Lectionary Calendar
Friday, November 29th, 2024
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Green's Literal Translation

Joshua 8:20

And the men of Ai looked behind them, and saw; and, behold! The smoke of the city had gone up into the heaven. And there was no power in them to flee here or there. And the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ambush;   Armies;   Strategy;   Thompson Chain Reference - Conflagrations;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ai;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ambush;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Arms;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ai;   Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ai;   Israel;   Joshua;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hand ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ai, Hai ;   Ambush, Ambushment;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ai;   Journeyings of israel from egypt to canaan;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ascend;   Hand;   Natural Features;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ai;  

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.
Update Bible Version
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, look, 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 on the pursuers.
New Living Translation
When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.
English Revised 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.
New Century Version
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. At the same time the Israelites stopped running and turned against the men of Ai, who could not escape in any direction.
New English Translation
When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.
Webster's Bible Translation
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended 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.
World English Bible
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 who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
Amplified Bible
When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city was ascending toward the sky, and they had no opportunity to run this way or that way. Then the people who had been running to the wilderness turned back toward the pursuers.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the men of the citee, that pursueden Josue, bihelden, and siyen the smoke of the citee stie `til to heuene; and thei myyten no more fle hidur and thidur; most sithen thei that hadden feyned fliyt, and yeden to wildirnesse, withstoden stronglieste `ayens the pursueris.
Young's Literal Translation
And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and lo, the smoke of the city hath gone up unto the heavens, and there hath not been in them power to flee hither and thither -- and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer, --
Berean Standard Bible
When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
Contemporary English Version
When Joshua and his troops saw smoke rising from the town, they knew that the other part of their army had captured it. So they turned and attacked. The men of Ai looked back and saw smoke rising from their town. But they could not escape, because the soldiers they had been chasing had suddenly turned and started fighting.
American Standard 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.
Bible in Basic English
Then the men of Ai, looking back, saw the smoke of the town going up to heaven, and were unable to go this way or that: and the people who had gone in flight to the waste land were turned back on those who were coming after them.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when the men of Ai loked backe after them, they sawe the smoke of the citie ascend vp to heauen, and they had no place to flee either this way or that: and the people that fled to the wildernes, turned backe againe vpon the folowers.
Complete Jewish Bible
When the men of ‘Ai looked behind them, they saw it — there was the smoke from the city, rising to the sky; and they had no power to flee this way or that — at which point the people who had run off toward the desert turned back on the pursuers.
Darby Translation
And the men of Ai turned and saw, and behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned upon the pursuers.
Easy-to-Read Version
The men from Ai looked back and saw their city burning. When they saw the smoke rising into the sky, they lost their strength and courage. They stopped chasing the men of Israel. The Israelites stopped running away. They turned and went to fight the men from Ai. There was no safe place for the men from Ai to run to.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.
King James Version (1611)
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended vp to heauen, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wildernesse, turned backe vpon the pursuers.
New Life Bible
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke of the city going up to the sky. They had no place to run. Then the people of Israel who had been running away in the desert turned against those who went after them.
New Revised Standard
So when the men of Ai looked back, the smoke of the city was rising to the sky. They had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the men of Ai turned behind them, and looked, and lo! the smoke of the city had risen up towards the heavens, and there was in them no strength, to flee this way or that way, - moreover, the people that were fleeing to the wilderness, turned back upon the pursuers.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the men of Ai looked behinde them, and sawe it: for loe, the smoke of the citie ascended vp to heauen, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: for the people that fled to the wildernesse, turned backe vpon the pursuers.
George Lamsa Translation
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw the smoke of their city going up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people of Israel that fled to the wilderness turned back upon their pursuers.
Good News Translation
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke rising to the sky. There was no way for them to escape, because the Israelites who had run toward the barren country now turned around to attack them.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back, and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.
Revised Standard Version
So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And when the inhabitants of Gai looked round behind them, then they saw the smoke going up out of the city to heaven, and they were no longer able to flee this way or that way.
Christian Standard Bible®
The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
Hebrew Names Version
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 who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
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.
Lexham English Bible
Then the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky; they had no power to flee this way or that, and the people fleeing the wilderness turned around to the pursuers.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the men of Hai turned them, and loked behynde them, and the smoke of the cite wente vp towarde heauen, and they had no place to flie vnto, nether hither ner thither: and the people that fled towarde the wyldernes turned aboute, to folowe vpon them.
THE MESSAGE
The men of Ai looked back and, oh! saw the city going up in smoke. They found themselves trapped with nowhere to run. The army on the run toward the wilderness did an about-face—Joshua and all Israel, seeing that the ambush had taken the city, saw it going up in smoke, turned and attacked the men of Ai.
New American Standard Bible
When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.
New King James Version
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the men of Ai turned back and looked, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.

Contextual Overview

18 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai. For I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward the city. 19 And the ambush rose up quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered the city, and took it. And they hastened and burned the city with fire. 20 And the men of Ai looked behind them, and saw; and, behold! The smoke of the city had gone up into the heaven. And there was no power in them to flee here or there. And the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city had gone up. And they turned back and struck the men of Ai. 22 And the others came out from the city to meet them. And they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that. And they struck them until not a survivor was left to them, not one that escaped.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the smoke: Genesis 19:28, Isaiah 34:10, Revelation 18:9, Revelation 19:3

and they had: Job 11:20, Psalms 48:5, Psalms 48:6, Psalms 76:5, Amos 2:14-16, Revelation 6:15-17

power: Heb. hand

Reciprocal: Judges 20:40 - looked Judges 20:43 - enclosed 1 Samuel 13:6 - in a strait 2 Kings 3:24 - smote the 2 Chronicles 13:14 - looked back Daniel 8:7 - and there was no Joel 2:30 - pillars 1 Thessalonians 5:3 - then

Cross-References

Genesis 4:4
And Abel brought, he also, from the firstlings of his flocks, even from their fat. And Jehovah looked to Abel and to his offering.
Genesis 7:2
You shall take to yourself from every clean animal by sevens, male and female, and from the animal that is not clean by two, male and female.
Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
Genesis 8:4
And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.
Genesis 8:7
And he sent out a raven, and it went out, going out and returning until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Genesis 8:8
He also sent out from him the dove, to see if the waters had gone down from off the face of the earth.
Genesis 8:15
And God spoke to Noah, saying,
Genesis 8:16
Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
Genesis 8:17
Bring out from you every living thing that is with you, of all flesh, of fowl, of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps on the earth; and let them swarm on the earth, and bear, and multiply on the earth.
Genesis 13:4
to the place of the altar which he had made there at the first. And Abram called on the name of Jehovah there.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when the men of Ai looked behind them,.... On some account or another, perhaps observing that the army of Israel made a full stop and was gazing at the city:

they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven; from whence they concluded an enemy was there, and had set fire to it:

and they had no power to flee this way or that way; for if they turned back to their city there was an enemy, how powerful they knew not, possessed of it, and whom they might expect would meet them; and if they pushed forward, there was the whole army of Israel against them, which now turned and faced them, showing no fear of them:

and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers; the people of Israel, that fled by the way of the wilderness, Joshua 8:15, turned about, and fell upon the men of Ai that pursued them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 8:20. They had no power to flee this way or that way — They were in utter consternation; they saw that the city was taken, they found themselves in the midst of their foes; that their wives, children, and property, had fallen a prey to their enemies, in consequence of which they were so utterly panic-struck as to be incapable of making any resistance.


 
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