When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it
Parallel Translations
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When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it
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And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;
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And it came to pass, when all the kings that were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and on all the shore of the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof,
Cross-references (27)
Passages linked to Joshua 9:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 34:6 “ ‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border.
- Exodus 3:17 I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
- Exodus 23:23 For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.
- Joshua 3:10 Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.
- Genesis 15:18-21 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
- Exodus 23:31 I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
- Exodus 34:11 Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
- Deuteronomy 3:25 Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.”
- Deuteronomy 4:49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
- Deuteronomy 7:1 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you;
- Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
- Joshua 1:15 until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.’ ”
- Joshua 3:17 The priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.
- Joshua 5:1 When all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.
- Joshua 10:2-5 they were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, “Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their armies, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it.
- Joshua 10:23 They did so, and brought those five kings out of the cave to him: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
- Joshua 10:28-39 Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king. He utterly destroyed it and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. He did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and fought against Libnah. Yahweh delivered it also, with its king, into the hand of Israel. He struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining in it. He did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it. Yahweh delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel. He took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with all the souls who were in it, according to all that he had done to Libnah. Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he had left him no one remaining. Joshua passed from Lachish, and all Israel with him, to Eglon; and they encamped against it and fought against it. They took it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it. They took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king and all its cities, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were in it. Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it. He took it, with its king and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king.
- Joshua 11:1-5 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
- Joshua 11:10-11 Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword: for Hazor used to be the head of all those kingdoms. They struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed. He burned Hazor with fire.
- Joshua 11:17 from Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir, even to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon. He took all their kings, struck them, and put them to death.
- Joshua 12:7-24 These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir. Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one; the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; the king of Dor in the height of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty-one.
- Joshua 13:5 and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath;
- Joshua 15:12 The west border was to the shore of the great sea. This is the border of the children of Judah according to their families.
- Joshua 22:4 Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan.
- Joshua 22:7 Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but Joshua gave to the other half among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,
- Joshua 23:4 Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.
- Joshua 24:11 “ ‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (22 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 1. And it came to pass when all the…
1. And it came to pass when all the kings, etc. As the arrival of the people was well known to these kings from the very first, it is certain that their minds were intoxicated from above with security or lethargy, so that they did not forthwith league together to oppose them. It implied excessive stupor not to provide for themselves till they were violently roused to exertion by the overthrow of two cities. For as the war was common, it was a kind of voluntary surrender to send no aid to their neighbors, nay, to have no army ready, which might make a powerful impression for their defense. But in this way God spared the weakness of his people, to whom the combined forces of so many nations would have caused no small fear.
It is certain, then, that by the sloth and torpor of their enemies, the Israelites were rendered more expeditious. For an interval was, in the meanwhile, given them to compose themselves, and thus those whom the mere name of enemies might have alarmed, prepare leisurely to encounter them. In the same way, although the reprobate are desirous, by every possible device, to destroy the Church, God, to take away their power of hurting her, scatters and confounds their counsels, nay, destroys their spirit. On the other hand, these nations display their frantic audacity. Instead of being overcome by manifest miracle, they continue to rage like wild beasts against the unassailable power of God. A report of the taking of Jericho had reached them. Had it been overthrown by the counsel, or the acting, or the prowess, or the engines of men? Nay, the walls had fallen of their own accord. With what confidence then can they league to take up arms against heaven?
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The main sea called Mediterranean.
The main sea called Mediterranean.
In respect of the plain of Moab.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 9:1 And it came to pass, when all…
Jos 9:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings which [were] on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard [thereof];
Ver. 1. The Hittite and the Amorite.] Some say the Girgashites are not here named, because that, of all the seven nations, they accepted of conditions; of peace; the rest, save only the Gibeonites, who were of the Hivites, {Jos 9:7} stood it out to their utter destruction. If men harden their hearts, God will harden his hand, and hasten their ruin.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Hitherto the Canaanites had acted defensively; the Israelites were…
Hitherto the Canaanites had acted defensively; the Israelites were the aggressors upon Jericho and Ai. But here the kings of Canaan are in consultation to attack Israel, and concert matters for a vigorous effort of their united forces to check the progress of their victorious arms. Now, 1. It was strange they did not do this sooner. They had notice long since of their approach; Israel's design upon Canaan was no secret; one would have expected that a prudent concern for their common safety would put them upon taking some measures to oppose their coming over Jordan, and maintain that pass against them, or to give them a warm reception as soon as they were over. It was strange they did not attempt to raise the siege of Jericho, or at least fall in with the men of Ai, when they had given them a defeat. But they were, either through presumption or despair, wonderfully infatuated and at their wits' end. Many know not the things that belong to their peace till they are hidden from their eyes. 2. It was more strange that they did it now. Now that the conquest of Jericho had given such a pregnant proof of God's power, and that of Ai of Israel's policy, one would have thought the end of their consultation should be, not to fight with Israel, but to make peace with them, and to gain the best terms they could for themselves. This would have been their wisdom (Luk 14:32), but their minds were blinded, and their hearts hardened to their destruction. Observe, (1.) What induced them now at last to enter upon this consultation. When they heard thereof (Jos 9:1), not only of the conquest of Jericho and Ai, but of the convention of the states of Mount Ebal, of which we have an account immediately before, - when they heard that Joshua, as if he thought himself already completely master of the country, had had all his people together, and had read the laws to them by which they must be governed, and taken their promises to submit to those laws, - then they perceived the Israelites were in good earnest, and thought it was high time for them to bestir themselves. The pious devotion of God's people sometimes provokes and exasperates their enemies more than any thing else. (2.) How unanimous they were in their resolves. Though they were many kings of different nations, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, etc., doubtless of different interests, and that had often been at variance one with another, yet they determined, nemine contradicente - unanimously, to unite against Israel. O that Israel would learn this of Canaanites, to sacrifice private interests to the public welfare, and to lay aside all animosities among themselves, that they may cordially unite against the common enemies of God's kingdom among men!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when all the kings…
And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan,.... On the side Israel now were, and was that in which the land of Canaan lay, and was now governed by many kings, and all that were now remaining, even all but the kings of Jericho and Ai, who were slain: both those
in the hills, and in the valleys; that dwelt in the mountainous part of the country, and in the plains of it:
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and in all the coasts of the great sea, over against Lebanon; who inhabited and governed in that part of the country which lay on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, the country of Phoenicia, in which were Tyre, Sidon, and other cities, and were over against Mount Lebanon, which was on the northern part of the country; according to the Latin version, they dwelt near Lebanon; and according to the Septuagint, near Antilibanus. It seems best, with Noldius (g), to render the words, "even unto Lebanon", for it designs all the sea coasts reaching to it; for all the maritime coasts did not lie over against it:
the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; what they heard is not said, but to be understood; particularly they heard what had been done by Joshua, and the people of Israel, to Jericho and Ai: and their kings, Jos 9:3. Some think, as Abarbinel, that they had heard of the altar Joshua had made, and of the stones he had set up, and of his reading the law to the people, by which they were to be governed; all which they understood as taking possession of the country, and looking upon it as conquered, and obliging his people to swear fealty to him. All the nations of Canaan are mentioned but the Gergasites; which, according to the Jewish writers, are omitted, because they were but few; the Septuagint version has them in some copies.
(g) Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 80. No. 370.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The confederacy of the kings of Canaan against Israel,…
The confederacy of the kings of Canaan against Israel, ver. 1, 2. The confederacy of the Gibeonites with Israel, ver. 3-18. Their employment, ver. 19-27.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain All the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
CHAPTER IX
All the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
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Hivites, and Jebusites, unite them forces against Joshua, 1, 2.
The inhabitants of Gibeon, hearing what Joshua had done to Ai,
sent ambassadors to him, feigning themselves to come from a
very distant tribe, requesting a friendly alliance with him,
3-5.
Their address to Joshua, and the means they used to deceive the
Israelites, 6-13.
The Israelitish elders are deceived, and make a league with
them, which they confirm with an oath, 14, 15.
After three day they are informed that the Gibeonites belong to
the seven Canaanitish nations, yet they spare their cities,
16, 17.
The congregation murmuring because of this, the elders excuse
themselves because of their oath, 18, 19.
They purpose to make the Gibeonites slaves to the congregation,
20, 21.
Joshua calls them, and pronounces this sentence against them,
22, 23.
They vindicate themselves, and submit to their lot, 24, 25.
They are spared, and made hewers of wood and drawers of water to
the congregation and to the altar, 26, 27.
