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Joshua 9
New English Translation

The Gibeonites Deceive Israel

9 When the news reached all the kings on the west side of the Jordan[a]—in the hill country, the foothills,[b] and all along the Mediterranean coast[c] as far as[d] Lebanon (including the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)— 2 they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.[e]

3 When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, 4 they did something clever. They collected some provisions[f] and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched. 5 They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread[g] was dry and hard.[h] 6 They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.” 7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live near us.[i] So how can we make a treaty with you?” 8 But they said to Joshua, “We are willing to be your subjects.”[j] So Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” 9 They told him, “Your subjects[k] have come from a very distant land because of the reputation[l] of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt[m] 10 and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects.[n] Make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you,[o] but now it is dry and hard.[p] 13 These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey.” 14 The men examined[q] some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord’s advice.[r] 15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community[s] sealed it with an oath.[t]

16 Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby.[u] 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel.[v] The whole community criticized[w] the leaders, 19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of[x] the Lord God of Israel! So now we can’t hurt[y] them. 20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.”[z] 21 The leaders then added,[aa] “Let them live.” So they became[ab] woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided.[ac]

22 [ad] Joshua summoned the Gibeonites[ae] and said to them, “Why did you trick[af] us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby?[ag] 23 Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”[ah] 24 They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects[ai] how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified[aj] we would lose our lives, so we did this thing. 25 So now we are in your power.[ak] Do to us what you think is good and appropriate.”[al] 26 Joshua did as they said; he kept the Israelites from killing them[am] 27 and that day made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the divinely chosen site. (They continue in that capacity to this very day.)[an]

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 9:1 tn Heb “When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan heard.”
  2. Joshua 9:1 tn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the transition region between the hill country and the coastal plains.
  3. Joshua 9:1 tn Heb “all the coast of the Great Sea.” The “Great Sea” was the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
  4. Joshua 9:1 tn Heb “in front of.”
  5. Joshua 9:2 tn Heb “they gathered together to fight against Joshua and Israel [with] one mouth.”
  6. Joshua 9:4 tc Heb “and they went and [?].” The root and meaning of the verb form יִצְטַיָּרוּ (yitstayyaru) are uncertain. The Hebrew text form most likely should be יִצְטַיָּדוּ (yitstayyadu), read by some Hebrew mss and ancient versions, from the root צוּד (tsud, “take provisions,” BDB 845 s.v. II צוד) which also occurs in v. 11. Note NRSV “they went and prepared provisions”; cf. NEB “They went and disguised themselves”; NIV “they went as a delegation.”
  7. Joshua 9:5 tn Heb “all the bread of their provisions.”
  8. Joshua 9:5 tn Or “moldy.”
  9. Joshua 9:7 tn Heb “in our midst.”
  10. Joshua 9:8 tn Heb “we are your servants.”
  11. Joshua 9:9 tn Or “servants.”
  12. Joshua 9:9 tn Heb “name.”
  13. Joshua 9:9 tn Heb “the report about him, all that he did in Egypt.”
  14. Joshua 9:11 tn Heb “your servants.”
  15. Joshua 9:12 tn Heb “in the day we went out to come to you.”
  16. Joshua 9:12 tn Or “moldy.”
  17. Joshua 9:14 tn Heb “took.” This probably means they tasted some of the food to make sure it was stale.
  18. Joshua 9:14 tn Heb “but they did not ask the mouth of the Lord.” This refers to seeking the Lord’s will and guidance through an oracle.
  19. Joshua 9:15 tn Or “assembly.”
  20. Joshua 9:15 tn Heb “Joshua made peace with them and made a treaty with them to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.”
  21. Joshua 9:16 tn Heb “At the end of three days, after they made the treaty with them, they heard that they were neighbors to them and in their midst they were living.”
  22. Joshua 9:18 tn Heb “by the Lord God of Israel.”
  23. Joshua 9:18 tn Or “grumbled against.”
  24. Joshua 9:19 tn Heb “to them by….”
  25. Joshua 9:19 tn Or “touch.”
  26. Joshua 9:20 tn Heb “This is what we will do to them, keeping them alive so there will not be upon us anger concerning the oath which we swore to them.”
  27. Joshua 9:21 tc Heb “and the leaders said to them.” The LXX omits the words “and the leaders said to them.”
  28. Joshua 9:21 tn The vav (ו) consecutive construction in the Hebrew text suggests that the narrative resumes at this point. The LXX reads here, “and they will be,” understanding what follows to be a continuation of the leaders’ words rather than a comment by the narrator.
  29. Joshua 9:21 tn Heb “as the leaders said to them.”
  30. Joshua 9:22 sn Verses 22-27 appear to elaborate on v. 21b.
  31. Joshua 9:22 tn Heb “them.”
  32. Joshua 9:22 tn Or “deceive.”
  33. Joshua 9:22 tn Heb “live in our midst?”
  34. Joshua 9:23 tn Heb “Now you are cursed and a servant will not be cut off from you, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
  35. Joshua 9:24 tn Heb “your servants.”
  36. Joshua 9:24 tn Or “we were very afraid.”
  37. Joshua 9:25 tn Heb “so now, look, we are in your hand.”
  38. Joshua 9:25 tn Heb “according to what is good and according to what is upright in your eyes to do us, do.”
  39. Joshua 9:26 tn Heb “And he did to them so and he rescued them from the hand of the sons of Israel and they did not kill them.”
  40. Joshua 9:27 tn Heb “and Joshua made them in that day woodcutters and water carriers for the community, and for the altar of the Lord to this day at the place which he chooses.”
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Joshua 9
Contemporary English Version

