Joshua 9
9
The Gibeonites Save Themselves by Trickery
1Now when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites—heard of this, 2they gathered together with one accord to fight Joshua and Israel.
3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4they on their part acted with cunning: they went and prepared provisions,#9.4 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy. 6They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the Israelites, “We have come from a far country; so now make a treaty with us.” 7But the Israelites said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a treaty with you?” 8They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” 9They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard a report of him, of all that he did in Egypt, 10and of all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth. 11So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey; go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; come now, make a treaty with us.” ’ 12Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set out to come to you, but now, see, it is dry and moldy; 13these wineskins were new when we filled them, and see, they are burst; and these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14So the leaders#9.14 Gk: Heb men partook of their provisions, and did not ask direction from the Lord. 15And Joshua made peace with them, guaranteeing their lives by a treaty; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
16But when three days had passed after they had made a treaty with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and were living among them. 17So the Israelites set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we must not touch them. 20This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath may not come upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21The leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had decided concerning them.
22Joshua summoned them, and said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ while in fact you are living among us? 23Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; so we were in great fear for our lives because of you, and did this thing. 25And now we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.” 26This is what he did for them: he saved them from the Israelites; and they did not kill them. 27But on that day Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to continue to this day, in the place that he should choose.
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Joshua 9: NRSV
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Joshua 9
9
The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel
1-2The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.
3The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. 4So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country.#9.4 So … country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together. 5Their sandals were old and patched, and their clothes were worn out. They even took along some dry and crumbly bread. 6Then they went to the Israelite camp at Gilgal, where they said to Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a country that is far from here. Please make a peace treaty with us.”
7-8 #
Ex 23.32; 34.12; Dt 7.2. The Israelites replied, “But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby.”#9.7,8 nearby: See Deuteronomy 20.10-18.
The Gibeonites#9.7,8 Gibeonites: Hebrew “Hivites.” said, “If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants.”
“Who are you?” Joshua asked. “Where do you come from?”
They answered:
9We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the Lord your God is so famous. We heard what the Lord did in Egypt 10#Nu 21.21-35. and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.
11Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey. 12See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes. 13These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.
14The Israelites tried some of the food,#9.14 tried … food: Probably to see if it really was old or to show that they wanted peace. but they did not ask the Lord if he wanted them to make a treaty. 15So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise.
16-17A couple of days later,#9.16,17 A couple … later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” meaning two days after the day the treaty was made. the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.#9.16,17 Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim: These towns were 30 to 50 kilometers west of the Israelite camp at Gilgal. So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later.#9.16,17 A couple of days … later: Or “A couple of days later, the Israelites moved their camp to the area near the towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. When they arrived, they realized that they had made a peace treaty with the people of these nearby towns!” 18But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the Lord that they would let these people live.
The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack, 19-21but the leaders reminded them, “We promised these people in the name of the Lord God of Israel that we would let them live, so we must not harm them. If we break our promise, God will punish us. We'll let them live, but we'll make them cut wood and carry water for our people.”
22Joshua told some of his soldiers, “I want to meet with the Gibeonite leaders. Bring them here.”
When the Gibeonites came, Joshua said, “You live close to us. Why did you lie by claiming you lived far away? 23So now you are under a curse, and from now on your people will have to send workers to cut wood and carry water for the place of worship.”#9.23 the place of worship: The Hebrew text has “God's house,” which at that time was the sacred tent.
24The Gibeonites answered, “The Lord your God told his servant Moses that you were to kill everyone who lives here and take their land for yourselves. We were afraid you would kill us, and so we tricked you into making a peace treaty. But we agreed to be your servants, 25and you are strong enough to do anything to us that you want. We just ask you to do what seems right.”
26Joshua did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites, 27but he did tell the Gibeonites that they would have to be servants of the nation of Israel. They would have to cut firewood and bring it for the priests to use for burning sacrifices on the Lord's altar, wherever the Lord decided the altar would be. The Gibeonites would also have to carry water for the priests. And that is still the work of the Gibeonites.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.