NOTES ON CHAP. IX
Verse 1. And it came to pass, when all the kings-heard thereof] From this account it appears that the capture and destruction of Jericho and Ai had been heard of to the remotest parts of the land, that a general fear of the Israelitish arms prevailed, and that the different dynasties or petty governments into which the land was divided, felt all their interests at stake, and determined to make the defence of their country a common cause. This was the most prudent step they could take in their circumstances, and therefore they entered into a confederation in order to arrest the progress of the Israelites. The Great Sea mentioned here is the Mediterranean Sea, the coasts of which were inhabited by the Phoenicians, Syrians, Sidonians, and Philistines. It is very likely that all these united with the Canaanites for their common safety.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 9:1-2. In all the coasts of the great…
Jos 9:1-2. In all the coasts of the great sea, &c. — Some versions render this, And those along all the coasts of the great sea, and those about Lebanon. Heard thereof — That is, of the taking of Jericho and Ai, for what immediately precedes, namely, about writing the law on stones in mount Ebal, did not concern these nations. They gathered themselves together to fight, &c. — They entered into a league to do this. Though they were many kings of different nations, and doubtless of different interests, often at variance with each other, yet they are all determined to unite against Israel. O that Israel would learn this of Canaanites, to sacrifice private interests to the public good, and to lay aside all animosities among themselves, that they may cordially unite against the common enemy!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In the hills - See the Num 13:17 note.
In the hills - See the Num 13:17 note.
The valleys - Or “the vale” (the Shephelah, Deu 1:7), which imports the lowland country between the mountains and the sea coast.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain These things. The solemn covenant by which the Israelites…
These things. The solemn covenant by which the Israelites took possession of Chanaan, (Haydock) and the destruction of two cities of Jericho and Hai. (Calmet) --- The kings on that side of the Jordan, and in all the neighbourhood, perceiving that, if the Israelites were suffered to attack them singly, in this manner, they would all presently lose their dominions and their lives. They resolved, therefore, to form a general league, offensive and defensive. (Haydock) --- Beyond. Hebrew, "on the side of." --- Mountains, on the south of Judea. --- Sea. All the nations of Phoenicia, and the country of the Philistines, (Calmet) who had seized a part of the country, which belonged to the Israelites. Josue divided their territory among the people, though he did not live to make the conquest of it. (Haydock) --- Libanus. Hebrew, "and in all the coasts of the great sea, over-against Libanus," as if the Phœnicians were alone meant. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain b. Contests Against the Allied Kings of the Canaanites
b. Contests Against the Allied Kings of the Canaanites
Joshua 9-11
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1. The first League of Canaanite Kings against Israel
Jos_9:1-2
1And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side [on the other side of the] Jordan, in the hills [on the mountain], and in the valleys [the low land], and in all the coasts [on all the coast] of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; 2That they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
While Joshua had hitherto contended against separate cities, namely, Jericho and Ai, there now follows an account of the struggles with the allied kings of the Canaanites, of whose first league we are informed in Jos_9:1-2, of their second in Jos_11:1-3. They are defeated in two great battles, at Gibeon (Jos_10:1 ff.), and at the sea of Merom (Jos_11:4-9). Following upon that first triumph, southern Palestine west of the Jordan is subjugated (Jos_10:28-43), and upon the second, the northern part (Jos_11:10-23). Only the Gibeonites were shrewd enough, as is related in 9:3–27, to save themselves by a stratagem from the edge of the sword.
Jos_9:1. On the other side (Eng. vers. on this side), as in Jos_5:1, where the country west of the Jordan is intended. “This land, Canaan proper, is, from its conspicuously diverse features, divided into the mountain, הָהָר, the plain or lowland, הַשְּׁפֵלָה, and the sea coast, חוֹף הַיָּם, toward Lebanon” (Keil). The mountain, ההר, is the Mount Ephraim and mount (or mountain of) Judah; the lowland is the region from Akko to Gaza lying west of the mountain; the sea coast is the coast of north Galilee and Phœnicia.—חוֹף elsewhere in poetical passages as Gen_49:13; Jdg_5:17; Jer_47:7; Eze_25:16.—פֶּה אֶחָד prop, with one mouth, unanimously. Exo_24:3; 1Ki_22:13.
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2. The Craft of the Gibeonites
9:3–27
a. Coming of the Gibeonites to Joshua and his League with them
9:3–15
3And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho 4and to Ai, they [also] did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors [went, and set out, or, went and1 provided themselves with victuals], and took old [prop. decayed] sacks upon their asses, and wine-bottles [wine-skins], 5old [decayed], and rent, and bound up; And old [decayed] shoes and clouted [patched] upon their feet, and old [decayed] garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. 6And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be [are] come from a far country: now therefore [and now] make ye a league [covenant] with us. 7And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us;2 and how shall we make a league [covenant] with you? 8And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? 9And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord [Jehovah] thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, 10and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of 11Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which [who] was at Ashtaroth. Wherefore [And] our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore [and] now make ye a league [covenant] with us. 12This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is [has become] mouldy: 13And these bottles of wine [wine-skins] which we filled were new, and behold they be [are] rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old [are decayed] by reason of the very long journey. 14And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at [omit: counsel at] the mouth of the Lord [Jehovah]. 15And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league [covenant] with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
b. Discovery and Punishment of the Fraud
9:16–27
16And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them. 17And the children of Israel journeyed [broke up], and came unto their cities on the third day. Now [And] their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. 18And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel.And all the congregation murmured against the princes. 19But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 20This we will do to them; we will even let them live,3 lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. 21And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be [and they became] hewers of wood [wood-choppers], and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised [spoken to] them.
22And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? 23Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being [there shall not fail to be from among you] bond-men, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. 24And they answered Joshua, and said, Because4 it was certainly told thy servants how that the Lord [Jehovah] thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25And now, behold, we are in thy hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. 26And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. 27And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord [Jehovah], even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Gibeon would appear to have been a sort of independent republic, since we hear of elders there (9:11), but not of a king; and of their city it is said (10:2) that it was a great city like a royal city. The inhabitants, having heard of the deeds of Joshua, hit upon a different plan of resistance from that adopted by the kings before named,—the plan of negotiation, but with wiles. They pretend to have come from a very far country (9:9) to form an alliance with Joshua; and to confirm their declaration they point to their mouldy bread, their torn wine-skins, and their worn-out clothing (9:12, 13). Joshua suffers himself to be deceived, and makes a treaty with them which is ratified with an oath (9:15).
The deception, however, is discovered. After not more than three days the Israelites hear that the Gibeonites dwell in their very neighborhood (9:16). They break up, go thither themselves, and spare them because of the oath which the chiefs had sworn to them (9:18). When discontent arises in the camp on this account, Joshua consults with the chiefs, but they appeal to their oath, and decide in favor of letting them live. To this resolution they adhere, but the Gibeonites, as a penalty for their falsehood, are made woodchoppers and water-carriers for the congregation and the altar of Jehovah (9:21–27).
a. Arrival of the Gibeonites and Joshua’s league with them, Jos_9:3-15. Gibeon, Jos_18:25. They also did work wilily. They had heard what Joshua had done in the case of Jericho and Ai, and they also (גּם) did something, and that with craft. עָשָׂה, Jos_9:3, and וַיַּעְשׂוּ, Jos_9:4, are relative to each other, so that the גַּם refers not to what the Canaanite kings had done, but to Joshua’s deeds. These would they emulate, only not by warlike exploits, but by a finely contrived trick. So also the LXX.: κὰι ἐπόιησαν καί γε ἀυτοὶ μετὰ πανουργίας. Joshua’s stratagem against Ai (Joshua 8) is to be remembered. Maurer thinks also of Jericho; but that is less apposite.
Provided themselves with, victuals. The Hebrew וַיִּצְטַיָּרוּ, “is nowhere else met with, and instead of it we should read with all the ancient translations and many MSS., וַיִּצְטַיָּדוּ, which also occurs in Jos_9:12” (Knobel). Keil adheres unqualifiedly to the textus receptus, and, connecting ויִּצְטַיָּרוּ with צִיר, nuncius, translates: “they went and journeyed as ambassadors,” or “set out as ambassadors” [thus bringing out the sense of the English version]. But was it necessary to state this particularly? Is not that evident of itself, that if the Gibeonites went they went as ambassadors, since Jos_9:3 leaves us to suppose a previous consultation?
