Joshua 9:1-27
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;
2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.a
3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,
4 They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, 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.
7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
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 we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
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.
11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with youb for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
12 This 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 mouldy:
13 And these bottles 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.
14 And the menc took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
16 And 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 neighbours, and that they dwelt among them.
17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.
18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.
19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.
20 This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
21 And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.
22 And 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?
23 Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD 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.
25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.
26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
27 And Joshua maded them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
Trouble with the Gibeonites
Joshua 9:1-27; Joshua 10:1-43; Joshua 11:1-23
God had instructed Israel to destroy the Canaanites when they came into the land (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; Deuteronomy 20:16-17). Their failure to do so would lead to many troubles over the years of their existence. They would be tempted to join in the idol worship of the people who remained and thereby led to sin against the Lord. In the days of David, they suffered a famine for three years that was a result of the failure to kill or drive out the Gibeonites. The treaty that Israel made when they were deceived and did not consult the Lord was violated by King Saul. His actions resulted in the death of seven of his kinsmen to make restitution for his refusal to honor a foolish agreement made by Israel in Joshua's day (2 Samuel 21:1-14).
A weapon often used against God's people is deception. Kings from the three major regions of Israel, the hill country, lowlands and sea coast, decided to make an alliance and go up against Israel. While others were preparing to do battle, the Gibeonites were scheming to save their lives and gain protection from other enemies as well. They resolved to send ambassadors dressed in old clothes, patched shoes, with old sacks upon their beasts of burden, old wine skins that had been bound up and bread that was dry and mouldy. This made them appear to have come from a great distance though Gibeon was only about six miles northwest of Jerusalem (Joshua 9:1-5).
When they arrived at the camp of Israel, they introduced themselves to Joshua and the men of Israel as being from a distant land and asked them to agree to a treaty. Concerned with violating the Lord's will (Exodus 23:31-33; Exodus 34:11-16), the men asked how they could make a covenant with them if they were from the surrounding region, so Joshua asked who they were and where they came from. They lied by saying they had come from a far country and had heard of the fame of the God of Israel as he helped them cross the Red Sea and defeat the two Amorite kings. Notice that they carefully omitted the more recent crossing of Jordan, defeat of Jericho and Ai since these likely could not have been reported a great distance off as yet. They offered their bread and wineskins as proof of the distance they had come.
Instead of consulting with God through the use of the Urim and Thummin of the high priest (Numbers 27:21), Joshua and the princes took of the Gibeonites' provisions and made a treaty with them. It should be noted that all treaties were not forbidden, as the laws governing warfare with nations outside of Canaan well illustrates (Deuteronomy 20:11). Within three days, Israel learned the four cities the Gibeonites represented were all within a ten mile radius of Jerusalem. The people murmured, perhaps because they were greedy for the spoil of these cities as some authors have suggested. However, the princes would not compound their error by violating their covenant with Gibeon. Instead, Joshua made the Gibeonites bearers of water and hewers of wood for use in the sanctuary of God (Joshua 9:6-27).