The Meaning of Joshua 8:29 Explained

Joshua 8:29

KJV: 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.

YLT: and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.

Darby: And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his carcase down from the tree, and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised upon it a great heap of stones, which remains to this day.

ASV: And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Joshua 8:29 Mean?

Context Summary

Joshua 8:18-29 - The Enemy Completely Destroyed
Joshua's preparations were skillfully made, and in that very place where Israel had been so disastrously defeated they scored a great victory and took large spoil, especially cattle, which they drove in triumph to the camp at Gilgal.
Taught by Christ's gentle spirit, we turn our eyes away from the doom that befell the entire population. In those days notions of God's justice were not tempered by knowledge of His mercy. But the Bible records the slow growth of even the religious leaders of the race in the true knowledge of God, Acts 26:9.
Be of good cheer, you that have been repeatedly overwhelmed by your strong enemies! Your failure arises from some hidden evil lurking in your soul! Put that away! Cast it out as a cancer! Where you were defeated you shall be more than conqueror, through the grace of Christ. [source]

Chapter Summary: Joshua 8

1  God encourages Joshua
3  The plan whereby Ai was taken
29  The king thereof is hanged
30  Joshua builds an altar
32  writes the law on stones
33  and pronounces the blessings and curses

What do the individual words in Joshua 8:29 mean?

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide evening and as soon as was down the sun commanded Joshua that they should take down - his corpse from the tree and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raise over it a heap of stones great [that remains] to day this -
וְאֶת־ מֶ֧לֶךְ הָעַ֛י תָּלָ֥ה עַל־ הָעֵ֖ץ עַד־ עֵ֣ת הָעָ֑רֶב וּכְב֣וֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ֩ צִוָּ֨ה יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ וַיֹּרִ֧ידוּ אֶת־ נִבְלָת֣וֹ מִן־ הָעֵ֗ץ וַיַּשְׁלִ֤יכוּ אוֹתָהּ֙ אֶל־ פֶּ֙תַח֙ שַׁ֣עַר הָעִ֔יר וַיָּקִ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ גַּל־ אֲבָנִ֣ים גָּד֔וֹל עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה פ

מֶ֧לֶךְ  the  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
הָעַ֛י  of  Ai 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: עַי 
Sense: a city lying east of Bethel and beside Bethaven near Jericho and the 2nd city taken on the invasion of Canaan.
תָּלָ֥ה  he  hanged 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: תָּלָה  
Sense: to hang.
הָעֵ֖ץ  a  tree 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵץ  
Sense: tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows.
עַד־  until 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
עֵ֣ת  eventide 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: עֵת  
Sense: time.
הָעָ֑רֶב  evening 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶרֶב  
Sense: evening, night, sunset.
וּכְב֣וֹא  and  as  soon  as  was  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ֩  the  sun 
Parse: Article, Noun, common singular
Root: שֶׁמֶשׁ  
Sense: sun.
צִוָּ֨ה  commanded 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ  Joshua 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהֹושֻׁעַ  
Sense: son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim and successor to Moses as the leader of the children of Israel; led the conquest of Canaan.
וַיֹּרִ֧ידוּ  that  they  should  take  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
נִבְלָת֣וֹ  his  corpse 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: נְבֵלָה  
Sense: carcass, corpse.
הָעֵ֗ץ  the  tree 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵץ  
Sense: tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows.
וַיַּשְׁלִ֤יכוּ  and  cast 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁלַךְ  
Sense: to throw, cast, hurl, fling.
אֶל־  at 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
פֶּ֙תַח֙  the  entrance 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּתַח  
Sense: opening, doorway, entrance.
שַׁ֣עַר  of  the  gate 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שַׁעַר  
Sense: gate.
הָעִ֔יר  of  the  city 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
וַיָּקִ֤ימוּ  and  raise 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
עָלָיו֙  over  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
גַּל־  a  heap 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: גַּל 
Sense: heap, spring, wave, billow.
אֲבָנִ֣ים  of  stones 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: אֶבֶן  
Sense: stone (large or small).
גָּד֔וֹל  great 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
עַ֖ד  [that  remains]  to 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
הַיּ֥וֹם  day 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַזֶּֽה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation