All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
"It is interesting to note again that this first victory in the Hill Country was in the region of Ai and Bethel, exactly where some of the most significant promises had been given to Abraham and Jacob hundreds of years earlier, (. . . Genesis 13 and 28.10-22). In addition to the strategic nature of the region, these earlier promises may have played a part in Joshua’s decision to begin his campaign precisely here. Joshua’s bold move toward this part of the Hill Country may have been just what was needed to unify the Canaanites in the Bethel region. Up to this point they appear to have been in disarray in the face of the Israelite threat (Joshua 5:1). What better place to make their stand than here at the entrance to the strategic region of Bethel and the Central Benjamin Plateau?" [Note: Monson, p. 170.] 