Yosua 7:4-5

7:4 So about three thousand men went up, but they fled from the men of Ai. 7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ¹  and defeated them on the steep slope. ²  The people’s ³  courage melted away like water. ⁴ 

[7:5]  ¹ tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

[7:5]  ² sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

[7:5]  ³ tn Or “army’s.”

[7:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”