Shebarim

Shebarim (meaning: breaks or ruins) was a place near the city of Ai where the men of Ai pursued and routed the Israelite force that had been sent in the first ill-fated attempt to take the city (Joshua 7:5). Israel's initial attack on Ai with a small force of two or three thousand men failed disastrously because of the hidden sin of Achan, who had taken forbidden spoil from Jericho. The Israelites fled before the men of Ai and were struck down before the gate even unto Shebarim.

The location of Shebarim is uncertain. The Revised Version margin renders it as the quarries, suggesting a rocky broken terrain rather than a proper place name. The defeat at Ai caused great discouragement in Israel and led to Joshua's prayer of distress before the ark, followed by God's revelation of Achan's sin, his judgment, and the subsequent successful campaign against Ai using the divinely directed ambush strategy of Joshua 8.