Joshua 8 · Verse 28

Joshua 8:28

And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.
Joshua 8:28, King James Version

Joshua 8:28 in other translations

BSBSo Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.
WEBSo Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day.
ASVSo Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this day.
YLTAnd Joshua burneth Ai, and maketh it a heap age-during--a desolation unto this day;
DARBYAnd Joshua burned Ai, and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day.
BBESo Joshua gave Ai to the flames, and made it a waste mass of stones for ever, as it is to this day.
WebsterAnd Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation to this day.

What does Joshua 8:28 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
28. Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever--"For ever" often signifies "a long time" (Ge 6:3). One of the remarkable things with regard to the tell we have identified with Ai is its name--the tell of the heap of stones--a name which to this day remains [Van De Velde].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 28 Unto this day - This last clause was probably added by a later hand.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 8:23-29

God, the righteous Judge, had sentenced the Canaanites for their wickedness; the Israelites only executed his doom. None of their conduct can be drawn into an example for others. Especial reason no doubt there was for this severity to the king of Ai; it is likely he had been notoriously wicked and vile, and a blasphemer of the God of Israel.

Read the full comment on Joshua 8:23-29 →

Joshua 8:28 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּשְׂרֹ֥ףvai.yis.Rofand he burnedH8313
יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַye.ho.Shu.a'JoshuaH3091
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָעָ֑יha.'Ai<the> AiH5857
וַיְשִׂימֶ֤הָvay.si.Me.haand he made itH7760
תֵּל\־tel-a mound ofH8510
עוֹלָם֙o.LamperpetuityH5769
שְׁמָמָ֔הshe.ma.Maha desolationH8077
עַ֖ד'aduntilH5704
הַיּ֥וֹםhai.Yomthe dayH3117
הַזֶּֽה\׃ha.Zeh<the> thisH2088

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joshua 8:28

  • Deuteronomy 13:16

    And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

  • Jeremiah 49:2

    Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.

  • Isaiah 17:1

    The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

  • Jeremiah 50:26

    Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

  • Joshua 4:9

    And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

  • Micah 3:12

    Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

  • 2 Kings 19:25

    Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

  • Isaiah 25:2

    For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

  • Jeremiah 9:11

    And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
an heap.
De 13:16; 2Ki 19:25; Isa 17:1; 25:2; Jer 9:11; 49:2; 50:26; Mic 3:12
unto this day.
4:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Joshua 8:27

    Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua.

  • Joshua 8:28

    And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.

  • Joshua 8:29

    And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

Read all of Joshua 8

Joshua 8:28 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Josué quemó á Hai y redújola á un montón perpetuo, asolado hasta hoy.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Josué brûla Aï, et en fit pour toujours un monceau de ruines, jusqu’à ce jour.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Josua verbrannte Ai und machte es zu einem ewigen Trümmerhaufen, bis auf diesen Tag.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui succendit urbem, et fecit eam tumulum sempiternum: