Josué 9:9

9 Ellos contestaron:
—Nosotros sus siervos venimos de un país muy lejano. Hemos oído del poder del Señor
su Dios y de todo lo que hizo en Egipto.

Josué 9:9 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:9

And they said unto him, from a very far country thy servants
are come
Which they magnified and expressed in stronger terms than before, but were careful not to mention any country, lest such questions should be asked about it, their answers to which would betray them, but put it off by saying they were come,

because of the name of the Lord thy God;
because of what they had heard of his name, his power and goodness; or "unto the name of the Lord thy God" ^F15; that is, they were come to profess it, and to embrace the religion of the Israelites, and be proselytes to it; which they knew would be very agreeable to them, and engage them to show them favour; and so the Samaritan Chronicle ^F16 represents them as promising to do this, saying,

``we will believe in thy Lord, nor will we contradict him in what ye shall mark out for us, be it small or great;''

which seems to be, confirmed by what follows, unless it be considered as an explanation of the preceding clause:

for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt;
the miracles wrought there, the plagues he inflicted on the Egyptians, and the wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel from their slavery.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (hwhy Mvl) "ad nomen Domini", Masius; "ad nomen Jehovae": Junius & Tremellius.
F16 Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 507.

Josué 9:9 In-Context

7 Entonces los israelitas les respondieron a esos heveos:
—¿Cómo podemos saber que ustedes no viven cerca? Pues si viven cerca, no podemos hacer ningún tratado de paz con ustedes.

8 Ellos respondieron:
—Nosotros somos sus siervos.
—Pero ¿quiénes son ustedes? —preguntó Josué—. ¿De dónde vienen?

9 Ellos contestaron:
—Nosotros sus siervos venimos de un país muy lejano. Hemos oído del poder del Señor
su Dios y de todo lo que hizo en Egipto.

10 También hemos oído de lo que les hizo a los dos reyes amorreos que vivían al oriente del río Jordán: a Sehón, rey de Hesbón, y a Og, rey de Basán (quien vivía en Astarot).

11 Entonces nuestros ancianos y todo nuestro pueblo nos dieron las siguientes instrucciones: “Lleven provisiones para un largo viaje. Vayan al encuentro del pueblo de Israel y díganle: ‘Somos sus siervos; les suplicamos que hagan un tratado con nosotros’”.