And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them,.... Or smitten, as some of them might be in the pursuit: and fled by the way of the wilderness; not a barren desert, but, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, a place for the pasture of cattle; though perhaps it is the same with the wilderness of Bethaven, Jos 18:12. Epiphanius (w) makes mention of the wilderness of Bethel and Ephraim as near Jericho. (w) Contr. Haeres. l. 1. tom. 2.