Joshua 9:1-11

Guile of the Gibeonites

1 Now it came about when ¹all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the ²coast of the Great Sea toward * Lebanon, ³the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it,

2 that they gathered themselves together with ⁴one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

3 When the inhabitants of ⁵Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

4 they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended,

5 and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.

6 They went to Joshua to the ⁶camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."

7 The men of Israel said to the ⁷Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; ⁸how then shall we make a covenant with you?"

8 But they said to Joshua, "⁹We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

9 They said to him, "Your servants have come from ¹⁰a very far country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for ¹¹we have heard the report 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 "So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, "¹²We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us."'

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Joshua 9:1-11 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 12

1. Numbers 13:29; Joshua 3:10
2. Numbers 34:6
3. Exodus 3:17; Exodus 23:23
4. Psalms 83:3, 5
5. Joshua 9:17, 22; Joshua 10:2; Joshua 21:17
6. Joshua 5:10
7. Joshua 9:1; Joshua 11:19
8. Exodus 23:32; Deuteronomy 7:2
9. Deuteronomy 20:11; 2 Kings 10:5
10. Joshua 9:16, 17
11. Joshua 2:9; Joshua 9:24
12. Joshua 9:8

Footnotes 5

[a]. Lit "one mouth"
[b]. Lit "went and traveled as envoys"
[c]. Lit "tied up"
[d]. Lit "among us"
[e]. Or "name"