Josué 9:18

18 Pero los israelitas no los atacaron porque los jefes de la comunidad les habían jurado en nombre del SEÑOR, Dios de Israel, perdonarles la vida. Y aunque toda la comunidad se quejó contra sus jefes,

Josué 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:18

And the children of Israel smote them not
The inhabitants of the four cities, when they came to them, though they found it to be a true report that was brought them of their being neighbours, and that they were imposed upon by them:

because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the
Lord God of Israel;
by the Word of the Lord God of Israel, as the Targum, and therefore they restrained the people from smiting and plundering them; for it was not the oath of the princes the people so much regarded, or had such an influence on them as to abstain from seizing on them, but the princes, by reason of their oath, would not suffer them to touch them:

and all the congregation murmured against the princes;
not only for taking such an oath, but chiefly because they restrained them from smiting the Gibeonites, and taking their substance for a prey; their eager desire of revenge, and of seizing their goods, and inhabiting their cities, raised a murmur in them against the princes. This is to be understood not of the whole body of the people at Gilgal, but of all that party that was sent to Gibeon, and of the princes that went with them.

Josué 9:18 In-Context

16 Tres días después de haber concluido el tratado con los gabaonitas, los israelitas se enteraron de que eran sus vecinos y vivían en las cercanías.

17 Por eso se pusieron en marcha, y al tercer día llegaron a sus ciudades: Gabaón, Cafira, Berot y Quiriat Yearín.

18 Pero los israelitas no los atacaron porque los jefes de la comunidad les habían jurado en nombre del SEÑOR, Dios de Israel, perdonarles la vida. Y aunque toda la comunidad se quejó contra sus jefes,

19 estos contestaron:—Hemos hecho un juramento en nombre del SEÑOR, y no podemos hacerles ningún daño.

20 Esto es lo que haremos con ellos: les perdonaremos la vida, para que no caiga sobre nosotros el castigo divino por quebrantar el juramento que hicimos.