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 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, to this day.
One writer observed similarities between Joshua 7:1 to Joshua 8:29 and Deuteronomy 1:19 to Deuteronomy 3:11; Deuteronomy 9:7 to Deuteronomy 10:11; Judges 10:6 to Judges 11:33; and Joshua 20:1-9. He concluded that the biblical writer used similar motifs and terminology in these passages to impress on his readers by repetition three major lessons. First, Israel’s occupation of the Promised Land was not a sure thing but depended on her obedience to God. Second, defeat in the land need not be final and irreversible. Third, to regain the land the people had to deal with the guilty in Israel, and they had to return to obeying the Lord. [Note: Christopher Begg, "The Function of Josh. 7, 1-8, 29 in the Deuteronomistic History," Biblica 67:3 (1986):420-34.] 