Jos_9:6. Gilgal. In the Jordan Valley, as Ewald also assumes, and not, as Keil supposes, the Gilgal on the mountain near Bethel, “often mentioned in the Book of Judges and in First Samuel.” But something would surely have been said of it if Joshua had moved the camp from Gilgal in the Jordan Valley to Gilgal near Bethel; and as this is not the case, we have no ground for thinking here of another Gilgal. Joshua had rather returned from his successful expedition against Ai to his well situated headquarters in the Jordan Valley, in order to undertake from thence fresh enterprises. Comp. the preliminary remarks to Jos_8:30-35.
Jos_9:7, וַיֹּאמְרוּ. This Kethib is to be retained after the analogy of Jdg_8:22; Jdg_20:36; 1Sa_14:22. The Israelites are not clear in this matter. The thing looks suspicious to them, hence the question: “Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of us (me), how then can I make a covenant with thee ?”
Jos_9:8. To this entangling question the Gibeonites return no answer at all, but say, with true oriental adroitness, apparently submissive and humble: “We are thy servants.” This was no sincere declaration of submission (Serar., C. A. Lap., Rosenm., Knobel), but simply a form of courtesy, as Gen_50:18; Gen_32:4, which was, however, very well designed and cunningly addressed. Nevertheless, Joshua shows himself not satisfied with it, and asks again, more definitely than others had done before: Who are ye and whence come ye? The imperfect מֵאיִן תָּבֹאוּ, is worthy of notice as indicating the still incomplete action, comp. Jdg_17:9; Jdg_19:17; 2Sa_1:3; Jon_1:8; Ewald, Lehrgeb. § 136, 1, a.
Jos_9:9. So pressed, the Gibeonites are compelled to answer Joshua, and first repeat what they have said before (Jos_9:6), but add that they have come on account of the name of Jehovah, whose fame (שֹׁמַע) they have heard. In the more detailed specification which follows of what they had heard they say nothing of Jericho and Ai [to have heard of which might indicate that they lived not very far off], but cunningly confine themselves to what God has done to the Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, therefore at a distance, nay even in Egypt (Jos_9:10).
They then recall the commission given them by their elders (Jos_9:11), and refer in conclusion to their mouldy bread, etc., as a proof of the truth of their story. The Gibeonites must have played their part admirably; for all the scruples which had been expressed are now silent.
Jos_9:14. And the men took of their victuals. “The men,” as we learn from Jos_9:18; Jos_9:21, are the princes, i.e., heads of the tribes. The taking of their food is a sign of friendship, of inclination to make a league with the Gibeonites, Gen_31:46; Lev_2:13; 2Ch_13:5. Keil will not allow this, but adopts the explanation of Masius, approved also by J. H. Michaelis and Rosenmüller. He says: “Est enim veluti oppositio quœdam inter illa; sumere panem Gibeonitarum in manus, suisque oculis satis fidere et os s. oraculum Domini interrogare.” This opposition is not to be denied, but would it not be much stronger, if it related not merely to a testing of the bread whether it was so old, but to an eating of it with a symbolical import, which implied readiness to make a league with the Gibeonites?
And the mouth of the Lord they asked not. That was a transgression of the explicit command, Num_27:21, that the priest Eleazer should seek counsel for Joshua, and that בְּמִשְׁפַּט הָאוּרִים, i.e., through the judgment or right of Urim (and Thummim).5 The priest by that becomes the mouth of Jehovah, since he announces God’s answer in His name, just the same as the prophet who (Isa_30:2; Jer_15:19; Exo_4:16) is so called.
Jos_9:15. And Joshua made peace with them. He assured them of peace and so of preservation from the edge of the sword.
b. Discovery and Punishment of the Deceit. Jos_9:16-27. Jos_9:16. At the end of three days, as in Jos_3:2.
Jos_9:17. And came to their cities on the third day. It took them so long, namely, to come from Gilgal lying in the Jordan valley to Gibeon. They might have accomplished the journey in much less time, as appears from Jos_10:9, but here there was no forced march commanded as in that passage. They could therefore take their time. But it would have been an unreasonably slow march, if, as Keil supposes, Joshua’s headquarters had now been at Gilgal near Bethel, and he had taken more than two days for a distance of seven or eight hours. Chephirah, Jos_18:26. Beeroth, xviii. 25. Kirjath-jearim, xv. 60.
Jos_9:18-19. The question whether the princes were really bound to keep the oath which they had sworn to the Gibeonites, after it appeared that the condition on which it had been given did not hold good, has been much discussed by the interpreters, and decided rightly by most of them in the negative. The contrary is maintained by Osiander, Ising (p. 208), Corn. a Lapide, and Clericus. The last named expresses that opinion the most decidedly: “Non videntur Hebrœorum proceres in tabulis fœderis hoc adscripsisse, se ea lege fœdus cum iis facere, si modo remotam oram habitarent, quod nisi esset, fœdus hoc foret irritum. Simpliciter jurarunt, se Gabahonitis vitam non erepturos idque invocato nomine Dei Israelis. Quam ob rem suum hoc jusjurandum revocare amplius non potuerunt.” .… Upon this Keil, from whom we borrow this extract, justly remarks: “Although the Israelite princes did not verbally make the truth of the declaration of the Gibeonites a condition of the validity of their oath, and add it to the league, expressis verbis, still it lay at the bottom of their oath, as the Gibeonites very well knew; and hence they so carefully represented themselves as having come from a very far country. The Israelites had not, therefore, so wholly simpliciter, as Clericus assumes, sworn to preserve their lives, and were not bound to spare them after the discovery of their trick.” That the princes nevertheless felt themselves bound in conscience is sufficiently explained, psychologically, by their reverence for the oath in itself, Lev_19:12. Although the congregation murmur, the princes abide by their conviction that the Gibeonites must be spared on account of the oath. This murmuring was directed once against Moses also, Exo_15:24; Exo_16:2; Exo_17:3; Num_14:2. Murmuring against God is mentioned, Jdg_8:21. Lam_3:39, is a classic passage. In the N. T., γογγύζειν, γογγυσμόςMar_14:5; Luk_5:30; Joh_6:41; Joh_6:51.
Jos_9:20. They would therefore let the Gibeonites live. On והחיה, comp. Ewald, Lehrg. § 280, a. [Ges. § 131, 2, ]. By the inf. abs., much the same as by the Lat. gerund in -ndo, or by our part. pres. act., is more definitely expressed what they would do; Lev_3:5; 1Sa_3:12.
Jos_9:21. “The princes repeat with emphasis that they shall live. Hence the Gibeonites then became wood-choppers and drawers of water for the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them. That is, the princes had made this proposition together, with their יִחְיוּ [Jos_9:20]. The author had omitted it there because it is manifest from the historical statement in the second member of this verse. So Jos_3:8” (Knobel).
Jos_9:22-23. Joshua communicates to the Gibeonites what has been decided upon. There shall not fail from among you servants and wood-choppers and water-carriers,i.e., such slaves [ו explicative] as are wood-choppers and water-carriers, and are, therefore, reckoned among the lowest class of the people (Deu_29:10-11). Together with captives taken in war and devoted for like purposes to the sanctuary, they bore, at a later period, the name נְתִינִים [Dict, of Bible,art. Nethinim], Deo dati, donati, 1Ch_9:2; Exo_8:20; Neh_7:43; Neh_7:46. Saul was disposed to exterminate them, as is implied in 2Sa_21:1-2, and David sought to propitiate them again by granting their blood-thirsty request (2Sa_21:6).
Jos_9:24-25. The Gibeonites plead as an apology the fear which they felt towards the Israelites, and leave their fate entirely in the hand of Joshua.
Jos_9:26-27. Joshua does as he had informed them, according to verse 23. And delivered them out of the hand of the sons of Israel. These would certainly, in their warlike zeal, as we may infer from their murmuring, have been glad to destroy the Gibeonites. Superior to the people stands the leader here, who proceeds in the spirit of humanity, and, in full harmony with the princes, gives no heed to the murmuring of the people.
Jos_9:27. For the congregation and for the altar. The worshipping congregation is meant, the קהל יי, as appears plain, partly from the word עדה (עדת ייNum_27:17), partly from the additional qualification, “and for the altar.” For profane service the Gibeonites could not be employed. They were temple slaves.
