The Gibeonites' Deceit to Obtain Peace with the Israelites

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 9:1) And it came to pass when all the kings on this side of the Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard, (2) That they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord.

In the last chapter and post, Israel had completely destroyed Ai and its king.  When the kings on the side of the Jordan River that the Israelites were now on, the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite kings, in the hills and valleys and coasts toward Lebanon, heard how they had destroyed Jericho and Ai, they gathered together and agreed to unite against Israel.

(3) And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, (4) They worked craftily and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wine bottles old and torn and bound up, (5) And old shoes and patched on their feet, and old garments on them, and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.

Gibeon was a large royal metropolitan city of the Hivites.  When its inhabitants heard about what Joshua had done in Jericho and Ai, it seems they took matters into their own hands and schemed.  They acted as if they were ambassadors from some faraway country.  They wore old worn out and patched clothing and shoes and took upon their donkeys old sacks, old torn and tied up wineskins, and moldy bread, to make it look as if they had traveled a long way.

(6) And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore make a league with us."

They went to Joshua and the men of Israel to their camp at Gilgal and indeed told them they were from a faraway country, and they desired a league with Israel.

(7) And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you dwell among us, so how shall we make a league with you?"

The men of Israel replied to the Gibeonites who were indeed part of the Hivites, although they did not know that for certain, that it might be that they dwelled among them so they could not possibly be in league with them, as they had come to destroy them.  Additionally, they were forbidden to make any covenant or show any mercy to the countries they had come to destroy (Deuteronomy 7:2).

(8) And they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and where do you come from?"

The Gibeonites declared themselves servants to Joshua, meaning in this agreement they would do whatever he wanted to make an alliance with him.  It seems Joshua was suspicious and demanded to know just who they were and where they came from.

(9) And they said to him, "From a very far country your servants have come because of the name of the Lord your 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 beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan at Ashtaroth."

They did not tell Joshua what country they had come from but only said it was a very far country.  They said they had come because of the name of the Israelite God, and they had heard about what He had done in Egypt and to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan River.  They didn't mention Jericho and Ai, but perhaps because they had supposedly come from so far away, they would not have heard about those yet.  That was probably part of their scheme to make them less suspicious to Joshua.  They made it sound as if they were awed by their Lord's great and glorious works and perhaps would embrace the Israelite religion.  I can't help but wonder why on earth they wouldn't truly want to after hearing of all those miraculous works, they and all the Canaanite nations!  

(11) "Therefore the elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take victuals with you for the journey and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; now therefore, make a league with us."'"

The Gibeonites told Joshua that the elders and inhabitants of their country asked them to take provisions and make the long journey to the Israelites to meet them, perhaps the implication was before the Israelites had a chance to come hostilely into their country.  They were instructed to come to them and declare they were ready to make an agreement with them.  As their servants, they meant they were ready to do whatever was asked of the Israelites in order to make an alliance with them.

(12) "This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you, but now, behold, it is dry and it is moldy."

The Gibeonites began to lay it on a bit thicker, saying that they had taken hot bread for provision when they departed on their journey, and now the bread was dry and moldy.  It seems to me a little suspicious that they would feel the need to show Joshua their bread to prove they had come a long way, so he would believe their story must be true.  A more natural and logical way may have been to merely ask for food as theirs had supposedly become dry and moldy.  But I suppose it's easy to Monday morning quarterback, and it appears their method worked for them.

(13) "And these bottles of wine which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and our garments and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey."

The Gibeonites continued trying to prove they had come a long way by telling Joshua their wineskins had been new, but were now torn, and their clothes and shoes had worn out.  

(14) And the men took of their victuals and did not ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord.

The men of Israel took the Gibeonites' provisions from them as they were showing them to them, and it seems they believed them.  However, they did not think to seek counsel from their Lord.  It looks to be another lesson so soon in their new land that they needed to seek to follow the Lord in all things.

(15) And Joshua made peace with them and made a league with them, to let them live, and the princes of the congregation swore to them.

Joshua himself did not seek counsel from the Lord, but made peace with the Gibeonites and made an agreement with them that they be allowed to live in peace.  The princes of Israel made an oath that they would keep the covenant they made with 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 neighbors and that they dwelt among them.

Three days later, the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites were their neighbors and dwelt among them in their promised land.

(17) And the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim.

On the third day after making league with the Gibeonites and now having discovered they were their neighbors, the Israelites went to their cities.  Gibeon was the metropolis with Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim, being suburbs of it.

