For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.Why did Joshua keep his hand outstretched? Before, it appeared that the javelin being extended was simply the signal for the ambushers to attack. When Moses held his hands up, it was guidance from the Lord, and they would lose the battle when he put his hands down. No similar inference is made here, so why does he do it?
I guess that either he takes God's command to extend the javelin as an indication that he is to continue to do so until the conquering has been completed, or else he did it as a show of command for the people to not stop the slaughter. My personal feeling is toward the latter, since even bloodthirty men can grow tired of it after a time. By keeping the javelin extended, he's showing that they're not done yet, and there is still work left that God has commanded them to do.
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