Joshua 9
9
The Gibeonite Deception
1As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan #Deut. 1:7 in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast #Num. 34:6 of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, #ch. 3:10; 12:8the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
3But when the inhabitants of #ch. 10:2, 10, 12; 2 Sam. 21:1, 2; 1 Kgs. 3:4, 5; 9:2 Gibeon heard what Joshua had done #ch. 6:21, 24 to Jericho and #ch. 8:26, 28to Ai, 4they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions 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 crumbly. 6And they went to Joshua in #ch. 5:10the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7But the men of Israel said to #ch. 11:19 the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then #Ex. 23:32; Deut. 7:2; Judg. 2:2how can we make a covenant with you?” 8They said to Joshua, #ver. 11“We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” 9They said to him, #Deut. 20:15 “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. #ch. 2:10; 6:27For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10#See Num. 21:21-35 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in #ch. 12:4; Deut. 1:4Ashtaroth. 11So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant 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, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14So the men took some of their provisions, but #Num. 27:21did not ask counsel from the Lord. 15And Joshua #ch. 11:19made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors #ver. 22and that they lived among them. 17And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. #[ch. 18:25-28; Ezra 2:25]Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18But the people of Israel 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 may not touch them. 20This we will do to them: let them live, lest #[Num. 1:53] wrath be upon us, #2 Sam. 21:2because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became #ver. 23, 27; Deut. 29:11 cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders #ver. 15had said of them.
22Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, #ver. 6, 9 ‘We are very far from you,’ when #ver. 16you dwell among us? 23Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, #ver. 21, 27cutters 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 #Deut. 7:1, 2 commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so #Ex. 15:14we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27But Joshua made them that day #ver. 21, 23; [1 Chr. 9:2; Ezra 2:43; 8:20; Neh. 7:60; 11:3] cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, #Deut. 12:5in the place that he should choose.
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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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