Joshua 9:15

15 So Joshua agreed to make peace with the Gibeonites and to let them live. And the leaders of the Israelites swore an oath to keep the agreement.

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 Look at our leather wine bags. They were new and filled with wine, but now they are cracked and old. Our clothes and sandals are worn out from the long journey."

14 The men of Israel tasted the bread, but they did not ask the Lord what to do.

15 So Joshua agreed to make peace with the Gibeonites and to let them live. And the leaders of the Israelites swore an oath to keep the agreement.

16 Three days after they had made the agreement, the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby.

17 So the Israelites went to where they lived and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.