Josua 8:29

Svenska Bibel

Och konungen i Ai lät han hänga upp på en påle, där han fick hänga ända till aftonen. Men när solen gick ned, tog man på Josuas befallning hans döda kropp ned från pålen och kastade den vid ingången till stadsporten; och man uppkastade över den ett stort stenröse, som finnes kvar ännu i dag.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the king: The kings of Canaan lay under the same curse as their subjects and probably were more deeply criminal. The reserving of the king of Ai for a solemn execution, would tend to strike terror into the other kings, contribute to the success of Israel, and give their proceedings the stamp of a judicial process, and of executing the vengeance of God upon his enemies. Joshua 10:26-28, Joshua 10:30, Joshua 10:33, Deuteronomy 21:22, Deuteronomy 21:23, Esther 7:10, Psalms 107:40, Psalms 110:5, Acts 12:23, Revelation 19:17, Revelation 19:18

as soon: Joshua 10:27

a great heap: Joshua 7:26, 2 Samuel 18:17

Reciprocal: Genesis 40:19 - hang thee Joshua 8:2 - do to Ai Joshua 8:23 - General Joshua 10:29 - Libnah Joshua 12:9 - Ai 2 Samuel 21:6 - hang Esther 2:23 - hanged

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide,.... By way of terror to other kings in the land of Canaan, that should refuse to submit unto him:

and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree; according to the law in

Deuteronomy 21:23; and that the land might not be defiled:

and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city; this was done, according to Ben Gersom and Abarbinel, that it might be publicly known to the rest of the kings of the nations, that they might be afraid to fight with Israel:

and raise thereon a great heap of stones, [that remaineth] unto this day; as a sepulchral monument, showing that there was a person lay interred there; whether there was any inscription on the stone, showing who he was, does not appear; it looks as if it was only a rude heap of stones; and such kind of sepulchral monuments were common in former times in other countries.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare Deuteronomy 21:22-23 notes.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 29. The king of Ai he hanged on a tree — He had gone out at the head of his men, and had been taken prisoner, Joshua 8:23; and the battle being over, he was ordered to be hanged, probably after having been strangled, or in some way deprived of life, as in the case mentioned Joshua 10:26, for in those times it was not customary to hang people alive.

As soon as the sun was down — It was not lawful to let the bodies remain all night upon the tree. See the note on Deuteronomy 21:23. The Septuagint say the king of Ai was hanged επι ξυλον διδυμον, upon a double tree, which probably means a forked tree, or something in the form of a cross. The tree on which criminals were hanged among the Romans was called arbor infelix, and lignum infelix, the unfortunate, ill-fated, or accursed tree.

Raise thereon a great heap of stones — This was a common custom through all antiquity in every country, as we have already seen in the case of Achan, Joshua 7:20.