Yehoshua 9:9

9 And they said unto him, From an eretz rechokah me’od thy avadim are come because of the Shem of Hashem Eloheicha; for we have heard the report of Him, and all that He did in Mitzrayim,

Yehoshua 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.

Yehoshua 9:9 In-Context

7 And the Ish Yisroel said unto the Chivi (Hivites), Perhaps ye dwell among us; how then shall we cut a brit with you?

8 And they said unto Yehoshua, We are thy avadim. And Yehoshua said unto them, Who are ye? And from where do ye come?

9 And they said unto him, From an eretz rechokah me’od thy avadim are come because of the Shem of Hashem Eloheicha; for we have heard the report of Him, and all that He did in Mitzrayim,

10 And all that He did to the two melachim of HaEmori, that were beyond the Yarden, to Sichon Melech Cheshbon, and to Og Melech HaBashan, which was at Ashtarot.

11 Therefore Zekeinenu and all the inhabitants of Artzeinu spoke to us, saying, Take food supplies with you for the derech, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your avadim; therefore now cut ye a brit with us.