יהושע, פרק ז׳, פסוק ג׳

Following their scouting mission, the returning spies present a highly confident assessment of the military situation. They recommend launching a limited campaign against the city of Ai rather than a full-scale attack. Commentators agree that the spies see absolutely no need to mobilize the entire Israelite army. In their view, a small force of two or three thousand fighters is more than enough to conquer the city.

Therefore, the spies advise Joshua not to burden the rest of the nation. Because the population of Ai is so small, deploying the full military force would be an unnecessary effort that would only exhaust the troops for no reason.