Joshua 9:11

11 `And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we [are], and now, make with us a covenant;

Joshua 9:11 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:11

Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country,
spake unto us
They suggest, that their senate, or the states of their country, their principal men were convened, and that it was the unanimous voice of them, and of the people, that they should go on this embassy:

saying, take victuals with you for the journey;
sufficient for so long a journey; for, in those times and countries, inns on the road were not frequent as now:

and go to meet them;
to prevent their coming in an hostile manner unto them, and make peace, and enter into an alliance with them:

and say unto them, we [are] your servants;
ready to come into any terms with them, just and reasonable:

therefore now make ye a league with us;
that we may live in friendship, and mutually assist each other, as occasion should require.

Joshua 9:11 In-Context

9 And they say unto him, `From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt,

10 and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who [is] in Ashtaroth.

11 `And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we [are], and now, make with us a covenant;

12 this our bread -- hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs;

13 and these [are] the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.'