(18) And the children of Israel did not attack them because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

Israel did not attack Gibeon and its suburbs because the Israelite princes had sworn to them by their Lord God that they would let them live.  However, the congregation murmured against the princes, possibly fearing the wrath of the Lord because they did not completely destroy them as they were commanded to do to all the inhabitants of their promised land, or perhaps because they had a more selfish reason in that they would not be able to plunder their cities and inhabit them.

(19) But all the princes said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them."

The princes told the murmuring congregation that they had sworn to the Gibeonites by their Lord God of Israel, so they would not break their oath and they would not touch them.  Interestingly, even though the Israelites had not sought God's counsel, God approved of their upholding their covenant with the Gibeonites, as evidenced much later when God avenged the wrong Saul did to the Gibeonites in violation of their covenant (2 Samuel 21:1).  It is a merciful loving God who blesses us even though we do not always follow exactly in His ways.  His ways are perfect, and if we always sought His counsel, our ways would be perfect as God desires the best for us.  But even when we mess up, He can make things work to the good if we love God and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).  A perfect example is when God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, but Sarah grew impatient and decided to help God by giving Abraham her maidservant to birth a son, Ishmael, and it all caused troubles in the lives of all concerned.  God still blessed Abraham with his son Isaac, but things would have been much better and smoother had Sarah trusted in God's promise and had patience to wait on God's timing.

No doubt, things would have been better for Joshua had he asked God's counsel before making a covenant with the Gibeonites, but He honored Israel's oath.  Who knows?  God might have spared the Gibeonites anyway because they had come to Israel to make peace, but you can be sure His covenant would have been perfect and better for the Israelites than the one they struck without Him.

(20) "This we will do to them, we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them."

The princes went on to tell the congregation of Israel that they would let the Gibeonites live because they would not bring the wrath of God upon them because they had sworn by His name.

(21) And the princes said to them, "Let them live, but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water to all the congregation, as the princes had promised them."

The princes continued telling the congregation to let the Gibeonites live as the princes had promised them.  However, they would be made to be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which were thought of as low and demeaning types of work.

(22) And Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell among us?"

Joshua called for the Gibeonites and asked them why they had lied to the Israelites, telling them they had come from afar when they were actually their neighbors living among them.

(23) "Now therefore, you 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."

Although Israel would still honor their oath with the Gibeonites even though they had lied to them, Joshua declared they would all be servants, woodcutters and water carriers, specifically for the house of the Lord, which was for all the congregation (v. 21).  They became the servants of the Levites who were servants to the priests.  That actually became a fulfillment of a curse pronounced by Noah in Genesis 9:25, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren."

(24) And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was certainly told your servants how that the Lord your 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 very much afraid of our lives because of you and have done this thing."

The Gibeonites answered Joshua's question about why they had lied.  They had heard that their Lord God had commanded Moses to give the Israelites all the land of Canaan and that they were to destroy all the land's inhabitants.  They were very much afraid for their lives, so they deceived the Israelites the way they did to save their own lives.

(25) "And now, behold, we are in your hand; as it seems good and right to you to do to us, do."

The Gibeonites, realizing they were at Joshua's mercy because they had lied to him, told him they would do whatever he deemed good and right, in order to continue to live among them.

(26) And so he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel that they did not kill them.

Joshua did as he said and made the Gibeonites servants to them, but he allowed them to live among them.  In doing so, he had delivered them out of the hand of the Israelites who would have killed them if they had their way.

(27) And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, even to this day, in the place which He should choose.

That very day Joshua made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water bearers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord.  Perhaps since the Lord had not yet chosen the place for His tabernacle, the Gibeonites actually did serve all the congregation, or maybe the meaning was that by serving the Levites who served the priests, they were doing their part for the entire congregation as their labor served the Lord's altar.  However they served in the beginning, they did come to serve the Levites when the tabernacle was placed in the place of the Lord's choosing.

Had the Israelites consulted God first before making an oath with the Gibeonites, things would have worked out better for them.  Additionally, things would have worked out better for the Gibeonites if they had been honest in the beginning.  If they had come truthfully and sincerely to Joshua seeking peace and renouncing their idolatry, they could have lived among the Israelites in freedom and in peace.  However, in this way, they barely escaped with their lives and were doomed to live as servants in menial labor.  God's way is always perfect.  If only we always sought His counsel and obeyed all His commandments, our lives could be perfect as He desires for us.

Israel Takes Ai and Joshua Renews Covenant

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 8:1) And the Lord said to Joshua, "Fear not, neither be dismayed; take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land."