In the place which He (Jehovah) should choose. Keil infers from these words that the author of our book wrote before the building of Solomon’s temple, because in his time God could not yet have chosen a fixed and permanent place for his sanctuary. Knobel regards them as “an addition by the careless Deuteronomist,” who alone in all the Pentateuch had used this expression (Deu_12:5). But in Exo_20:24, which passage, even according to Knobel, certainly does not belong to the Deuteronomist, we meet with a related expression so that we are not compelled to think of “an addition by the careless Deuteronomist.” Just as little necessary is it to suppose that the whole arrangement by which the Gibeonites were obliged to serve as wood-choppers and drawers of water for the congregation was first made in later times by Solomon. Reasons: (1) The Gibeonites are not expressly mentioned, 1Ki_9:20; (2) 1Ki_9:21, has reference to tributary work (מִס עֹבֵד), and that, as the context shows, for architectural purposes, but not to servants for the purposes of worship. To such tributary services did Solomon appoint (יַעַלֵם) the rest of the population (עַם הַנּוֹתָר) of the Amorites, Hittites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites; but the Israelites he made soldiers (Jos_9:22). Our view is, accordingly, that Joshua did certainly appoint the Gibeonites at once to the lowest service at the sanctuary, “for congregation and altar,” as the text says, especially as this service might already be performed about the tabernacle, as soon as this had an assigned place.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The question how far a promissory oath is binding on him who has given it, depends very much on our determination of the conditions under which one is at liberty to swear at all. On this Jer_4:2 is rightly regarded as a locus classicus. According to this passage an oath may be given. (1) בֶּאֶמֶת, (2) בְּמִשׁפָט, (3) בּצדָקָה. These three conditions, truth, right, and justice, are that which being presupposed an oath may be taken. They are, as Jerome long ago called them, and as the canonical law recognizes them, the comites jura nenti, namely, veritas in mente, judicium in jurante, justitia in objecto. If then, as in the case with the Gibeonites, the justitia in objecto is absent, the oath need not be observed; and so in all cases, when “the thorough knowledge of the subject” is wanting to the swearer without his fault. Completely so when this subject matter of the promissory oath is something directly unallowable, in clear opposition to the law of God, which, nevertheless, one has hastily, without rightly understanding it, sworn to do, as was true of Jephtha (Jdg_10:30-31) and Herod (Mat_14:9). Only, in that case, some expiation must be made, according to the principle laid down, Lev_5:4-6, which, if a man, e.g. has taken an oath of office, and this office he cannot discharge, might consist in his resignation of the office, and in the case of a king, in his abdication. Christian ethics, especially that of the evangelical church, cannot be too earnest on this doctrine of the obligation of an oath, since mental reservations are so easily allowed which threaten truth, right, and justice. Very beautifully, on this point, Nitzsch says (System of Christian Doctrine, § 207): “Better, indeed, if the Christian state had done away with the word oath, ὅρχος, and the like, together with the whole train of heathenly-religious presuppositions which are connected with them. We might and should speak of God’s witness, appeal to God, worship in court, duty to God, etc. The form of the oath of this kind would have far less difficulty. Much more would depend on performing the whole service in a truly religious way, according to place and time, and on limiting, in conformity with this, the requisition and permission, and on giving due heed to what Christian morals and policy might have to advise further.”
On the conditions of a right, that is, Christianlypious offering and performance of an oath, Harless observes (Christian Ethics, § 39, b): “The first condition is, that the oath should be rendered only by virtue of a right demand for it…… The second condition is, that the swearer be in truth a confessor, i.e. that his oath be the expression of a believing hope truly dwelling in him. The third condition is, that the engagement into which he enters under his professing oath should be such that the God Himself whom the swearer acknowledges may acknowledge it. For the oath’s sake to fulfill engagements displeasing to God is wickedly to carry to completion that which has been wickedly begun, to add a second sin to the first. Not to fulfill what has been sworn is in such cases, not the violation of an oath pleasing to God, but the penitent recall of a God-offending oath.” Worthy of consideration further are the richly instructive articles in Herzog’s Realencyk. (iii. 713 ff.) on “the Oath among the Hebrews” by Ruetschi, and on “the Oath” by C. F. Göschel.
2. The sanctity of the oath stood very high with the ancient Israelites, so that, as this narrative shows, they would rather, in dubio, hold fast to their oath even when they might justly have released themselves from it. As the name of God was to them thrice holy (Isa_6:3; Psa_111:9), so also was the solemn appeal to this name whether in a promise or an assertion. With this is connected the fact that the administration of oaths before the court was restricted to a few cases (Exo_22:6ff11; Lev_5:23; Lev_5:25; Num_5:19 ff.) For that state of things ought modern legislation also to strive, and upon that ought Christian ethics to insist. Yet in North America, otherwise so puritanically disposed, what sport is made with the oath, while in the territory of the Zwinglian church in Switzerland, the oath scarcely occurs any more before the courts.
3. Priests and prophets are called the mouth of Jehovah, and rightly, because he speaks through them when they have been enlightened by Him. This illumination, however, ought not to be thought of as in any way a mechanical process, but is rather to be regarded always as in the closest connection with the entire personal life, and official position of the individual bearer of the divine revelation. Even in the handling of the Urim and Thummim, this also must be taken into account
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
As once the Canaanites against Israel, so still and ever the foes of God gather themselves together to fight against Him and his church.—The trick of the Gibeonites (1) shrewdly thought out, (2) cunningly carried out, but (3) detected and punished.—There is no thread so finely spun, but comes at last before the sun.—Lying and deceit bring no blessing.—Humble words alone do not accomplish it, they must also be true.—The glory of God among the heathen.—Do nothing without asking God.—If we ask the Lord, He gives us also an answer; if we neglect it we have to bear the hurt ourselves.—How necessary it is for us to ascertain accurately the state of the case before we bind ourselves by an oath, lest we afterwards be troubled in conscience—shown in the case of the princes of Israel.—The firmness of the princes against the murmuring of the congregation.—The judgment upon the Gibeonites: (1) the hearing; (2) the sentence.—Man fears for nothing more than his life, and yet this life is only a temporal good.—Joshua’s beautiful humaneness.—Better to be wood-choppers and water-carriers for the altar of the Lord than to have no part therein, as the Gibeonites had well deserved by their treacherous scheme.
Starke: It is no new thing for the mighty of the world to bind themselves together against God and his gospel, Psa_2:2. But rage ye peoples, and be confounded; and give ear all ye of far countries; arm yourselves and be confounded; take counsel together and it shall come to nought; speak a word and it shall not stand, for God is with us, Isa_7:9-10.—No man should lie; straightforward truth gives the best security, Eph_4:25.—God’s wonders and works are not hidden even from the heathen; how then shall they excuse themselves in that day? Rom_1:19-20.—For the preservation of mortal life men may well give themselves a deal of trouble, but where lies the care for the soul’s welfare Mat_16:25-26.—He who always takes counsel of God in prayer will not easily be deceived.—It is a bad case when one, on account of lying and deceit, must blush and turn pale; let every man, therefore, strive after uprightness and honesty.
Cramer: God must have wood-choppers also and water-carriers in his congregation, and He gives to every one gifts according to his portion, 1Co_12:27.
Hedinger: It is thoughtless stupidity in a man, if he will not take warning but runs also into the judgment where he sees that others have gone to ruin.—Credulity brings us into trouble.
Gerlach: This history warns the congregation of God at all times of the craft and disguises of the world, which often, when it would be an advantage to it, seeks recognition and admission into the kingdom of God.
Footnotes:
[1][Jos_9:4.—The verb רַיִּצְטַיּרוּ from צִיר, not elsewhere found in Hebrew, should from the signification of its derivatives, and from the analogy of the Arab., mean to go, to set out on a journey. “But since no other trace of this form or signification exists in Heb. or in Aramæan, it is better to read with six mss. יִצטַיָּדוּ, they provided themselves with food for the journey, as in Jos_9:12; which is also expressed by the ancient versions,” Gesen. With this agree Knobel and Fay. But De Wette, and Keil adhere to the root-meaning “set out on a journey,” and there is a reasonable probability that the change suggested by a few mss., and the anc. vers. was owing simply to the strangeness of the word which originally stood here. The meaning “to act as ambassadors” appears to have been derived from the analogy of צִיר “a messenger,” and is retained by Zunz: Stellten sich als Boten.—Tr.]
[2][Jos_9:7.—The Hebrew uses the sing. “in the midst of me, and how shall I.”—Tr.]
[3][Jos_9:20.—De Wette, Fay, and others translate this and the following verse accurately: This [sc. what we have sworn] will we do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them. And the princes said to them, Let them live. And they became wood-choppers and water-carriers (or drawers of water) etc.—Tr.]
[4][Jos_9:24.—כִּי is better regarded as merely introducing the words quoted: It was told … and we were afraid, etc.—Tr.]
