Chapter 9
The Gibeonites Deceive Joshua
9:1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
The news of the Israelites crossing the Jordan and conquering Jericho and Ai reached the kings who lived in the hill country and the lowlands along the coast going north toward the mountains of Lebanon in the land promised to the Israelites. So the people of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites decided to collaborate and join forces to fight Joshua and the people of Israel. But the people of the mighty city of Gibeon (see Joshua 10:2) had a different idea. This is the first mention of Gibeon in the Bible, one of four known Hivite cities.
9:3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly.
Instead of joining the alliance of the other Canaanite cities, the people of Gibeon “acted with cunning” (Hebrew yǎ·‘ǎśû’ b ‘ǒ·mā(h)’, perform a skillful but dishonest act) by first preparing a few of them to go meet up with the Israelites with their feed bags, wineskins, sandals, and their clothes to appear worn out and their food dry and aged so that they will seem to have come from a long distance away.
9:6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?”
Perhaps picking up that they seemingly were too eager to enter in an agreement with them, the men of Israel query, “But what if you really live around here? We couldn’t make a covenant with you if that was true.”
9:8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” 9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.
They tell Joshua that they are their servants, and Joshua asks, “Who are you?” They never said who they were nor where they were from, just a “very distant country.” But they knew about YHWH and all that He did in Egypt (likely the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea followed by the drowning of Pharaoh’s army) and the defeat of the two Amorite kings.
9:11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.”
The people of Gibeon then “spin a tale” about how the inhabitants of their distant country told them to go and meet up with the Israelites and tell them that they are their servants and to make a covenant of peace between them. They then show them the dried-out bread, the old wineskins, and the worn out clothes and sandals. They offer their provisions as a gift.
9:14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. 15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
The men of Israel accepted the gift of their provisions, but they did not seek counsel from God for guidance, they fell for the subterfuge and now a covenant was forged between them. Joshua made a tactical and spiritual mistake by entering into a covenant between them and Israel.
9:16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. 17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
It didn’t take long for the truth to be discovered as they approach their cities, that the Gibeonites were indeed local and not from some distant land. Apparently each of these cities were included in the covenant.
9:18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.
The people of Israel did not attack these cities because of the covenant that was agreed upon by the leaders of the congregation (Hebrew ‘ē·ḏā(h)’, an assembly) of Israel that was sworn to the Gibeonites by using the name of YHWH. The people of Israel were rightfully angry as this violated the stipulation they heard from Moses, “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2, ESV)
9:19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
The leaders of the people of Israel understood the serious nature of what they did but also knew that God expects them to honor their agreement even if subterfuge was used to get what the Gibeonites wanted (see below). The Gibeonites became their slaves at that time.
9:22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”
Joshua asked why they deceived them, because they are now cursed and that many of them will never by anything but servants.
9:24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.”
The Gibeonites responded by saying that they heard that YHWH their God commanded Moses that He was going to give them the land and that all inhabitants were to be destroyed. They understood that to be a certainty not a possibility, so they feared for their lives and came up with this plan. They realize that they are in their hands and accept whatever they deem right to do to them. Like Rahab in Jericho, they had information about YHWH and that even though they had a well-trained army (see Joshua 10:2) they also knew that resistance would be futile.
9:26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose.
Joshua understood that once a vow was made that even though the people were not honest, the promise would be upheld. So Joshua made them their servants with tasks like wood cutting and water hauling for the people of Israel and for the altar of YHWH wherever it may be located at that time.
Considerations
Vows, Promises, and Covenants
While these words potentially have different definitions and applications, we read in the Bible that there is one major element that is shared by all three of these concepts. If an agreement is made and one of God’s people sworn to uphold the promise made in that agreement by God, then it must stand and the obligation fulfilled, even if deception was employed to obtain that agreement. “If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” (Numbers 30:2, ESV, see also Leviticus 27:1-34; Numbers 6:1-21; Deuteronomy 23:21-23; Psalm 50:14; 61:8; 65:1; 66:13; 116:14-18; Ecclesiastes 5:4-6; Jonah 2:9)