History is written by the victors and here, God's people gloat at the destruction of a city by their own hand. The strategy: draw the men out, burn the women and children and slaughter the men. 12,000 people in all. Archeologists can't really determine if Ai existed in the same manner as this story. A walled city of 12,000 people would likely have left some sort of mark on the landscape. Its possible that over time, this story grew from the defeat of a small unprotected city to the well coordinated slaughter of a fortified population.
Who knows really. I don't think this story really means anything to me. Folk lore of this nature is glorified because of the difficulties that the people of Israel encountered for generations beforehand. Does it tell us anything about God? It certainly tells us about these people. Angered enough to slaughter a city, but devote enough to read the laws of Moses once things have quieted down. I wonder if everyone felt a pang of guilt when that one about murder was read?
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