Joshua 9:3-6

3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded^[a] with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.

5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.

6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

Joshua 9:3-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 9

This chapter gives an account of the combination of the several kings of Canaan against Israel, Jos 9:1,2; and of the craftiness of the Gibeonites, pretending they were ambassadors from a far country, and desired to enter into a league with Israel, which they obtained, Jos 9:3-15; but when it was discovered who they were, it occasioned a murmuring among the people, Jos 9:16-18; which the princes quelled by proposing to make them hewers of wood, and drawers of water, Jos 9:19-21; in order to which Joshua summoned them before him, and chided them for beguiling them; and after they had made their excuse, he ordered them to the service the princes proposed, and so peace in the congregation of Israel was preserved, Jos 9:21-27.

Cross References

• 1. ver 17; Joshua 10:2; Joshua 10:10; Joshua 11:19; Joshua 18:25; Joshua 21:17; 2 Samuel 2:12; 2 Samuel 5:25; 2 Samuel 20:8; 1 Kings 3:4; 1 Kings 9:2; 1 Chronicles 8:29; 1 Chronicles 14:16; 1 Chronicles 16:39; 1 Chronicles 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3; Nehemiah 3:7; Isaiah 28:21; Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah 41:12
• 2. Genesis 12:8; S Joshua 8:1
• 3. S Deuteronomy 11:30; Joshua 5:10
• 4. ver 22
• 5. S Genesis 26:28

Footnotes

• [a] Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) "They prepared provisions and loaded their donkeys"