[5]See the Art. “Urim and Thummim” in the Dict. of the Bible.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain THE CANAANITES CONFEDERATED, Jos_9:1-2.
THE CANAANITES CONFEDERATED, Jos_9:1-2.
1. All the kings — Palestine was divided into many petty sovereignties, the heads of which were dignified by this title.
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This side Jordan — Literally, beyond Jordan, but meaning here, as the context shows, the west side of Jordan. See note on Jos_1:14.
In the hills — Or, in the mountain. The reference is to the entire mountain range which forms the backbone of Palestine.
In the valleys — Or, in the Shephelah. This word designates the maritime plain of Philistia, and might well be translated the low countries.
Great sea — The Mediterranean.
Coasts… over against Lebanon — The Phenician plain. Canaanites from even these remoter parts joined this confederacy. On the Canaanitish tribes here mentioned, see note on Jos_3:10.
Heard thereof — Not of the demonstration at Ebal and Gerizim, but of the rapid conquests of Joshua. The word thereof, supplied by our translators, is better omitted.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain Ch. Jos_9:1-2. The First League of the Canaanite Kings
Ch. Jos_9:1-2. The First League of the Canaanite Kings
1. And it came to pass] Thus “that spring morning” did Israel “consecrate Palestine unto the Lord, and take sea and lake, mountain and valley—the most hallowed spots in their history—as witnesses of their covenant.” It was probably on this occasion that the Egyptian coffin, containing the embalmed body of Joseph (Gen_50:25-26), was laid by the two tribes of the house of Joseph in the parcel of ground near Shechem, which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor (Gen_33:19). These important preliminaries having been carried out, the further prosecution of the campaign was possible.
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the kings] Hitherto single cities had been the objects of Joshua’s contention. Now leagues and confederacies were formed against him.
in the hills] i.e. the hill country of southern and central Canaan. In Num_13:17, it is called “the mountain.” Comp. also Deu_1:7. The whole region of the western portion of Canaan is here described under three divisions: (a) the central hills, (b) the valleys = the shephelah (Deu_1:7), (c) the seaboard. For the nations here enumerated see above, Jos_3:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1, 2) These verses record the general preparation of…
IX.
PREPARATIONS OF THE CANAANITES FOR WAR.
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(1, 2) These verses record the general preparation of the natives of Canaan for the last struggle with Joshua.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when all the kings.…
THE GIBEONITES.
And it came to pass, when all the kings. According to the explanation given above (Jos_6:5, Jos_6:15) of the particle k with the infinitive, this must mean immediately. We must therefore suppose that the distance at which they lived from the scene of the events had prevented them from comprehending their astounding character so clearly as those who lived in the immediate neighbourhood. (see Jos_2:11 Jos_5:1 Jos_6:1) The kings (see Introduction). In the hills. "The land is classified under three heads: the hills (or mountain district), the plain, and the sea coast over against Lebanon" (Keil). The hills are not the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon range, the operations against which are detailed in Jos 11, but the mountains of Ephraim and Judah. The word translated "valleys" here is neither hbr nor rKKi, (see above note on Jos_3:16) but hlpe or low country, i.e., the great plain from Joppa, or Carmel, to Gaza. The pwOj or sea coast probably refers to the coast between Type and Joppa. The Hittite. The Girgashites are the only tribe omitted here from the list in Jos_3:10.
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Vers. 1-27. God"s people off their guard.
This chapter contains the record of a venial sin; an act, that is, which was rather one of thoughtlessness than of deliberate intention to offend. It is one thing to forget for a moment God"s superintending providence, and to act without consulting Him. It is quite another to act systematically as if there were no God. Thus we read of no very serious results flowing from this inadvertence. God is "not extreme to mark what is done amiss," and distinguishes between human infirmity and human depravity.
I "THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD ARE WISER IN THEIR GENERATION THAN THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT." The Canaanitish kings see the necessity of union. They act with one accord. It is strange that God"s people should find it more difficult to unite than others. It is, however, but an illustration of the old adage, "Corruptio opthni pessima." It is zeal for the truth, which, when carried to an extreme, becomes bigotry, and leads to dissension. Thus the Jews at the siege of Jerusalem were divided among themselves when Titus and his legions were at the gates. So now Christians are quarrelling among themselves when infidelity is abroad, and threatening the very foundations of the Christian faith. We are wrangling about non-essentials as though they were essentials, and men thus come to think that there can be no truth at all among those who seem unable to agree on a single point. We strive for pre-eminence, social, political, numerical, and while we strive, the enemy of souls comes and carries off too many of the prizes for which we are contending. We are united upon the fundamentals of the Christian faith, yet we fail to see it ourselves, so eagerly do we contend for the objects of our unchastened desires. The heathen rebuke us, for they could act unitedly in a moment of danger for a common cause. The very devils shame us, for they combine to thwart, were it possible, the counsels of the Most High. It is only Christians who can carry on their intestine conflicts when the foe is thundering at the doors. Could we but learn
(1) what are the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and
(2) that whatever lies outside these is legitimate matter for argument and amicable controversy, but not for strife and disunion, we should no longer have to deplore souls lest to Christ for this cause, and it alone.
II WE OUGHT TO REFER ALL OUR ACTIONS TO GOD. Joshua and the princes in this narrative made a distinction which many of us make, and which is not warranted by the Word of God; the distinction, that is, between matters of importance, which we should never think of deciding without prayer, and comparatively unimportant matters, in which the exercise of our own judgment is sufficient. But the truth is, that no matter is unimportant. Everything, strictly speaking, should be the subject of prayer; not necessarily of formal and prolonged prayer, but of a momentary ejaculation to God for help. This may be thought impossible, but it is in truth the secret of Christian perfection. "Pray without ceasing," says the Apostle, and he only has the true key to Christian progress who has acquired the habit of continual approach to God in prayer. Prayer should be the golden thread which binds together our whole life, consecrating every act and thought of it silently and secretly to God"s service. This habit is only gained by perseverance, and it must itself be sought with prayer; but only he who has attained it can be truly said to "walk with God.
III A PROMISE IS SACRED, AND MUST BE KEPT AT ALL RISKS. There may, of course, be exceptional cases in which a promise may not be kept. If we have promised to do what is wrong, it were clearly worse to keep our promise than to break it. But then it must be clear that it would be morally wrong to keep our promise. Israelite casuistry here decides that a positive command of God one, that is, which is not grounded upon a moral necessity is outweighed by the obligation to keep an oath. God had commanded them to make no covenant with the people of the land, and they had unwittingly bound themselves by an oath to break that command. It was a race point for the moralist. There was no moral necessity to put men to death. The command to exterminate the Canaanites was imposed upon them as the ministers of God"s vengeance. But the duty of keeping an oath was of universal obligation. To absolve one"s self from it would be to set one"s self free from the elementary principles of morality. Thus the duty of keeping one"s word is important enough to outweigh even a command of God, where that command is not of primary necessity. It would be wrong, for instance, to commit a murder, or a theft, because we had promised to do so. But if we had wrongly promised to neglect some one of the external duties of religion, it would seem that we were bound to keep our promise, unless it were clear that God"s cause would suffer thereby. It is, however, difficult to find any precept of God"s law under the Christian dispensation which we may venture to neglect; because the ceremonial law is abrogated, and there is no precept of Divine obligation left which does not involve the weightier matters of the law. Two considerations may be drawn from this history.
1. Be very careful how you promise. Joshua and the Israelites promised lightly, and found to their regret that they ought not to have promised at all. Many young Christians entangle themselves as lightly in engagements which they find should never have been made, and thus involve themselves in troubles and difficulties from which Christian prudence would have kept them free.
2. Keep your promise, when made, unless, as has been said, to keep it would be a sin. The difficulties in which it involves you are sent by God to make you more careful for the future. They will not overwhelm you if you have faith in God. But it were better to suffer some anxiety and annoyance than lose your hold on truth. Inconvenience is no sufficient reason for breaking one"s word, though it may be for not giving it. It is as true, as a rule, of promises made to man, as of vows made to God; "better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow, and not pay."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The kings . . . on this side Jordan…
Jos_9:1-2
The kings . . . on this side Jordan . . . gathered themselves together.
