1. Joshua 8:1 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Is there added significance to the phrase "the fighting men"?

Joshua 8:1 (ESV)

1 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.

The ESV’s translation of the Hebrew text as the fighting men can otherwise be translated as all the people of war. This Hebrew term is probably meant to emphasize the unity of the people of Israel in fighting to conquer the land of Canaan.1