Chief of the Yᵊri•khoꞋ Municipal Militia – Serves י‑‑ה!

Yᵊri•khoꞋ

As dawn broke one day, while Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ was encamped in the plain, east of Yᵊri•khoꞋ, preparing to attack, Yᵊho•shuꞋa was surprised, as he looked out toward Yᵊri•khoꞋ, to see an armed military officer, having walked out of Yᵊri•khoꞋ into the plain, presenting his unsheathed sword in his hand. So Yᵊho•shuꞋa went out to meet him, inquiring, "Are you the one of ours? If you're for our adversaries…"

"No," the man replied, "for I am Chief of a Militia of י‑‑ה, and I now come forward."

Then Yᵊho•shuꞋa dipped his face toward the ground, bowing, saying, "What has a•don•iꞋ to say to his servant?"

Then the Chief of a Militia of י‑‑ה told Yᵊho•shuꞋa, "Slip off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you're standing is qōꞋdësh." So thus Yᵊho•shuꞋa did.

Main city gate of Tël Yᵊri•khoꞋ ruins. (The mound. Modern housing is outside of the ancient city ruins.)

Now Yᵊri•khoꞋ was utterly sealed shut because of the proximity of Bᵊn•eiꞋ-Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ. No one went in and no one came out.

Speaking in the Name of י‑‑ה, the man explained to Yᵊho•shuꞋa, "Look, I've given into your hand Yᵊri•khoꞋ, her mëlꞋëkh and her hero-warriors.

"I have trusted construction engineers who can discretely cut wedges between the stones of the city's double walls, keeping the stones in place with wooden wedges. When they want the walls to collapse, they will yank the wedges out by attached ropes and gravity will do the rest – collapsing the entire perimeter of the city's walls inward, all around the city. But, 2-3 hours each day just before dawn, I need you to create a loud distraction to hide our work and the noise of the hammers and chisels inside the walls. We'll need 5-6 days to complete the work. On signal, at the time of the attack, dawn of the 7^th day, my engineers will collapse the entire perimeter of the city's walls from the inside. Then your army can easily overrun the collapsed city walls and conquer the city.

Sho•phârꞋ

"So here's what you must do. For 6 days, beginning just before dawn, march your complete army around the city with 7 of your ko•han•imꞋ trumpeting tᵊqiyꞋâh on their sho•phâr•ōtꞋ during the entire circuit. Everyone will be anxious and concerned about what you're going to do and watching your army parade around the city. The rulers in the city won't miss us as we work inside the city walls.

"At dawn on the day of the attack, the 7^th day, it will take us longer to carry out the final work and ensure that the walls are ready collapse on cue. So on the 7^th day, march around the city 7 times. Your ko•han•imꞋ are easy to spot from within the city and I'll keep track of their number of circuits. When the ko•han•imꞋ approach the main city gate, completing their 7^th circuit, then we'll need a crescendo of noise to cover my engineers when I signal them to collapse the walls. This will allow your soldiers to enter the city from all sides simultaneously.

"Accordingly, at the completion of their 7^th circuit, have your ko•han•imꞋ blast tᵊqiyꞋâh gᵊdōl•âhꞋ on the bellwether horn to signal the attack. Then my engineers will collapse the walls all around the city. Parts of the wall will roll down to the bottom of the hill. But then the inhabitants will be in complete pandemonium. So there'll be no serious resistance to your troops. The way will be cleared for all of your soldiers to attack the city simultaneously"

Yᵊho•shuꞋa Instructs His Troops

Accordingly, Yᵊho•shuꞋa instructed his am. To make the final day's attack signal even more dramatic, he ordered his soldiers to make no sound at all until the final attack signal, when they would augment and amplify the tᵊqiyꞋâh gᵊdōl•âhꞋ blasts of the bellwether horn with every ko•heinꞋ trumpeting on his sho•phârꞋ and every soldier yelling war whoops.

So for 6 days Yᵊho•shuꞋa paraded his troops around the walled city of Yᵊri•khoꞋ; the front-line contingent of stone-silent warriors followed by the ko•han•imꞋ bearing hâ-•ronꞋ י‑‑ה and trumpeting their sho•phâr•ōtꞋ, in turn followed by the main contingent of stone-silent soldiers.

On the 7^th day, Yᵊho•shuꞋa briefed his troops again, this time giving them a final reminder to safeguard Râ•khâvꞋ the prostitute and her household and a warning that no soldier defile the camp of Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ by taking something that was kheiꞋrëm to the a•vod•âhꞋ zâr•âhꞋ of the city's residents. Only the metals could be recycled by melting them down and recasting them as implements qōꞋdësh to י‑‑ה in the treasury of י‑‑ה.

On the 7^th day, they repeated this parade 7 circuits; the increase in the number of parades instilling growing dread in the hearts of the city-dwellers. As the ko•han•imꞋ completed their 7^th circuit, the bellwether horn trumpeted the tᵊqiyꞋâh gᵊdōl•âhꞋ attack signal. The ko•heinꞋ joined in, trumpeting on their sho•phârꞋ. At this point, Yᵊho•shuꞋa commanded that every man of his troops continuously yell their war whoops.

All around inside the city, the engineer crews inside the city walls heard the tumultuous signal they had been awaiting. They yanked out the wedges holding the stones of the city walls in place – and the walls collapsed, mostly inwards. So the city was utterly destroyed by the sword and everything in it: men and women, young and old, along with their livestock.

Then Yᵊho•shuꞋa instructed his 2 recon scouts, whose voices Râ•khâvꞋ would recognize through the locked door, to rescue her and her household. The 2 recon scouts then brought them out of the city and pointed them towards the camp of Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ, wherein she and her household lived thereafter. Then they burned the city to the ground and Yᵊho•shuꞋa cursed the city as well as cursing anyone who might attempt to rebuild it with the loss of his firstborn son upon laying of the foundation and the loss of his youngest son upon setting up of the gate.

So י‑‑ה was with Yᵊho•shuꞋa and his fame spread throughout the region.