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A Canaanitish league
I. The characteristics of this league.
1. It was very wide, embracing every tribe in Canaan, those of the hills as well as those of the plain, and those of the sea coast as well as those inland. Even so has it been in all ages. Men of all ranks and occupations can be found to sneer at, condemn, and crush if they could, the pure gospel
2. It was very singular. Strange elements were brought together on this occasion. A common danger, a common enemy, a common hate, makes them forget old feuds, bury the war-hatchet, and unite on common ground for a common object. Who ever hated each other more cordially than Pharisee and Sadducee? yet they united in crying, Crucify Him, and in compassing His death. Pilate and Herod cemented their broken friendship with His blood.
3. It was spontaneous. No pressure was employed to gather the clans together; none was needed. On every side there sprang up a desire to take united action. It is a sad and a terrible fact that the deepest thing in the natural heart is enmity against God. Every sinner is potentially a Deicide.
4. It was crafty. The wisest heads in Canaan were here drawn together, and engaged in strengthening this league. Their most skilful diplomatists, their most wily warriors, would give their advice, and seek to help the league in every way. The rich would give of their substance, the poor would give their strength, the wise would use their wits in discussing and arranging plans; and thus by their united energy all might yet be well. Thus again and again has all mans wisdom been brought to bear against the purposes of God.
5. And who could deny that such a league was powerful? It was powerful because of all the accumulated experience and wisdom that could be brought to bear upon the work; because of the minute knowledge of the country which the common people as well as the leaders possessed; and because of the immense resources they could fall back upon.
6. And it is also very plain that this league was heartily, yea, even enthusiastically, entered into. Like the great sea billows they rage against this bark, and with implacable wrath would smite and overwhelm it. Alas, frail bark! Alas, poor Israel! what canst thou do against such a league, so wild, so strange, so spontaneous, so crafty, so powerful, so zealous?
II. The occasion of this league. No doubt many things contributed to bring it about, but one thing is specially singled out and mentioned by the Holy Ghost in this connection. When they heard of that strange march and the solemn ceremony in the vale of Shechem, then they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord. This shows that these Canaanites understood something of the significance of this action. They interpreted it rightly as an act of dispossession, so far as they were concerned. How often does the pious devotion of Gods people provoke and exasperate the unrighteous above everything else! The sinner hates above all things the holiness of the saint, because it is his most emphatic condemnation. Perfect surrender to Gods will always brings the enmity of the world to a head. Would you learn the true spirit of the world? March to Ebal and Gerizim, and pitch your tent in that sacred and fruitful vale Of utter consecration. But if such a life as this stirs up of necessity the evil which reigns in the heart of man, it is also to be remembered that such a life alone is powerful to do good to man or bring glory to God. Who can measure the strength of such consecrated souls? John Wesley knew something of this when he said, Give me ten men who hate sin only and love God only, and I will shake the gates of hell. Its enmity will be roused, even as that of the Canaanites by the consecration of Israel; but it will be roused, only like theirs, to be utterly broken.
III. The purpose of this league. They banded themselves together to fight against Joshua and against Israel. Though great wonders have been wrought before their very eyes, they will oppose this people. Therefore their action cannot for a moment be classed with the resistance which, e.g., the Britons offered to the invading Romans under Caesar. The position of these Canaanites was altogether different. In fighting against Israel they deliberately set themselves against Israels God, Jehovah. They knowingly pit the strength of their idols against that of the Lord of hosts. At Him they aim their shafts through His people. Earth loves not its rightful Monarch. It rebels against His edicts, it cleaves to the great usurpers sway. What daring rebellion have we here! men plotting under Gods very eyes. Conspirators usually meet in secret, in the darkness of night, screened from the eye and sheltered from the hand of the power outraged; but here these sinners gather together openly, to take counsel against Him who is marching through their land in awful majesty. Oh, hardened soul, remember the only alternatives. Bend or break; turn or burn. What utter futility have we here? Could we conceive anything more useless, more inefficient, more foolish, more powerless, than this league? The only consequence to these leaguers will be their own ruin. For this they plot, and not in vain. It comes upon them as a whirlwind, certain, irresistible, terrible, complete, irretrievable.
IV. The lessons of this league. Surely, to begin with, we are very plainly taught that the people of God in carrying out the purposes of God may count upon opposition. It always has been so; and it will be so to the very end, for we read that even the glorious millennium is ushered in with a terrible struggle. We are apt to get downhearted when we see the hosts of evil mustering on every side. We exclaim, What can the poor Church of God do? If she can do nothing more, she can look up. She can see a sight which can calm all her fears, and make her laugh to scorn her loudest foes. Look up, then! look up! See Him who sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and before whom the nations are as grasshoppers. God is keeping silence. God is having them in derision. The attacks which to us may seem formidable are to Him despicable. Let us therefore have good hope. The systems of corruption and error and oppression, however well compacted and widely organised, must in the long run be destroyed, and he who expects and prays and works for their downfall will not be disappointed. Let us look back when we are despondent and faint-hearted, and remember how often God has restrained the wrath of the enemy; how often, when iniquity was coming in as a flood, He has raised up a standard against it. Yea, look around, and see what God has wrought. Think of the diffusion of Christianity, and of its mighty influence, whether direct or indirect. But we may learn another lesson from this league. We may learn as the host of God to unite our forces more and more in prosecuting the work set before us. (A. B. Mackay.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jos_9:1. On this side Jordan]—Lit., beyond Jordan; meaning the…
THE GUILE OF THE GIBEONITES, AND THE LEAGUE WHICH THEY SECURED
CRITICAL NOTES.—
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Jos_9:1. On this side Jordan]—Lit., beyond Jordan; meaning the western side. The historian contemplates the invasion as having been made from the country east of Jordan. Hills … valleys … coasts] By “the hills” is meant the whole of the hill-country which became afterwards the territory of Judah and Ephraim; “the valleys” indicate the plain, or lowland, from Gaza to the Cape of Carmel; “the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon” include the country on the coasts of the Mediterranean from the bay of Acre to Tyre. The Hittite, etc.] “The Girgashite is left out of this list. The Jewish tradition, sustained by Procopius, is that they fled the country on Joshua’s approach, and settled in north-western Africa. Jos_24:11, shews that if they did thus flee, they fought against Israel, with the other tribes of Canaan, before their flight” (Crosby).
Jos_9:2. With one accord] Lit., “with one mouth,” i.e., unanimously.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jos_9:1-2
THE CONFEDERACY OF THE KINGS
When about four hundred years after this league was made and broken up, David wrote what we know as the second Psalm, it seems as if the history of this confederacy must have been more or less fully present to his mind. A devout lover of the word of God, he would be familiar with the incidents of the combination; and, as the scene of the battle recorded in chapter 10. was only a few miles from Jerusalem, he would be well acquainted with the very ground on which this southern half of the confederacy was defeated and destroyed. Who can say that the poet who was probably led to write the song of the thunder-storm (Psalms 29) to the movements of its own grand music, was not similarly influenced, on the human side, as he penned the prophetical lyric of the triumphs of the greater JOSHUA? We can almost think of David as just returned from Ajalon, and the remarkable pass of Beth-horon; as having read over, with a thrill of patriotism and piety, these yet exciting chapters of Joshua; as having his soul still moved by those exultant words from the book Jasher; and then as sitting down to write of those more glorious victories of the Son of God. Any way, the opening of this Psalm of wonderful prophecy reads almost like a song, prompted in part by this memorable history:—“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: Jehovah shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and trouble them in His sore displeasure.”
This combination of the kings of Canaan may be considered in the following aspects:—
I. The influences by which it was provoked. “When all the kings heard thereof, they gathered themselves together, to fight,” etc. The tidings which led them to plan this league may not have been the tidings of any one event in particular. They had recently “heard” of a good many things, more than a little calculated to attract attention, and to incite to some common action. Let us think of some of these things which presently brought about this combination.
1. There was the anxiety that came from the Israelites’ victories. These runaway slaves from Egypt, who had been wandering up and down the southern deserts for forty years, like so many demented people, had actually overthrown the Amorites, all the Amorites on the eastern side of Jordan. Sihon and his people had fallen. Og and his people had fallen also. The men who formerly had dispossessed the “giants,” and taken their country, were now, in their turn, overthrown and slain by these slaves. Suddenly the news is spread over the whole land that these people have crossed the river. Not even “the swellings of Jordan” had sufficed to stop them. Then came the tidings that Jericho had fallen, and soon that Ai, too, had been entirely destroyed. No wonder that the country was stirred by reports like these, from Gaza even unto Tyre, (a.) So long as they walk with God, any people may be victorious. Walking in the way of holiness, even recently liberated bondsmen soon become triumphant soldiers of Christ. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength, because of Thine enemies.” (b.) The victories of the past make way for yet more glorious triumphs in the future. They nerve and stimulate the conqueror; they dishearten and paralyse his foes.
