Joshua 9:15

15 And Joshua made peace with them, and {he made a covenant with them} to allow them to live happily, and the leaders of the congregation swore [an oath] to them.

Joshua 9:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:15

And Joshua made peace with them
Upon the report the princes made of having examined what they had said, and which they found to be true, particularly concerning their victuals:

and made a league with them, to let them live;
and not destroy them as he did the Canaanites, and was ordered to do; they being supposed not to belong to them by the representation of things they had made:

and the princes of the congregation sware unto them;
that they would keep the league and covenant they had made with them inviolable; they ratified it by an oath, which was a sacred solemn thing.

Joshua 9:15 In-Context

13 These [are] the wineskins that we filled new, but look, they have burst; and these [are] our clothes and sandals that have worn out from the very long journey."

14 So the leaders took from their provisions, but {they did not ask direction from Yahweh}.

15 And Joshua made peace with them, and {he made a covenant with them} to allow them to live happily, and the leaders of the congregation swore [an oath] to them.

16 And it happened that at the end of three days, after they made a covenant with them, they heard that {they were their neighbors} and living among them.

17 And the {Israelites} set out and went to their cities on the third day (their cities [were] Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim).

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "he cut a covenant with them"