The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel

9 1-2 The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.

3 The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. 4 So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country.[a] The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together. 5 Their sandals were old and patched, and their clothes were worn out. They even took along some dry and crumbly bread. 6 Then they went to the Israelite camp at Gilgal, where they said to Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a country that is far from here. Please make a peace treaty with us.”

7-8 (A) The Israelites replied, “But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby.”[b]

The Gibeonites[c] said, “If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants.”

“Who are you?” Joshua asked. “Where do you come from?”

They answered:

9 We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the Lord your God is so famous. We heard what the Lord did in Egypt 10 (B) and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.

11 Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey. 12 See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes. 13 These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.

14 The Israelites tried some of the food,[d] but they did not ask the Lord if he wanted them to make a treaty. 15 So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise.

16-17 A couple of days later,[e] the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.[f] So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later.[g] 18 But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the Lord that they would let these people live.

The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack, 19-21 but the leaders reminded them, “We promised these people in the name of the Lord God of Israel that we would let them live, so we must not harm them. If we break our promise, God will punish us. We'll let them live, but we'll make them cut wood and carry water for our people.”

22 Joshua told some of his soldiers, “I want to meet with the Gibeonite leaders. Bring them here.”

When the Gibeonites came, Joshua said, “You live close to us. Why did you lie by claiming you lived far away? 23 So now you are under a curse, and from now on your people will have to send workers to cut wood and carry water for the place of worship.”[h]

24 The Gibeonites answered, “The Lord your God told his servant Moses that you were to kill everyone who lives here and take their land for yourselves. We were afraid you would kill us, and so we tricked you into making a peace treaty. But we agreed to be your servants, 25 and you are strong enough to do anything to us that you want. We just ask you to do what seems right.”

26 Joshua did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites, 27 but he did tell the Gibeonites that they would have to be servants of the nation of Israel. They would have to cut firewood and bring it for the priests to use for burning sacrifices on the Lord's altar, wherever the Lord decided the altar would be. The Gibeonites would also have to carry water for the priests. And that is still the work of the Gibeonites.

Footnotes

  1. 9.4 So … country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 9.7,8 nearby: See Deuteronomy 20.10-18.
  3. 9.7,8 Gibeonites: Hebrew “Hivites.”
  4. 9.14 tried … food: Probably to see if it really was old or to show that they wanted peace.
  5. 9.16,17 A couple … later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” meaning two days after the day the treaty was made.
  6. 9.16,17 Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim: These towns were 30 to 50 kilometers west of the Israelite camp at Gilgal.
  7. 9.16,17 A couple of days … later: Or “A couple of days later, the Israelites moved their camp to the area near the towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. When they arrived, they realized that they had made a peace treaty with the people of these nearby towns!”
  8. 9.23 the place of worship: The Hebrew text has “God's house,” which at that time was the sacred tent.
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