Shebarim

Shebarim appears once in the UPDV, named as the limit to which the men of Ai chased the routed Israelite force in the failed first assault on the city.

The Limit of the Rout from Ai

After Achan's hidden offense, Israel's first attack on Ai broke apart at the gate and the pursuit ran downhill: "And the men of Ai struck of them about thirty and six men; and they chased them [from] before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent: and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water" (Jos 7:5). Shebarim marks how far the rout reached — the place "before the gate" gave way and the chase ran on to this point, where another blow fell "at the descent." The narrative function of the name is to measure the depth of the defeat: the Israelite line did not hold at the gate, did not hold along the road, and did not hold at Shebarim either, and the morale of the camp collapsed as a result.