Yehoshua 9:16

16 And it came to pass at the end of shloshet yamim after they had cut a brit with them, that they heard that they were their kerovim (neighbors), and that they dwelt near them.

Yehoshua 9:16 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:16

And it came to pass at the end of three days, after they had
made a league with them
The league seems to have been made the same day they came; the Gibeonites were no doubt in haste to have it concluded, lest they should be discovered; and Joshua, and the princes of Israel, took no pains, and gave themselves no great trouble to inquire about them, but made peace with them at once; and it was but three days after, or within three days of its being made,

that they heard that they [were] their neighbours, and [that] they
dwelt among them;
that is, in their neighbourhood, as the Arabic version; and so Noldius ^F18 renders the words, "and that they dwelt near them"; for the Gibeonites did not dwell among the Israelites, or in the midst of them, but near the place where they were; and this they understood either by some deserters that came to the camp of Israel, or by some of the Israelites who were sent to reconnoitre several parts of the country, especially such as lay nearest, or for the sake of getting provisions for their camp.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 211. No. 932.

Yehoshua 9:16 In-Context

14 And the anashim took of their food supplies, and asked not counsel at the pi Hashem (mouth of Hashem).

15 And Yehoshua made shalom with them, and cut a brit with them, to let them live; and the Nasi’im of the Edah so ratified by oath unto them.

16 And it came to pass at the end of shloshet yamim after they had cut a brit with them, that they heard that they were their kerovim (neighbors), and that they dwelt near them.

17 And the Bnei Yisroel journeyed, and came unto their towns on the yom hashelishi. Now their towns were Giv’on, and Kephirah, and Be’erot, and Kiryat-Ye’arim.

18 And the Bnei Yisroel did not strike them down, because the Nasi’im of the Edah had sworn unto them by Hashem Elohei Yisroel. And Kol HaEdah murmured against the Nasi’im.