Yehoshua 9:3

3 And when the inhabitants of Giv’on heard what Yehoshua had done unto Yericho and to Ai,

Yehoshua 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 9:3

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon
A large and royal city, a metropolitan one, which had three others belonging to it, and under it, mentioned ( Joshua 9:17 ) ; see ( Joshua 10:2 ) ; no mention is made of any king over them, perhaps they were governed by elders, ( Joshua 9:11 ) . Though an Arabic writer ^F8 says, the king of Gibeon wrote to Joshua, and desired security, and sent him large gifts, whom having preserved in safety, Joshua placed on his throne: when these

heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai;
had taken the one in a miraculous way, and the other by a stratagem, and had burnt them both, destroyed the inhabitants, plundered their substance, and slew both their kings, all which struck them with terror.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Patricides, p. 30. apud Hottinger. Smegm. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 507.

Yehoshua 9:3 In-Context

1 And it came to pass, when kol hamelachim which were beyond the Yarden, in the har, and in the Shefelah, and in all the coasts of the Yam Hagadol [i.e., the Mediterranean] over against the Levanon, the Chitti, and HaEmori, the Kena’ani, the Perizzi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi, heard thereof;

2 That they gathered themselves together, to make war with Yehoshua and with Yisroel, with one peh (mouth, i.e., one accord).

3 And when the inhabitants of Giv’on heard what Yehoshua had done unto Yericho and to Ai,

4 They did work in a cunning, crafty manner [see Genesis 3:1], and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sakkim (sacks) upon their donkeys, and skins of yayin, old, and cracked, and mended;

5 And sandals old and patched upon their feet, and selamot ballot (old garments) upon them; and all the lechem of their food supply was dry and moldy.