Deception by Gibeon

When all the kings heard about Jericho and Ai, those who were west of the Jordan in the hill country,(A) in the Judean foothills,[a] and all along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea(B) toward Lebanon—the Hethites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites— they formed a unified alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,(C) they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions[b] and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly. They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”(D)

The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?” (E)

They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”(F)

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

They replied to him, “Your servants have come from a faraway land because of the reputation of the Lord your God. For we have heard of his fame, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we took it from our houses as food on the day we left to come to you; but see, it is now dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them; but see, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the extremely long journey.” 14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord’s decision.(G) 15 So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.(H)

Gibeon’s Deception Discovered

16 Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them. 17 So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.(I) 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath(J) to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

19 All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. 20 This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.” 21 They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers(K) for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them.

22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us? 23 Therefore you are cursed and will always be slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24 The Gibeonites answered him, “It was clearly communicated to your servants 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 before you. We greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.(L) 25 Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever you think is right.”(M) 26 This is what Joshua did to them: he rescued them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. 27 On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers—as they are today—for the community and for the Lord’s altar at the place he would choose.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 9:1 Or the Shephelah
  2. 9:4 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read They went disguised as ambassadors

The Gibeonites’ trick

All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel. In contrast, when the population of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they acted cleverly. They set out pretending to be messengers.[a] They took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and worn-out wineskins that were split and mended. They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and were wearing worn-out clothes. All the bread in their supplies was dry and crumbly.

They went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal. They said to him and to Israel, “We have come from a distant country. So now, make a treaty with us.”

Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How then could we make a treaty with you?”

Then they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

Joshua said to them, “Who are you? Where have you come from?”

They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of the Lord your God. We have heard a report about him and everything he did in Egypt. 10 We heard about everything he did to the two kings of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan, Heshbon’s King Sihon and Bashan’s King Og, who was in Ashtaroth. 11 Our elders and all the population of our land said to us, ‘Take along supplies for the journey. Go meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. So now make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This is our bread. On the day we left to come to you we took it warm from our houses as supplies. But now here it is, dried up and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them. But here they are, split open. These clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 The Israelites[b] took some of their supplies, but they didn’t ask for any decision from the Lord. 15 Joshua made peace with them. He made a treaty with them to protect their lives. The leaders of the community made a solemn pledge to them.

Israel discovers the trick

16 Three days after the Israelites made a treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were actually their neighbors and were living among them. 17 So on the third day the Israelites marched out and came to their cities: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the Israelites didn’t strike at them. This was because the leaders of the community had made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. The entire community grumbled against the leaders. 19 Then all the leaders said to the whole community, “We have made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. So we can’t touch them now. 20 This is what we’ll do with them. We’ll let them live so that wrath won’t come down on us because of the solemn pledge that we made to them.” 21 The leaders went on to say to them, “Let them live.” So they became woodcutters and water haulers for the whole community, exactly as the leaders had intended for them.

22 Joshua called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them: “Why have you deceived us by saying, ‘We live very far away from you,’ when actually you live among us? 23 So now you are cursed. Some of you will always serve as woodcutters and water haulers for my God’s house.”

24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants had been told that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to wipe out all its population on your account. So we feared for our very lives because of you and did this thing. 25 Now, here we are in your power. Do to us whatever seems good and proper to you.” 26 So Joshua treated them in this way. He spared them from the power of the Israelites, and they didn’t kill them. 27 That day Joshua assigned them as woodcutters and water haulers for the community and for the Lord’s altar, located wherever God[c] would choose. That is still the case today.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 9:4 Heb uncertain
  2. Joshua 9:14 Or men
  3. Joshua 9:27 Or he