Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out Ai.
Nevertheless, out of regard for those who are much concerned about such things, we include here an analysis of the problem and proposed solutions as summarized by Blair.[5]  We have abbreviated and paraphrased this material from Blair: