1 It happened, when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it;
2 that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
4 they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wine-skins, old and torn and bound up,
5 and old and patched shoes on their feet, and old garments on them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become moldy.
6 They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make you a covenant with us.
7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, What if you dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you?
8 They said to Joshua, We are your servants. Joshua said to them, Who are you? and from whence come you?
9 They said to him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the name of Yahweh your 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, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
11 Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us.
12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become moldy:
13 and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are torn: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
14 The men took of their provision, and didn't ask counsel at the mouth of Yahweh.
15 Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation swore to them.
16 It happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they lived among them.
17 The children of Israel traveled, and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
18 The children of Israel didn't strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes.
19 But all the princes said to all the congregation, We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.
20 This we will do to them, and let them live; lest wrath be on us, because of the oath which we swore to them.
21 The princes said to them, Let them live: so they became wood cutters and drawers of water to all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them.
22 Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you; when you dwell among us?
23 Now therefore you are cursed, and there shall never fail to be of you bondservants, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my God.
24 They answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told your servants, how that Yahweh your 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 for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
25 Now, behold, we are in your hand: as it seems good and right to you to do to us, do.
26 So did he to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they didn't kill them.
27 That day Joshua made those wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 9
Commentary on Joshua 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Jos 9:1-27. The Kings Combine against Israel.
1. all the kings which were on this side—that is, the western side of Jordan.
in the hills, and in ther valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea—This threefold distinction marks out very clearly a large portion of Canaan. The first designates the hill country, which belonged afterwards to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim: the second, all the low country from Carmel to Gaza; and the third, the shores of the Mediterranean, from the Isthmus of Tyre to the plain of Joppa. (As for the tribes mentioned, see on Nu 13:29).
heard thereof—that is, of the sacking of Jericho and Ai, as well as the rapid advance of the Israelites into the interior of the country.
2. they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord—Although divided by separate interests and often at war with each other, a sense of common danger prompted them to suspend their mutual animosities, that by their united forces they might prevent the land from falling into the hands of foreign masters.
Jos 9:3-15. The Gibeonites Obtain a League by Craft.
3-15. when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard—This town, as its name imports, was situated on a rocky eminence, about six miles northwest from Jerusalem, where the modern village of El Jib now stands. It was the capital of the Hivites, and a large important city (Jos 10:2). It seems to have formed, in union with a few other towns in the neighborhood, a free independent state (Jos 9:17) and to have enjoyed a republican government (Jos 9:11).
4. They did work wilily—They acted with dexterous policy, seeking the means of self-preservation, not by force, which they were convinced would be unavailing, but by artful diplomacy.
took old sacks upon their asses—Travellers in the East transport their luggage on beasts of burden; the poorer sort stow all their necessaries, food, clothes, utensils together, in a woollen or hair-cloth sack, laid across the shoulders of the beast they ride upon.
wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up—Goat-skins, which are better adapted for carrying liquor of any kind fresh and good, than either earthenware, which is porous, or metallic vessels, which are soon heated by the sun. These skin bottles are liable to be rent when old and much used; and there are various ways of mending them—by inserting a new piece of leather, or by gathering together the edges of the rent and sewing them in the form of a purse, or by putting a round flat splinter of wood into the hole.
5. old shoes and clouted—Those who have but one ass or mule for themselves and baggage frequently dismount and walk—a circumstance which may account for the worn shoes of the pretended travellers.
bread … dry and mouldy—This must have been that commonly used by travellers—a sort of biscuit made in the form of large rings, about an inch thick, and four or five inches in diameter. Not being so well baked as our biscuits, it becomes hard and mouldy from the moisture left in the dough. It is usually soaked in water previous to being used.
6-14. they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal—Arrived at the Israelitish headquarters, the strangers obtained an interview with Joshua and the elders, to whom they opened their business.
7. the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us—The answer of the Israelites implied that they had no discretion, that their orders were imperative, and that if the strangers belonged to any of the native tribes, the idea of an alliance with them was unlawful since God had forbidden it (Ex 23:32; 34:12; De 7:2).
9. From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God—They pretended to be actuated by religious motives in seeking to be allied with His people. But their studied address is worthy of notice in appealing to instances of God's miraculous doings at a distance, while they pass by those done in Canaan, as if the report of these had not yet reached their ears.
14, 15. the men took of their victuals and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord—The mouldy appearance of their bread was, after examination, accepted as guaranteeing the truth of the story. In this precipitate conclusion the Israelites were guilty of excessive credulity and culpable negligence, in not asking by the high priest's Urim and Thummim the mind of God, before entering into the alliance. It is not clear, however, that had they applied for divine direction they would have been forbidden to spare and connect themselves with any of the Canaanite tribes who renounced idolatry and embraced and worshipped the true God. At least, no fault was found with them for making a covenant with the Gibeonites; while, on the other hand, the violation of it was severely punished (2Sa 21:1; and Jos 11:19, 20).
16, 17. at the end of three days … they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them—This information was obtained in their further progress through the country; for as Jos 9:17 should be rendered, "when the children of Israel journeyed, they came to their cities." Gibeon was about eighteen or twenty miles from Gilgal.
17. Chephirah—(Jos 18:26; Ezr 2:25; Ne 7:29).
Beeroth—(2Sa 4:2), now El Berich, about twenty minutes' distance from El Jib (Gibeon).
Kirjath-jearim—"the city of forests," now Kuryet-el-Enab [Robinson].
18-27. the children of Israel smote them not—The moral character of the Gibeonites' stratagem was bad. The princes of the congregation did not vindicate either the expediency or the lawfulness of the connection they had formed; but they felt the solemn obligations of their oath; and, although the popular clamor was loud against them, caused either by disappointment at losing the spoils of Gibeon, or by displeasure at the apparent breach of the divine commandment, they determined to adhere to their pledge, "because they had sworn by the Lord God of Israel." The Israelitish princes acted conscientiously; they felt themselves bound by their solemn promise; but to prevent the disastrous consequences of their imprudent haste, they resolved to degrade the Gibeonites to a servile condition as a means of preventing their people from being ensnared into idolatry, and thus acted up, as they thought, to the true spirit and end of the law.
27. hewers of wood and drawers of water—The menials who performed the lowest offices and drudgery in the sanctuary; whence they were called Nethinims (1Ch 9:2; Ezr 2:43; 8:20); that is, given, appropriated. Their chastisement thus brought them into the possession of great religious privileges (Ps 84:10).