3 And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, 5 and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry—it was crumbs. 6 And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, 'From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;' 7 and the men of Israel say unto the Hivite, 'It may be in our midst ye are dwelling, and how do we make with thee a covenant?' 8 and they say unto Joshua, 'Thy servants we 'are'.' And Joshua saith unto them, 'Who 'are' ye? and whence come ye?' 9 And they say unto him, 'From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt, 10 and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who 'are' beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who 'is' in Ashtaroth. 11 'And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we 'are', and now, make with us a covenant; 12 this our bread—hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs; 13 and these 'are' the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.' 14 And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked;
15 and Joshua maketh with them peace, and maketh with them a covenant, to keep them alive; and swear to them do the princes of the company. 16 And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days after that they have made with them a covenant, that they hear that they 'are' their neighbours—that in their midst they are dwelling. 17 And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day—and their cities 'are' Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim—
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 9:3-17
Commentary on Joshua 9:3-13
(Read Joshua 9:3-13)
Other people heard these tidings, and were driven thereby to make war upon Israel; but the Gibeonites were led to make peace with them. Thus the discovery of the glory and the grace of God in the gospel, is to some a savour of life unto life, but to others a savour of death unto death, 2 Corinthians 2:16. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. The falsehood of the Gibeonites cannot be justified. We must not do evil that good may themselves to the God of Israel, we have reason to think Joshua would have been directed by the oracle of God to spare their lives. But when they had once said, "We are come from a far country," they were led to say it made of skins, and their clothes: one lie brings on another, and that a third, and so on. The way of that sin is especially down-hill. Yet their faith and prudence are to be commended. In submitting to Israel they submitted to the God of Israel, which implied forsaking their idolatries. And how can we do better than cast ourselves upon the mercy of a God of all goodness? The way to avoid judgment is to meet it by repentance. Let us do like these Gibeonites, seek peace with God in the rags of abasement, and godly sorrow; so our sin shall not be our ruin. Let us be servants to Jesus, our blessed Joshua, and we shall live.
Commentary on Joshua 9:14-21
(Read Joshua 9:14-21)
The Israelites, having examined the provisions of the Gibeonites, hastily concluded that they confirmed their account. We make more haste than good speed, when we stay not to take God with us, and do not consult him by the word and prayer. The fraud was soon found out. A lying tongue is but for a moment. Had the oath been in itself unlawful, it would not have been binding; for no obligation can render it our duty to commit a sin. But it was not unlawful to spare the Canaanites who submitted, and left idolatry, desiring only that their lives might be spared. A citizen of Zion swears to his own hurt, and changes not, Psalm 15:4. Joshua and the princes, when they found that they had been deceived, did not apply to Eleazar the high priest to be freed from their engagement, much less did they pretend that no faith is to be kept with those to whom they had sworn. Let this convince us how we ought to keep our promises, and make good our bargains; and what conscience we ought to make of our words.