COMMENTARY ON JOSHUA CHAPTER S 9-12. DEFEAT OF THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN CONFEDERACIES. ISRAEL ARE ESTABLISHED IN THE LAND. Having won their initial battles Israel were now free to settle in the central hill country while maintaining Gilgal in the Jordan Rift Valley as their fighting base. The centr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GENERAL FEAR OF ISRAEL (JOSHUA 9:1). As a result of the news getting around of the presence of the Israelites, and of what they had already done, the independent Canaanite cities became very much afraid and began to plot what they could do in order to oust these ‘strangers'. Each began to muste... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GIBEONITE CONSPIRACY (JOSHUA 9:3). The next shock that shook Canaan was that with Jericho, Ai and Bethel defeated, and a way into Canaan having been obtained, and with the covenant having been made by Israel with the ‘foreign' people of Shechem, the large and powerful Canaanite city of Gibeon c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps it may be that you dwell among us, and how shall we make a covenant-treaty with you?” The elders of Israel were not fools. They were suspicious. They wanted proof that these men were what they said they were and not inhabitants of the land. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Joshua 9:8 a ‘And they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” In the face of such an objection silence was the wisest precaution. They simply responded humbly and awaited further events. The idea of ‘servant' was not literal. It was a typical Near Eastern show of humility that was not intended to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they said to him, “Your servants are come from a very far country because of the name of YHWH your God, for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were in Beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of... [ Continue Reading ]
“ That is why our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country, spoke to us saying, “Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, ‘We are your servants'. And now make yourselves a covenant-treaty with us.” ' The non-mention of a king may suggest that Gibeon... [ Continue Reading ]
“ This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came out to go to you, but now, behold, it is dry, and has become mouldy. And these wineskins, which we filled, were new, and look they are torn, and these our clothes, and our shoes, have become old by reason of the very... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the men took of their provisions and did not ask counsel of YHWH.' O how foolish we are when we do not consult God. Convinced by the false evidence the food was accepted by the elders of Israel, Joshua among them. It would only be a token participation to demonstrate acceptance in view of the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua made peace with them, and made a treaty-covenant with them, to let them live. And the princes of the congregation swore to them.' Following up the token eating of their food to indicate acceptance (compare Genesis 31:54; Exodus 18:12; Exodus 24:11) a treaty-covenant was drawn up. Peace... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And so it was that at the end of three days, after they had made a treaty-covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours and that they dwelt among them.' Then after a few days had passed (the regular ‘three days') the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites in fact ‘lived in t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ 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 Kiriath-jearim.' Once they heard the news and realised how they had been cheated the Israelites moved in force to the area where they were to be found. It wa... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Israel did not smite them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by YHWH the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.' True to their treaty-covenant the Gibeonites were spared. Such a treaty was totally binding and unbreakable... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the princes said to them, “Let them live, so they become hewers of wood, and drawers of water to all the congregation”, as the princes had spoken to them.' Now the explanation was given of what would be done to them. They would become slaves to Israel. No Israelite could be made a slave. But... [ Continue Reading ]
‘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? Now therefore you are cursed, and you will never cease to provide bondmen (literally ‘there shall not be cut off from you a bondman'), both hewers of wood... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they answered Joshua, and said, “Because it was assuredly told your servants, how that YHWH 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 sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done th... [ Continue Reading ]
“ And now, behold, we are in your hand. As it seems good and right to you to do to us, do.” Having admitted their reasons they acknowledged that, apart from disobeying the strict treaty-covenant conditions, Joshua was within his rights to do whatever he wished with them. There seems little doubt th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And so did he to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of YHWH, to this day, in the place which he should choose.' It is quite clear tha... [ Continue Reading ]