up and spy out the land." The men went up and spied out Ai.

New American Standard Bible
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

New King James Version
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the country." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

New Living Translation
Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

Contextual Overview

¹But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully and violated their obligation in regard to the things [off limits] under the ban [those things belonging to the LORD], for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban [for personal gain]. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites. ²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few." ⁴So about three thousand men from the sons of Israel went up there, but they fled [in retreat] from the men of Ai. ⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of Israel's men, and chased them from the gate as far as [the bluffs of] Shebarim and struck them down as they descended [the steep pass], so the hearts of the people melted [in despair and began to doubt God's promise] and became like water (disheartened).

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

to Ai: Joshua 12:9, Genesis 12:8, Hai, Nehemiah 11:31, Aija

Bethaven: Joshua 18:12, Genesis 28:19, Hosea 4:15

Go up: Joshua 2:1, Proverbs 20:18, Proverbs 24:6, Matthew 10:16, Ephesians 5:15

Reciprocal: Joshua 8:9 - between Judges 1:23 - sent 1 Samuel 13:5 - Bethaven Ezra 2:28 - Ai Isaiah 10:28 - Aiath Hosea 5:8 - Bethaven Hosea 10:5 - Bethaven

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you with all your household, for you [alone] I have seen as righteous (doing what is right) before Me in this generation.

Genesis 7:8
Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and fowls and everything that crawls on the ground,

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that same day all the fountains of the great deep [subterranean waters] burst open, and the windows and floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Genesis 7:15
So they went into the ark with Noah, two by two of all living beings in which there was the breath and spirit of life.

Genesis 7:19
The waters prevailed so greatly and were so mighty and overwhelming on the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.

Genesis 7:21
All living beings that moved on the earth perished—birds and cattle (domestic animals), [wild] animals, all things that swarm and crawl on the earth, and all mankind.

Genesis 8:20
And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every [ceremonially] clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Leviticus 10:10
and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;

Ezekiel 44:23
"The priests shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the (ceremonially) unclean and the clean.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,.... Which was the next city of importance, though not so large as Jericho, and was, as the Jews say l, three miles distant from it; Abarbinel says m four miles, and so Bunting n; Jerom o says, that in his times very few ruins of it appeared, only the place was shown where it stood:

which [is] beside Bethaven; a name by which Bethel in later times was called, Hosea 4:15; but here it is manifestly a distinct place from it; just hard by or near to this place, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, was the city of Ai: Bethaven seems to have been the suburbs of it, or however was very near unto it:

on the east side of Bethel; near to which Abraham built an altar, as did Jacob also, and which in former times was called Luz, Genesis 12:8; and was well known in later ages by the name of Bethel; it was reckoned about a mile from Ai: the situation of this city is so particularly described to distinguish it from another city of this name, Ai of the Amorites, Jeremiah 49:3; and is here called "that Ai", that well known Ai, as Kimchi observes:

and spake unto them; at the time he sent them, when he gave them their orders to go thither:

saying, go up and view the country; the mountainous part of it; for they were now in a plain, where Jericho was seated; and observe what place was most proper to attack next, and which the best way of coming at it:

and the men went up and viewed Ai; what a sort of a city it was, how large, and what its fortifications, and what avenues were to it: by this it appears that Ai was built upon a hill, or at least was higher than Jericho and its plains; and with this agrees what a traveller says p of it, it is a village full of large ruins (in this he differs from Jerom) and from hence are seen the valley of Jericho, the dead sea, Gilgal, and Mount Quarantania, and many other places towards the east.

l Shemoth Rabba, sect. 32. fol. 185. 2. m In Josh. xx. fol. 34. 1. n Travels Of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 95. o De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E. p Baumgarten. Peregrinatio, l. 3. c. 1. p. 105.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ai, Bethel - See Genesis 12:8 note. (Modern travelers place the former at Khan Haiy, in the neighborhood of Deir Diwan.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 7:2. Sent men from Jericho to Ai — This is the place called Hai, Genesis 12:8. It was in the east of Beth-el, north of Jericho, from which it was distant about ten or twelve miles. From Joshua 7:4-5 it appears to have been situated upon a hill, and belonged to the Amorites, as we learn from Joshua 7:7. It is very likely that it was a strong place, as it chose to risk a siege, notwithstanding the extraordinary destruction of Jericho which it had lately witnessed.