Joshua 8 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Joshua 8
Hebrew source for this chapter: BHS1997 [H], directly reviewed in this revision. The original Mechon Mamre access fallback [H-S] is retained in the historical source record.
Obedience after failure: the struggle read in the light of Christ
Editorial Christian reading: repentance leads back to obedience. Ephesians 6:10–18 provides a Christian frame for spiritual conflict; it is not a claim that this conquest narrative describes the Church’s warfare literally.
8:1–9 | The promise and the ambush plan
Verse MT 8:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:1
YHWH said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the fighting people with you, arise, and go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:1
The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or lose heart. Take all the fighting men with you, arise, and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai and his land into your hands.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the explicit people and city within the grant. Hebrew chapter 8 was provisionally based on Mechon Mamre; it has now been checked throughout against BHS1997, the adopted main text. See the historical source record.
Verse MT 8:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:2
Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may take its spoil and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:2
Do to Ai as you did to Jericho and its king, and take the livestock as spoil for yourself. Set an ambush behind the city.”
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew permits spoil and livestock; Greek here specifies livestock as spoil. Both later mention the city’s spoil in verse 27.
Verse MT 8:3 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:3
Joshua and all the fighting people arose to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty warriors and sent them away by night.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:3
Joshua and all the fighting people arose to go up to Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand mighty men and sent them away by night.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Force, selection, and night dispatch correspond.
Verse MT 8:4 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:4
He commanded them, “See, you are to lie in ambush behind the city. Do not go very far from it, and all of you be ready.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:4
He commanded them, “Lie in ambush behind the city. Do not be far from the city, and all of you be ready.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The ambush instruction corresponds.
Verse MT 8:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:5
I and all the people with me will approach the city. When they come out to meet us as before, we shall flee before them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:5
I and everyone with me will approach the city. When Ai’s inhabitants come out to meet us as before, we shall flee before them.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The feigned retreat plan corresponds.
Verse MT 8:6 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:6
They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as before.’ So we shall flee before them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:6
When they come out after us, we shall draw them away from the city. They will say, ‘These men are fleeing before us as before.’
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the final repetition of the plan to flee.
Verse MT 8:7 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:7
Then you shall rise from the ambush and take possession of the city, and YHWH your God will give it into your hand.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:7
Then rise from the ambush and go into the city.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the explicit promise of God’s giving the city within this command.
Verse MT 8:8 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:8
When you have seized the city, set it on fire. Act according to YHWH’s word. See, I have commanded you.”
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:8
Act according to this word. See, I have commanded you.”
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: The explicit command to burn the city and the attribution to YHWH are absent here in Greek; both narrate the burning in verse 19.
Verse MT 8:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:9
Joshua sent them away, and they went to the ambush and took their position between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai. Joshua spent that night among the people.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:9
Joshua sent them away, and they went to the ambush and took their position between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks Joshua’s overnight stay among the people.
8:10–17 | The city drawn out
Verse MT 8:10 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:10
Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people. He and the elders of Israel went up before the people to Ai.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:10
Joshua rose early in the morning and inspected the people. He and the elders went up before the people toward Ai.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The morning preparation and leadership correspond.
Verse MT 8:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:11
All the fighting people with him went up, approached, and came opposite the city. They camped north of Ai, with the valley between him and Ai.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:11
All the fighting people with him went up and came opposite the city from the east,
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: North / east changes the army’s stated position; Greek lacks the intervening valley detail.
Verse MT 8:12 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:12
He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, west of the city.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:12
while the ambush lay west of the city.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek gives the western position but lacks the five-thousand force and its appointment.
Verse MT 8:13 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:13
The people positioned the entire camp north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No LXX counterpart
[No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: This additional deployment and Joshua’s night movement are absent from the selected Greek running text.
Verse MT 8:14 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:14
When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried out early to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people, at the appointed place facing the Arabah. He did not know there was an ambush behind the city.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:14
When the king of Ai saw, he hurried straight out to meet them in battle, he and all the people with him. He did not know there was an ambush behind the city.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek omits the early rising and the appointed place facing the Arabah.
Verse MT 8:15 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:15
Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled along the wilderness road.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:15
Joshua saw and withdrew, and Israel withdrew before them.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s apparent defeat and wilderness route are explicit; Greek simply describes withdrawal after seeing.
Verse MT 8:16 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:16
All the people in Ai were called out to pursue them. They pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:16
They pursued the sons of Israel and moved away from the city.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the summons of all Ai’s people and names the sons of Israel rather than Joshua as the pursued party.
Verse MT 8:17 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:17
Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:17
No one remained in Ai who did not pursue Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Only Hebrew includes Bethel in the total mobilization.
8:18–29 | Ai captured and its king judged
Verse MT 8:18 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:18
YHWH said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward the city.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:18
The Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out your hand with the javelin you hold toward the city, for I have handed it into your hands. The ambush will rise quickly from its place.” Joshua stretched out his hand, the javelin, toward the city,
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek adds an explicit prediction that the ambush will rise and states the grant as accomplished.
Verse MT 8:19 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:19
The ambush rose quickly from its place and ran as soon as he stretched out his hand. They entered the city, captured it, and quickly set it on fire.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:19
and the ambush rose quickly from its place. They came out when he stretched out his hand, went to the city, captured it, and hurried to burn it with fire.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Signal, advance, capture, and burning correspond.
Verse MT 8:20 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:20
The men of Ai turned and saw the city’s smoke rising toward heaven. They had no power to flee this way or that, and the people fleeing toward the wilderness turned against their pursuers.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:20
Ai’s inhabitants looked behind them and saw smoke rising from the city toward heaven. They no longer had anywhere to flee, this way or that.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the final reversal of the fleeing force in this verse; the turn is narrated in both at verse 21.
