Ai, a Canaanite city near Bethel, captured by Israel under Joshua.
Also known as city · Aiath · Aija
Ai was a Canaanite city located near Bethel, east of Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in Genesis 12:8 and 13:3, where Abraham built an altar between Bethel and Ai. During the conquest of Canaan, Joshua sent spies to Ai, who reported that the city was small and could be easily defeated (Joshua 7:2-3). However, the Israelites were initially defeated because of Achan's sin (Joshua 7:4-5).
After dealing with Achan, Joshua set an ambush and conquered Ai, killing its inhabitants and burning the city (Joshua 8). The king of Ai was hanged, and a heap of stones was raised over his body (Joshua 8:29). The conquest of Ai opened the way for the Israelites to advance into the heart of Canaan (Joshua 9:3; 10:1-2). Ai is listed among the cities defeated by Joshua (Joshua 12:9).
After the Babylonian exile, some people from Ai returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32). Ai was resettled by the Benjamites (Nehemiah 11:31). The city is also mentioned in Isaiah 10:28 as part of a prophetic description of the Assyrian invasion of Judah. The exact location of Ai is debated, but it is generally identified with et-Tell, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Bethel.
Approximate location: 31.917, 35.261 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Ruins. (1.) One of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh. 10:1; Gen. 12:8; 13:3). It was the scene of Joshua’s defeat, and afterwards of his victory. It was the second Canaanite city taken by Israel (Josh. 7:2-5; 8:1-29). It lay rebuilt and inhibited by the Benjamites (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32; 11:31). It lay to the east of Bethel, “beside Beth-aven.” The spot which is most probably the site of this ancient city is Haiyan, 2 miles east from Bethel. It lay up the Wady Suweinit, a steep, rugged valley, extending from the Jordan valley to Bethel. (2.) A city in the Ammonite territory (Jer. 49:3). Some have thought that the proper reading of the word is Ar (Isa. 15:1).
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
33 verses in 5 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H5857
From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the Lord, and he called on the name of the Lord.
From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,
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.
On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night
So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.
Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it, with the valley between them and the city.
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,
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 turned against their pursuers.
When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.
But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.
A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.
Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction all who lived in Ai.
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.
He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction—doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king—and that the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them.
So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;
the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;
the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages;
Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.