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Joshua 9

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The Kings Unite Against Israel 1–2

1
And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; ​
2
That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

The Gibeonites Seek a Treaty Through Deception 3–15

3
And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,
4
They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; ​
5
And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
6
And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. ​
7
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
8
And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
9
And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ​
10
And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
11
Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
12
This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
13
And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
14
And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. ​
15
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. ​

The Deception Is Discovered 16–21

16
And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them.
17
And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.
18
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. ​
19
But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.
20
This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. ​
21
And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.

The Gibeonite Servitude 22–27

22
And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us?
23
Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. ​
24
And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ​
25
And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.
26
And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
27
And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joshua 9

Verse 1

the Hittite, and the Amorite — Six of the seven nations of Deut 7:1 and Josh 3:10 (the Girgashite is not named here), the peoples of Ex 3:17 and 23:23. 'The great sea' is the west border of the land (Num 34:6). What they 'heard' follows Jericho, Ai and the law read on Ebal (chs. 6–8); v.2 says they 'gathered themselves together… with one accord'.

Verse 4

wilily — Ormah, craft or guile. The same word is good elsewhere: 'subtilty to the simple' (Prov 1:4), 'wisdom' (Prov 8:5). Here it is a ruse: old sacks, and wineskins 'old, and rent, and bound up', made to look worn by a long road.

Verse 6

make ye a league — Berith, covenant; the verb is karath, to cut, as in 'cut a covenant'. 'A far country' is the ground of the request: Deut 20:10–11 offers peace to cities that answer it, and Deut 20:15 sets the cities 'very far off' apart from 'these nations' (Deut 20:16–17).

Verse 9

because of the name of the LORD thy God — The envoys speak of Egypt and, in v.10, of Sihon and Og, and say nothing of Jericho and Ai, the nearer events. Rahab had also spoken from report: 'we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you' (2:10).

Verse 14

asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD — The men took some of the provisions and made no enquiry of the LORD; for the means of asking, see Num 27:21 (Urim before the LORD). Isa 30:2 gives the same charge against those who 'have not asked at my mouth', and Prov 3:6 the way: 'acknowledge him'.

Verse 15

to let them live — 'Peace' is shalom; Joshua makes the peace and the league, and 'the princes of the congregation' (nasi, edah) swear it, so the oath is not Joshua's alone. Josh 11:19 records that 'there was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon'.

Verse 18

sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel — The oath was in the LORD's name, and the princes held to it. Ps 15:4 describes the man who 'sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not'. 'Murmured' is lun, the verb used of Israel's complaints in the wilderness (Ex 15:24).

Verse 20

lest wrath be upon us — Qetseph, indignation; the oath is the ground of it (shebuah, something sworn). The fear proved sound: in David's day a three-year famine came 'for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites', with whom 'the children of Israel had sworn' (2 Sam 21:1–2).

Verse 23

ye are cursed — Arar, the word of 'Cursed be Canaan' (Gen 9:25). 'Freed' is literally 'cut off': the covenant is cut (v.15) and the service is not cut off. 'Hewers of wood and drawers of water' reflects Deut 29:11, where strangers in the camp do this work; here it is 'for the house of my God'.

Verse 24

the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses — The Gibeonites knew the commandment of Deut 7:1–2: destroy the nations and 'make no covenant with them'. 'Sore afraid of our lives' is the reason they give for the ruse. Rahab spoke of the same terror at Jericho: 'your terror is fallen upon us' (2:9).

Verse 27

for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD — The service is wider than in v.23: for the people and for the altar, 'in the place which he should choose', the phrase of Deut 12:5 for the place of the LORD's name. 'Unto this day' shows the arrangement still stood when the book was written.