2. There was the dismay that arose from the supernatural element. The staying of the waters of the Jordan, and the falling of the walls of Jericho, could not be other than the work of the God of heaven. These things must have reminded the Canaanites strongly of the traditions of the working of that same Almighty hand in the flood, from which their father Ham had escaped, and in the terrible destruction of Sodom. From the language of Rahab (chap. Jos_2:10-11), and of the Gibeonites (Jos_9:9), it is evident that there was still some knowledge of God, and faith in God, among these backsliding descendants of Noah. When the people saw and heard such evidences of the working of God as accompanied the entrance of the Israelites into their land, they might well feel overcome with dismay.
3. There was the hope which sprang from Israel’s defeat. These enemies of Canaan had been beaten at Ai; why might not the defeat which had been inflicted on them there be repeated elsewhere on a larger scale? What had been might be again. When they heard of this thing, perhaps then they took fresh courage, and resolved on this combination. Every defeat of a Christian is an encouragement to the world.
4. There was the provocation which arose from the religions service at Ebal. The Israelites were daring to behave as though already they were masters of the land. They had held a general convocation at which their laws had been proclaimed, at which their obedience had been avowed, at which an altar had been erected, and at which their God had been thanked and worshipped. And “when the kings heard thereof, they gathered themselves together.”
II. The spirit in which it was promoted.
1. The confederacy was formed in a spirit of rebellion against God. Not that the kings of Canaan wished to appear as acting against Jehovah. They would much have preferred to leave God entirely out of the question. But this could not be. In spite of themselves, they were constrained to believe that the Lord fought for Israel. It is worth while to notice that out of five instances in the book of Joshua, in which Canaanites are represented as speaking, three contain an expression of this conviction, and the remaining two are each merely the record of a command, and are so brief as not to exceed the limits of a single verse (cf. chapters Jos_2:9-12; Jos_9:9; Jos_9:24; Jos_2:3; Jos_10:24). In every instance in the book in which a Canaanite speaks at any length, he confesses his belief in the God of heaven. Other grounds are furnished by the history for concluding that many of the inhabitants of the land felt that they were fighting, not merely against Israel, but against God. There is a point where opposition to men becomes rebellion against God. Where God is evidently with men, shewing that He shields and helps them as His people, to fight against them is to fight against Him.
2. This confederacy was formed in a feeling of hearty unanimity. They gathered together to fight “with one accord;” or, as stated in the margin, “with one mouth.” The voice of all, excepting the Gibeonites, was unanimously for the league. Thus while the Church is sometimes divided in its defence of the truth, the enemies of the Church are united and firm in their opposition. They willingly sacrifice private differences and feuds in their resistance of truth and righteousness. When Christ is to be tried, even Herod and Pilate are straightway made friends.
III. The instrumentality by which it was anticipated and weakened. The unanimity of the inhabitants of the land was hearty as far as it went, but it was not complete.
1. The combination of the Canaanites was broken by a serious defection among themselves. The Gibeonites went over to the other side of Israel. Although not required or permitted to take any active part in the war, the Gibeonites, by their secession, placed four important cities in the hands of the enemies of their country. (a.) Christ overcomes the world by the world. In His army, those who fight for Him were once contending against Him. The world is ever going over to the Church. The foremost Christian leaders of to-day, and of every age, were once opposed to the Saviour, (b.) Christ attacks individual men from within themselves. The human conscience invariably goes over to the side of truth; then the affections, the intellect, and the man often follow.
2. For the purposes of the war, the position of these cities of the Gibeonites was among the most important in all the land. With them in his possession, Joshua was able to break up the confederacy of the kings, almost ere it was formed. As Professor Wilkins has remarked, “he was able to drive his army like a wedge into the very heart of the hostile country, and strike his blows right and left at the isolated divisions of the enemy.” The geographical position of nations has not been lost sight of by Providence in the conflicts of the cross. When England went over to Christ, Christianity obtained a stronghold in the very centre of the world’s future commerce and enterprise
3. The time of the Gibeonite secession was no less important than the fact itself. Just as the kings of Canaan had all combined to resist the Israelites, this defection of the Gibeonites severed the new union into halves. The southern confederacy hastened to wreak its vengeance on the traitorous cities; Joshua hastened to succour them, and ere the northern kings could join in the conflict, the southern half of the kingdom had fallen for ever. Thus, as events proved, no time could have been more favourable for the league of the Gibeonites with Israel. Thus, too, has it been in the history of the Church. When the faith of men in the Romish hierarchy was shaken by the corruptions of priests like Tetzel, Luther went over to Christ. The history of Christianity in England offers similar parallels. The events even now occurring in connection with central Africa, suggest similar thoughts. The results of recent missionary and geographical expeditions, and of events in Egypt and the South-east of Europe, seem as if working together and concentrating for the spiritual redemption of a long-neglected and degraded people.
IV. The ease with which it was utterly destroyed. As the after history shews, the very efforts which the Canaanites made to defend themselves only served to haste: their overthrow. Apparently the combined forces of the kings effected no more harm than was done at Jericho, and not so much as was wrought at Ai. The battle at Gibeon was a rout, and that which was subsequently fought at the waters of Merom was little better.
1. The number and power of the enemies of the Cross need offer no discouragement to the soldiers of Christ.
2. He fights safely and victoriously, who fights with God.
3. Every conflict between truth and error does but hasten the time when Christ “shall have dominion from sea to sea.” “He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos_9:1-2.—THE WITNESS OF LAST HOURS.
To the Israelites, or to the Canaanites, the end of life was rapidly approaching. Things had gone too far for any retreat, or for any room to hope for much mercy. Henceforth, manifestly, as it had really been from the first, the war was unto death. One nation or the other was about to be swept from off the earth. These possibilities of the end bear witness in every man. The secret places of the heart are turned towards the light. A dying man finds concealment difficult. The crisis without makes a revelation within. The hidden things, for once, come outside. Consciousness informs demeanour, and demeanour informs every beholder.
In the light of these final struggles between the representatives of truth and of idolatry, mark:—
I. The harried excitement of the sinfal.
II. The strong confidence of be lievers.
III. The majestio calmness of God.
THE FOLLY OF THE WICKED
I. The foolish delays of the un godly. Why was not this confederacy formed earlier? The overthrow of Sihon and Og might have been a sufficient warning that Israel was not an enemy to be despised as insignificant. Why did not the combined forces of the kings of Canaan meet the Israelites at the Jordan, and dispute with them the passage of the river? The ungodly are ever behind in preparing for the dangers of their future.
II. The mistaken action of the ungodly. After the displays of God’s power at the Jordan, and at Jericho, this league was manifestly going from bad to worse. The folly of the former delay, looking at it on the human side, was now equalled by the folly of the present movement. It is not seldom God’s way to take the wicked in their own net, and to bind them fast by their own mistakes.
“The Canaanites might have seen themselves in Jericho and Ai, and have well perceived it was not an arm of flesh that they must resist; yet they gather their forces, and say, ‘Tush, we shall speed better.’ It is madness in a man not to be warned, but to run upon the point of those judgments wherewith he sees others miscarry, and not to believe till he cannot recover. Our assent is purchased too late, when we have overstayed prevention, and trust to that experience which we cannot redeem.”—Bp. Hall.]
“As once the Canaanites against Israel, so still and ever the foes of God gather themselves together to fight against Him and His Church.”—[Lange.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain In Joshua 9-11 inclusive we have the account of…
In Joshua 9-11 inclusive we have the account of two great campaigns, in which Joshua successively defeats a confederacy of the petty kings of southern Palestine under the king of Jerusalem, and a combination of the northern chiefs under Jabin, king of Hazor. Joshua 12 concludes the narrative of the conquest, with a summary of the successes of Moses on the E. and of Joshua on the W. of Jordan. Critics have been much exercised by the apparent contrast of this narrative of the invasion with that in Judges 1. There we have—in the case of Judah and Simeon at least—independent tribal action. Here there is no word of anything but a general action of Israel, under Joshua's leadership, resulting (Jos_11:23) in a conquest of the 'whole land.' The solution of the difficulty may perhaps be (a) that these chapters give us the account of two grand campaigns complete and successful in themselves, but involving a prolonged guerilla warfare and a number of local enterprises, such as those mentioned in Judges. Or it may be (b) that there is in these rounded accounts of the northern and southern conquests something of historical foreshortening; for we must remember that in Jdg_11:18 it is described as a 'long' war (see on Jos_11:16-23). Or possibly a combination of these two explanations may give the true solution.
