Location and Setting
- The name Ai is always found in the Hebrew text with the definite article, ha’ay,
meaning "the ruin."
- The city is referred to as lying east of Bethel (Gen 12:8), adjacent to Beth-aven (Josh
7:2), and north of Michmash (Isa 10:28).
- Considerable doubt surrounds the identification of this site. Archaeological evidence
has been adduced for two sites, Et-tell and Khirbet Nysia, although the line
of evidence for each involves some problems.
- Joshua did not seek to take the better-known and more strategically situated city of
Bethel. When Joshua attacked Ai, it was probably functioning as a defensive position
guarding Bethel, or it was a substantial fortified city in its own right. In either case,
this would indicate that Ai was the more important military objective. When he took Ai,
Joshua had direct access to the Central Benjamite Plain, Gibeon and the walled cities
beyond.
- The fact that Abram built his altar and pitched his tent "between Bethel and
Ai" would seem to indicate that these centers were in close proximity, perhaps no
more than two or three miles apart and also that Ai existed at least six or seven
centuries before the Conquest.
Historical and Biblical Significance
- When he entered the Land for the first time, Abram pitched his tent and built an altar
between Bethel and nearby Ai. Here Abram "called upon the name of the Lord" (Gen
12:8).
- When Abram returned from Egypt, he passed through the Negev and traveled back to Bethel,
". . . to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly, and there Abram called on the
name of the Lord" (Gen 13:3,4). It is evident that for Abram, the place between
Bethel and Ai had unique spiritual significance. It was there that he had met God in those
early days of entering the "land of promise."
- Ai became the next military objective for Joshua after the fall of Jericho. It guarded
the gateway into the Central Benjamite Plain and access to the central and southern parts
of the country beyond. It was therefore essential for the Israelites to take and destroy
Ai before they could proceed with their conquest of the land.
- After their unique victory over the walled city of Jericho, the Israelites expected an
easy conquest of this unknown highland town. It is likely that they associated the place
with what they knew of Abram’s experiences there. They would have climbed the steep
trails to Ai with much anticipation and excitement.
- It was at Ai, however, that God taught them that their success at Jericho was not due to
their own strength or strategy. Achan’s act of taking for himself some of the spoils
from Jericho had been a de facto denial that it was God’s victory and that therefore
He had exclusive rights to the spoils of war. Victory depended on God and He required
obedience before He would act on behalf of His people. He demonstrated this fact by
allowing the Israelites to be unexpectedly routed by the defenders of Ai, a disaster that
shocked and humbled Joshua and the people.
- After dealing publicly with Achan’s sin, God directed the strategy by which Joshua
was able to conquer Ai. The citizens were killed, their king was executed, and their city
was rendered a "heap," (Hebrew tel) (Josh 7:1-8:29). The way was now open
for Joshua to advance, penetrating the heart of the land westward and southward to the
Shephelah and the Negev.
- Ai was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim (1 Chr 7:28) but was occupied by the Benjamites
after the exile (Neh 11:31).
For further study, see also: Bethel
Bibliography
- Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity
Press, 1995.
- DeVries, LaMoine F. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody: Hendrickson
Publishers, 1997.
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