Joshua 9:6

Having made these preparations, they went to the Israelitish camp at Gilgal (Jiljilia), introduced themselves to the men of Israel (אישׁ, in a collective sense, the plural being but little used, and only occurring in Pro 8:4; Isa 53:3, and Psa 141:4) as having come from a distant land, and asked them to make a league with them. But the Israelites hesitated, and said to the Hivites, i.e., the Gibeonites who were Hivites, that they might perhaps be living in the midst of them (the Israelites), i.e., in the land of Canaan, which the Israelites already looked upon as their own; and if so, how could they make a league with them? This hesitation on their part was founded upon the express command of God, that they were not to make any league with the tribes of Canaan (Exo 23:32; Exo 34:12; Num 33:55; Deu 7:2, etc.). In reply to this the Gibeonites simply said, "We are thy servants" (Jos 9:8), i.e., we are at thy service, which, according to the obsequious language common in the East, was nothing more than a phrase intended to secure the favour of Joshua, and by no means implied a readiness on their part to submit to the Israelites and pay them tribute, as Rosenmller, Knobel, and others suppose; for, as Grotius correctly observes, what they wished for was "a friendly alliance, by which both their territory and also full liberty would be secured to themselves." The Keri ויּאמר (Jos 9:7) is nothing more than a critical conjecture, occasioned not so much by the singular אישׁ, which is frequently construed in the historical writings as a collective noun with a plural verb, as by the singular suffix attached to בּקרבּי, which is to be explained on the ground that only one of the Israelites (viz., Joshua) was speaking as the mouthpiece of all the rest. The plural ויּאמרוּ is used, be…

Here is in this chapter, I. The impolite confederacy of the kings of Canaan against Israel (Jos 9:1, Jos 9:2). II. The polite confederacy of the inhabitants of Gibeon with Israel, 1. How it was subtly proposed and petitioned for by the Gibeonites pretending to come from a far country (Jos 9:3-13). 2. How it was unwarily consented to by Joshua and the Israelites, to the disgust of the congregation when the fraud was discovered (Jos 9:14-18). 3. How the matter was adjusted to the satisfaction of all sides, by giving these Gibeonites their lives because they had covenanted with them, yet depriving them of their liberties because the covenant was not fairly obtained (Jos 9:19-27).