The League with the Gibeonites
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Joshua 9 forms an introduction to the narrative of the Southern campaign (Joshua 10). The Gibeonite cities were important enough both politically and geographically (see on Jos_9:17 and Jos_10:2) for their defection to frighten the surrounding kinglets into concerted action against Israel.
1, 2. The petty kings combine against Israel.
3. Gibeon] 2 m. N. of Jerusalem. For its importance see on Jos_10:2, Jos_10:10.
14. Took of their victuals] thus accepting their specious story, and incidentally committing themselves, according to Eastern rule of hospitality, to at least a temporary friendship. Asked not counsel by Urim and Thununim] as e.g. we find them asking in Jdg_1:1.
17. Now their cities were] All these four cities have been identified in the territory afterwards occupied by Benjamin and the N. border of Judah.
20. Lest wrath come upon us] Centuries later we are told (2 Samuel 21) that the Israelites of David's time felt this 'wrath' when Saul had broken his ancestral compact with Gibeon.
21. Hewers of wood, etc.] This is the description of the normal function of resident aliens in Deu_29:11. From Jos_9:23, Jos_9:27 we find that their tasks were mainly, though not entirely, concerned with the sacrificial worship of the House of God.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 9. The Gibeonites
9. The Gibeonites
CHAPTER 9
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1. The confederacy of the enemies (Jos 9:1-2)
2. The deception of the Gibeonites (Jos 9:3-13)
3. The failure (Jos 9:14-15)
4. The deception discovered (Jos 9:16-27)
Israel now comes face to face with the other inhabitants of the land. These enemies, which Israel encountered, are the types of our enemies, and the conflict of God’s earthly people is typical of our conflict. There is, however, a difference. Israel’s enemies were flesh and blood; ours are not. Israel’s conflict was in the land; ours is with the wicked spirits in the heavenly places. Israel was asked to drive them out; we are not asked to do this, but to resist the devil. Israel’s land rested from the conflict; we shall not rest till we are with Him, when Satan will be bruised under our feet. Read Eph 6:10-17.
The Canaanites are the types of the evil powers, with whom we have to wage our warfare. As the Canaanites opposed the possession and enjoyment of the land, so the aim of the wicked spirits is to keep us back, to hinder us in possessing and enjoying our spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.
The Gibeonites were Hivites. They came with deceptions, knowing well what was their lot. The deceptions were inspired by the father of lies.
In Ephesians 6, we are especially warned against the wiles of the devil. We are to stand against the wiles of the devil. Elsewhere we read that he transforms himself into an angel of light. The Gibeonites illustrate these wiles of the devil. Not alone had they their mouldy bread and old wineskins, as a kind of credential to back up their lies, but they talked very piously. What are these wiles of the devil? We have to turn to the so-called “religious world” to find them. The “religious world,” which speaks piously of God and Christ, is at best hypocrisy, phariseeism. Ritualism, Galatianism, manmade ordinances, belong to the wiles of the devil. Philosophies, traditions of men, delusive doctrines, cunningly devised fables, all these belong to the wiles of the devil (Colossians 2). Such systems as Christian Science, spiritism, Russellism, Bahaism, higher criticism, theosophy and others belong to the wiles of the devil. So does “social-reform.” These world reformers, “Christian” socialists, talk piously like the Gibeonites, but the devil’s wiles are underneath.
And these wiles of the devil are multiplying. Satan, knowing that his time is short, does all he can to keep God’s people from enjoying their blessings and from advancing in spiritual things.
The Gibeonites, with their pious talk, were received into the congregation of Israel, just as the professing church is receiving the world into the church. The failure was with Israel. They asked not counsel of the Lord. Had Joshua gone in the presence of the Lord, He would soon have exposed the deceptions of the Gibeonites. Here is where our failure comes in likewise. Never can Satan, with his superior knowledge and his wiles, get an advantage over us, if we hold closely to the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, and if we ask counsel of the Lord through His Word and in prayer. The covenant made had to stand. It would have been unrighteousness, if Israel had acted differently. How many unequal yokes there are among God’s people, entered into without having asked counsel of the Lord!
And there is generally no escape, but suffering in consequence. Israel had to stand much on account of the unholy alliance with the Gibeonites. What a man sows that he will reap. Read 2Sa 21:1-6.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Gibeonites Deceive Joshua and the Princes
The Gibeonites Deceive Joshua and the Princes
v. 1. And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, on the west side, in the hills, in the entire mountain country of Canaan, and in the valleys, the lowland toward the south and west, and in all the coasts of the great sea, the Mediterranean Sea, over against Lebanon, in the entire strip of open coast, from the neighborhood of Joppa well into Phenicia, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, Jos 3:10, heard thereof, namely, of all the deeds which Israel had undertaken till now,
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v. 2. that they gathered themselves together, they formed a league, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord, there being only one opinion expressed among them, namely, that they must maintain an alliance in order to overcome the invaders.
v. 3. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon, the capital of a small independent state in the mountains northwest of Jerusalem, the principality containing a number of smaller cities as well,
v. 17. heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and Ai,
v. 4. they did work wilily, they made use of a stratagem, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, or, they provided themselves with victuals, and took old sacks upon their asses and wine-bottles, specially prepared skins, as they were used for transporting liquids, old, and rent, and bound up,
v. 5. and old shoes and clouted upon their feet, sandals worn and patched, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy, the mold having eaten spots into the bread.
v. 6. And they went to Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, either that near Jericho, or, more probably, that in Mount Ephraim, about midway between Jerusalem and Shechem, and said unto him and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country; now, therefore, make ye a league with us.
v. 7. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, for that is what the Gibeonites were, as the Israelites later found out, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? This question was prompted by the suspicious aspect of the entire matter, which made it seem probable that the ambassadors were members of some Canaanitish nation.
v. 8. And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants, which was really a meaningless form of courtesy and not at all satisfactory. And Joshua, not satisfied with this evasive attitude, said unto them, Who are ye, and from whence come ye? It was a direct and definite inquiry.
v. 9. And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord, thy God; for, as they add in explanation, we have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt,
v. 10. and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. They wisely make no mention of the miraculous passage of Jordan and of the taking of Jericho, in order not to contradict their statement of having been on the way a long time.
v. 11. Wherefore our elders, the officials of their republic, and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, the Israelites, and say unto them, We are your servants; therefore, now, make ye a league with us.
v. 12. This our bread we took hot, straight from the oven, for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you, but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy;
v. 13. and these bottles, skins, of wine, which we filled, were new, and, behold, they be rent; and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. It was a bold stroke by which the messengers pointed to their provisions and to their clothing in corroboration of their story.
v. 14. And the men, the princes of Israel, took of their victuals, either to convince themselves of the truth of the statements presented to them, or in an act implying readiness to make a league with the Gibeonites, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord, thus transgressing an explicit command of the Lord, Num 27:21; for that was one of the functions of the high priest, to ask advice of the Lord in all difficult questions by means of Urim and Thummim.
v. 15. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to their advantage, to let them live; and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. In the entire transaction Joshua and the heads of Israel acted very foolishly, and the result was a transgression of God’s command, who had made the strict rule that no covenants were to be made with the nations of Canaan, Exo 23:32; Exo 34:12. The neglect to consult the Word of God in important questions has plunged many a Christian into severe sins.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the Jordan
the Jordan
a shortened name for the Jordan River (See: How to Translate Names)
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under one command
Here "command" represents the one who commanded them. Being under him represents obeying his commands. AT: "obeying the commands of one leader" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
king
Jordan River
the sea
Lebanon
Hittite
Amorite
Canaan
Perizzite
Hivite
Jebus
command
Joshua
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:1-27 Joshua once again failed to consult God (9:14;…
9:1-27 Joshua once again failed to consult God (9:14; cp. 7:2-4), this time over an unexpected request. Other ancient Near Eastern accounts tell only of a leader’s triumphs; this author also recorded the shortcomings of Joshua and Israel’s elders. The real hero of the story is God, whose accomplishments the author wished to tell.
9:1 Hittites . . . Jebusites: See study note on 3:10. • The fertile region of lower hills between the highlands of Judah and the southern coastal plain was known as the western foothills. • Although not all of the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea was occupied during this period, several important cities did exist. The kings of those small city-states, as far north as Mount Carmel, joined the southern coalition to resist Israel’s advances.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.