Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
Between Beth-el and Al. Beth-el, though lying quite near, in the direction of west by north, cannot be seen from Tell-el-bajar, two rocky heights rising between both places, in the Wady El-Murogede, just as the laying of an ambush to the west of Ai would require (Van de Velde, Robinson).