Verse MT 8:21 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:21
Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the city’s smoke was rising. They turned back and struck the men of Ai.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:21
Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that its smoke rose toward heaven. They turned and struck Ai’s men.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The reversal and attack correspond.
Verse MT 8:22 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:22
The others came out of the city against them, so they were caught between Israel’s forces, some on this side and some on that. They struck them until no survivor or fugitive remained.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:22
The others came out of the city to meet them, and they were caught between the forces, some on this side and some on that. They struck them until no survivor or fugitive remained.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The encirclement and outcome correspond.
Verse MT 8:23 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:23
They captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:23
They captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The king’s live capture corresponds.
Verse MT 8:24 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:24
When Israel had finished killing all Ai’s inhabitants in the field, in the wilderness where they had pursued them, and all had fallen by the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:24
When the sons of Israel finished killing all Ai’s people in the plains and on the mountain, on the descent where they pursued them from it to the end, Joshua returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The terrain differs, and Greek names Joshua rather than all Israel as the returning agent.
Verse MT 8:25 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:25
All who fell that day, men and women, were twelve thousand: all the people of Ai.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:25
Those who fell that day, men and women, were twelve thousand, all Ai’s inhabitants,
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both give the same total and include men and women.
Verse MT 8:26 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:26
Joshua did not draw back the hand he had stretched out with the javelin until he had devoted all Ai’s inhabitants to destruction.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No LXX counterpart
[No corresponding verse in the selected Greek text.]
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks the statement that Joshua kept his hand extended until the destruction was complete.
Verse MT 8:27 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:27
Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took for themselves, according to YHWH’s word that He had commanded Joshua.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:27
except the livestock and the spoil in the city, all of which the sons of Israel took as plunder according to the Lord’s command, as the Lord had directed Joshua.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: Both preserve the livestock and spoil exception. Greek completes the preceding account across an absent verse number.
Verse MT 8:28 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:28
Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent mound, a desolation to this day.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:28
Joshua burned the city with fire and made it an uninhabited mound forever, as it remains to this day.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The burning and enduring desolation correspond.
Verse MT 8:29 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:29
He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the command, and they took his corpse down from the tree. They threw it at the entrance of the city gate and raised a great heap of stones over it, which remains to this day.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 8:29
He hanged the king of Ai on a forked tree, and he remained on the tree until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the command, and they took his body down from the tree. They threw him into the pit and set a heap of stones over him, which remains to this day.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek specifies a forked or double tree and a pit; Hebrew names the city-gate entrance. Do not assume the Greek tree is a later crucifixion description.
The covenant heard by all: listening to the Scriptures with Christ
Editorial Christian reading: the public reading can be placed alongside Christ’s opening of the Scriptures in Luke 24:27, 44–47. In the selected Greek text this unit follows 9:2, not 8:29.
8:30–35 | The altar, the inscription, the blessing and the curse
Alignment: MT 8:30–35 corresponds to LXX 9:2a–f; the Greek verses are translated once here.
Verse MT 8:30 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:30
Then Joshua built an altar to YHWH, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2a
Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: This unit stands after 9:2 in Greek. It is aligned here once for comparison; the Greek reference preserves its actual location.
Verse MT 8:31 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:31
As Moses, the servant of YHWH, had commanded the sons of Israel, as written in the book of the Torah of Moses, it was an altar of whole stones over which no iron had been wielded. They offered burnt offerings to YHWH on it and sacrificed peace offerings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2b
as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded the sons of Israel, as written in Moses’ law: an altar of whole stones on which no iron had been applied. He offered whole burnt offerings to the Lord there and a sacrifice of well-being.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Reordered unit; Hebrew has plural offerers and peace offerings, Greek a singular offerer and sacrifice. Ritual terms follow each source.
Verse MT 8:32 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:32
There he wrote on the stones a copy of the Torah of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2c
Joshua wrote on the stones the second law, Moses’ law, which he wrote before the sons of Israel.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Reordered unit; Hebrew mishneh is rendered copy, Greek deuteronomion second law. The Greek expression can convey repetition or a copy; it does not prove a different Torah. Neither wording alone identifies the exact extent of the inscription.
Verse MT 8:33 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:33
All Israel, its elders, officers, and judges stood on either side of the ark, opposite the Levitical priests carrying the ark of the covenant of YHWH, resident alien and native alike: half facing Mount Gerizim and half facing Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of YHWH, had first commanded them to bless the people of Israel.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2d
All Israel, their elders, judges, and scribes passed on either side opposite the ark. The priests and Levites carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Resident alien and native alike were there, half near Mount Gerizim and half near Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had first commanded the blessing of the people.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Reordered unit; standing / passing and Levitical priests / priests and Levites are additional distinctions. Both include resident aliens and natives.
Verse MT 8:34 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:34
Afterward he read all the words of the Torah, the blessing and the curse, according to everything written in the book of the Torah.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2e
After this Joshua read all the words of this law, the blessings and the curses, according to everything written in Moses’ law.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Reordered unit; the public reading corresponds, with plural blessings/curses and explicit Moses in Greek.
Verse MT 8:35 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 8:35
There was not a word of all Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the whole assembly of Israel, the women, the little ones, and the resident alien living among them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 9:2f
There was not a word of everything Moses commanded Joshua that Joshua did not read in the hearing of the whole assembly of the sons of Israel: the men, women, children, and resident aliens travelling with Israel.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Reordered unit; Greek explicitly includes men and names Joshua as recipient of Moses’ commands. Assembly is retained without replacing it with Church.
Saints: Editorial canonical connection: Luke 24:27, 44–47 presents Christ opening the Scriptures. Joshua’s inclusive public reading remains its own covenant event, not an explicit Gospel scene.