Joshua 9:1-9

1 When all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about these events,

2 they joined together to fight Joshua and Israel. (They were the kings in the mountains, the foothills, and along the whole Mediterranean coast as far as Lebanon, the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.)

3 When the people living in Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

4 they devised a scheme. They posed as messengers. They took worn-out sacks on their donkeys. Their wineskins were old, split, and patched.

5 Their sandals were worn-out and repaired, and their clothes were tattered. All their bread was dried out and crumbling.

6 They came to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. They told Joshua and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country. Make a treaty with us right now."

7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "What if you're living in this area? We wouldn't be able to make a treaty with you."

8 They responded to Joshua, "We're at your mercy." Joshua asked them, "Who are you, and where did you come from?"

9 They answered him, "We came from a country very far away because the LORD your God has become famous. We heard stories about him and everything he did in Egypt.

Joshua 9:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 9

This chapter gives an account of the combination of the several kings of Canaan against Israel, Jos 9:1,2; and of the craftiness of the Gibeonites, pretending they were ambassadors from a far country, and desired to enter into a league with Israel, which they obtained, Jos 9:3-15; but when it was discovered who they were, it occasioned a murmuring among the people, Jos 9:16-18; which the princes quelled by proposing to make them hewers of wood, and drawers of water, Jos 9:19-21; in order to which Joshua summoned them before him, and chided them for beguiling them; and after they had made their excuse, he ordered them to the service the princes proposed, and so peace in the congregation of Israel was preserved, Jos 9:21-27.