In the last chapter and post, Israel had been defeated at Ai when thirty-six of her men had been killed and her people turned and fled from the men of Ai.  The Lord had not been with Israel because she had sinned against Him by stealing of the accursed things of Jericho.  The thief was found out and he and all that he had were removed from the Israelite camp and burned.  Now that the cursed things had been removed, God told Joshua not to fear nor be dismayed by what had happened.  He told him to take the men of war with him and go up into Ai and see that He had given into Israel's hand the king of Ai, his people, and all his land.

(2) "And you shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, only its spoil and its cattle you shall take for plunder to yourselves; lay an ambush for the city behind it."

The Lord told Joshua he and the armed men of Israel would now be able to overcome and destroy Ai and its king the same way they were able to overcome and destroy Jericho.  However, this time the Lord would allow them to plunder the city of its goods and cattle for themselves.  They were instructed to lay an ambush for the city behind it.

(3) So Joshua arose and all the people of war to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men of valor and sent them away by night.

Joshua rose up along with all the men of war to go up against Ai.  He chose thirty thousand men out of all the men of war and sent them away in the night.  These were the ones sent for an ambush, and they moved at night so that they might get behind the city unnoticed.

(4) And he commanded them, saying, "Behold, you shall lie in wait against the city, behind the city; do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready."

Joshua commanded the thirty thousand men to lie in wait behind the city, near to it, ready to go into it when its men went out to meet the soldiers of Israel.

(5) "And I and all the people with me will approach to the city, and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us as at the first, that we will flee before them."

Joshua with the rest of the army would approach the city, and when the men of Ai came out against them as they had done the first time, they would again flee from them which would draw the men of Ai out of the city.

(6) "For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, 'They flee before us as at the first.' Therefore we will flee before them."

Indeed, Joshua said that the men of Ai would come out after them because they were fleeing just as they had the first time.  That was their plan, to flee before them and draw them out.

(7) "Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize upon the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand."

When the men of Ai had been drawn out of the city, the thirty thousand Israelite men who lay in wait, would rise up and seize the city as the Lord had delivered it into their hands.

(8) "And it shall be when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire; according to the commandment of the Lord you shall do. See, I have commanded you."

After the thirty thousand men had taken the city from behind and plundered it, they were to set the city on fire.  Joshua had given them the command of the Lord, and they were to do accordingly as He commanded.

(9) Joshua therefore sent them forth, and they went to lie in ambush and abode between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai, but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

Joshua sent the thirty thousand soldiers forth into Ai by night to lie in ambush, actually on the west side of Ai between Ai and Bethel.  Joshua remained with the rest of the army and the people that night.

(10) And Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

Joshua rose up early the next morning and made sure everyone was ready and accounted for, and then he and the elders of Israel went forth before the people to Ai.

(11) And all the people of war with him went up and drew near and came before the city and pitched on the north side of Ai; now a valley lay between them and Ai.

Joshua with all the men of war went forth and drew near to Ai.  They pitched a camp on the north side of the city, and there lay a valley between them and Ai.

(12) And he took about five thousand men and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai on the west side of the city.

It seems that Joshua took another five thousand men out of the men he was with and set them to also lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai on the west side of the city, perhaps a little closer to the city and to him to ensure no escape.

(13) And when they had set the people, all the host on the north of the city and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

When all the people had been set in place, Joshua and his army on the north of the city, and those who lay in ambush on the west of the city, Joshua then went that night, possibly with a small band of men, into the midst of the valley that lay between him and Ai.  It was probably his intention to have the king and men of Ai see him to draw them out before they had a chance to discover the men in the ambush.

(14) And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw, that they hasted and rose up early and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain, but he did not know that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.

When the king of Ai saw movement on the north side of the city, he and his army went forth to battle against Israel at a time the king had apparently appointed, heading into the plain or valley that lay between his city and the Israelite camp.  Of course, he did not know that large numbers of Israelite men of war lay in ambush behind him.

(15) And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them and fled by way of the wilderness.

Joshua and the army with him acted as though they were beaten by the army of Ai, and they fled from before them into the wilderness.

(16) And all the people in Ai were called together to pursue after them, and they pursued after Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

All the people of Ai were called together to pursue after Israel, and they pursued after Joshua and the Israelite army, drawing all the people out of the city of Ai.

(17) And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that did not go out after Israel, and they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

As all the people of Ai were called out to pursue after Israel, there was not one man left in the city or in Bethel.  Thus they left the city of Ai open as they pursued after Israel.

