Joshua Chapter 8 verse 12 Holy Bible

ASV Joshua 8:12

And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.
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BBE Joshua 8:12

And taking about five thousand men, he put them in position for a surprise attack on the west side of Ai, between Beth-el and Ai.
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DARBY Joshua 8:12

Now he had taken about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.
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KJV Joshua 8:12

And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
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WBT Joshua 8:12

And he took about five thousand men; and set them to lie in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.
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WEB Joshua 8:12

He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
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YLT Joshua 8:12

And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city;
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 12. - And he took about five thousand men (see above, ver. 3). We must translate had taken. The repetition is quite in the manner of the Hebrew writers. This passage is of course, according to the Jehovist and Elohist theory, "quite irreconeilable" with the rest of the narrative. So we are told that this is a Jehovistic interpolation (Knobel). Of the city. The Masorites and LXX. prefer the reading Ai (i.e., עַי for עִיר.), in the margin of our Bibles, to that in the text, which is followed by the Vulgate and Luther.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(12) And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush . . .--Is this a fresh body, or only a portion of the thirty thousand mentioned in Joshua 8:3? It is, of course, possible that the body of thirty thousand, having closed the communications between Bethel and Ai on the first night, and finding that they were more numerous than was necessary, had rejoined Joshua when he came up, and that a small body of five thousand was told off for the service on the next day. But after carefully studying the natural features of the position by the Ordnance map (of which I have been able to enjoy the advantage at this point of my work), I am inclined to think that both forces were employed--the thirty thousand and the five thousand--and for distinct services. There are two ravines, which come to a head between Beitin (Bethel) and et-Tel (Ai). The body of men who were to fire the town of Ai were posted in the one nearer to Ai. The larger body, whose business was to prevent any interference from the side of Bethel, were posted in the ravine next to that city, where they had been from the first. If it be remembered, as was before observed, that Joshua was attacking a fortified town, which was protected in flank by another town, and that it was necessary to be prepared for all contingencies from the first, the meaning of his movements will be apparent.