(18) And the Lord said to Joshua, "Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the spear in his hand toward the city.

The Lord told Joshua to stretch out his spear that was in his hand toward Ai as a sign that the Lord would deliver the city into his hand.  Joshua had to turn back toward the city to do as the Lord instructed, and he stretched out his spear toward the city of Ai.

(19) And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered into the city and took it and hasted and set the city on fire.

The stretching forth of the spear was a signal to the ambush to rise up and run toward the city and take it.  They easily took possession of it and hurried and set it on fire.

(20) And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw the smoke of their city ascending toward heaven, and they had no power to flee ahead of them because Joshua and the Israelite army had turned toward them, neither could they flee back the way they came because the enemy was behind them.  Joshua and the people who had fled into the wilderness now turned back on the Ai pursuers.

(21) And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again and slew the men of Ai.

When Joshua and the Israelites with him also saw the smoke of the city ascending, and they knew that the ambush had taken the city, they turned back toward the city and killed the men of Ai who had come out after them.

(22) And the others came out of the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side, and they struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

The other Israelites who had been part of the ambush came through the city and after the men of Ai, so that the men of Ai were surrounded by the Israelites on all sides.  Israel struck them down and allowed none of them to remain or escape.

(23) And the king of Ai they took alive and brought him to Joshua.

However, the Israelite army did not kill the king of Ai but brought him to Joshua.

(24) And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

When Israel had killed all the inhabitants of Ai who had come out of the city after them, they all returned to Ai and struck down all the people who remained there, those who had been unfit for war.

(25) And so it was, all who fell that day both of men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.

In the end, Israel had killed twelve thousand inhabitants of Ai, both men and women.  Indeed it was a small city as the spies had told Joshua in Joshua 7:3.

(26) For Joshua did not draw his hand back, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

It seems that Joshua continued to stretch out his spear and did not let up pursuit until all the inhabitants of Ai had been killed.  It was quite reminiscent of the time Joshua fought against Amalek in Exodus 17:10-12, when Israel prevailed as long as Moses's hand was held up, but Amalek prevailed when Moses let down his hand, and so Aaron and Hur held up Moses's hand when he wearied.  

(27) Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for plunder to themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He commanded Joshua.

This time, unlike in Jericho, the Lord allowed Israel to take the cattle and the substance of the city's inhabitants as plunder, which they did.

(28) And Joshua burnt Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.

Joshua and the Israelite army burned Ai, leaving it in a pile of rubble that existed to the day Joshua wrote his account.

(29) And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening; and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raise on it a great heap of stones to this day.

Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening.  Then, as per the law in Deuteronomy 21:23, he ordered his body be taken down so that the land not be defiled.  His body was buried under a heap of stones at the entrance gate of the city, surely meant to be a warning to other kings against going against Israel.

(30) Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal, (31) As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man has lifted up iron; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings.

Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal, as Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy 27:5 that they do in Mount Ebal after they had gone over the Jordan.  As commanded, Joshua built the altar of whole stones that had not been altered by any iron tools.  The people offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings on the altar.

(32) And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

Joshua also wrote a copy of the law of Moses upon stones which according to Deuteronomy 27:4 would have been a separate set of stones that were plastered over with plaster.  He wrote the law in the presence of the children of Israel.

(33) And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger as he who was born among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

Also as commanded by Moses in Deuteronomy 27:12-13, all of Israel, including elders and officers, men and women, proselytes and native-born Israelites alike, were to stand half on one side of the ark of the covenant at Mount Gerizim and the other half at Mount Ebal.  Specifically, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, were to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, were to stand on Mount Ebal to curse. 

(34) And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

After Joshua had written the law, he read all the words of the law, and the blessings and the cursings were probably read by the Levites according to the law written in Deuteronomy 27.

(35) There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers who walked among them.

Joshua did everything just as Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy 27 before the entire congregation of Israel, including women, children, and proselytes who lived among them.

With the sin removed from the camp, God gave Israel victory over Ai.  In honor and thanksgiving, Joshua built an altar at Mount Ebal.  He then wrote the law on plastered stones and directed a solemn ceremony in which blessings and cursings were pronounced, all according to what Moses directed in Deuteronomy 27.  Israel had finally come into their promised land and had begun to take possession of it.  It was time for a solemn writing and reading of the law before all the congregation in a renewal of their covenant with God as He had fulfilled His promise to give them this land flowing with milk and honey.  It was a reminder that they must adhere to their obligations in the covenant if they wanted God to continue to lead them to victory in conquering the rest of their promised land.