Joshua 9:1

_AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ALL THE KINGS WHICH WERE ON THIS SIDE JORDAN, IN THE HILLS, AND IN THE VALLEYS, AND IN ALL THE COASTS OF THE GREAT SEA OVER AGAINST LEBANON, THE HITTITE, AND THE AMORITE, THE CANAANITE, THE PERIZZITE, THE HIVITE, AND THE JEBUSITE, HEARD THEREOF;_ All the kings which were on this side - i:e., the western side of Jordan. IN THE HILLS, AND IN THE VALLEYS, AND IN ALL THE COASTS OF THE GREAT SEA. This threefold distinction marks out very clearly a large portion of Canaan. The first designates the hill country, which belonged afterward to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim; the second, all the low country from Carmel to Gaza; and the third, the shores of the Mediterranean from the isthmus of Tyre to the plain of Joppa. This designation, "the great sea," is in several other passages applied to that part of the Mediterranean which washed the coast of Canaan ...

1._And it came to pass when all the kings, _etc. As the arrival of the people was well known to these kings from the very first, it is certain that their minds were intoxicated from above with security or lethargy, so that they did not forthwith league together to oppose them. It implied excessive stupor not to provide for themselves till they were violently roused to exertion by the overthrow of two cities. (80) For as the war was common, it was a kind of voluntary surrender to send no aid to their neighbors, nay, to have no army ready, which might make a powerful impression for their defense. But in this way God spared the weakness of his people, to whom the combined forces of so many nations would have caused no small fear. It is certain, then, that by the sloth and torpor of their enemies, the Israelites were rendered more expeditious. For an interval was, in the meanwhile, given the...

1,2 Hitherto the Canaanites had defended themselves, but here they consult to attack Israel. Their minds were blinded, and their hearts hardened to their destruction. Though often at enmity with each other, yet they united against Israel. Oh that Israel would learn of Canaanites, to sacrifice private interests to the public welfare, and to lay aside all quarrels among themselves, that they may unite against the enemies of God's kingdom!...

CHAPTER IX _All the kings of the_ Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, _and_ Jebusites, _unite them forces against Joshua_, 1, 2. _The inhabitants of_ Gibeon, _hearing what Joshua had done to Ai,_ _sent ambassadors to him, feigning themselves to come from a_ _very distant tribe, requesting a friendly alliance with him_, 3-5. _Their address to Joshua, and the means they used to deceive the_ _Israelites_, 6-13. _The Israelitish elders are deceived, and make a league with_ them, which they confirm with an oat

IN THE HILLS - See the Numbers 13:17 note. THE VALLEYS - Or “the vale” (the Shephelah, Deuteronomy 1:7), which imports the lowland country between the mountains and the sea coast....

EXPOSITION THE GIBEONITES.— JOSHUA 9:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ALL THE KINGS. According to the explanation given above (Joshua 6:5, Joshua 6:15) of the particle כwith the infinitive, this must mean immediately. We must therefore suppose that the distance at which they lived from the scene of the events had prevented them from comprehending their astounding character so clearly as those who lived in the immediate neighbourhood (see Joshua 2:11; Joshua 5:1;...

AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ALL THE KINGS WHICH [WERE] ON THIS SIDE JORDAN,.... On the side Israel now were, and was that in which the land of Canaan lay, and was now governed by many kings, and all that were now remaining, even all but the kings of Jericho and Ai, who were slain: both those IN THE HILLS, AND IN THE VALLEYS; that dwelt in the mountainous part of the country, and in the plains of it: AND IN ALL THE COASTS OF THE GREAT SEA, OVER AGAINST LEBANON; who inhabited and governed in that part of the country which lay on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, the country of Phoenicia, in which were Tyre, Sidon, and other cities, and were over against Mount Lebanon, which was on the northern part of the country; according to the Latin version, they dwelt near Lebanon; and according to the Septuagint, near Antilibanus. It seems best, with Noldius g, to render the words, "even unto Leban...

9. THE GIBEONITES CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The confederacy of the enemies (Joshua 9:1)_ 2. The deception of the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:3) 3. The failure (Joshua 9:14) 4. The deception discovered (Joshua 9:16) Israel now comes face to face with the other inhabitants of the land. These enemies, which Israel encountered, are the types of our enemies, and the conflict of God's earthly people is typical of our conflict. There is, however, a difference. Israel's enemies were flesh and blood; ours are not. Israel's conflict was in the land; ours is with the wicked spirits in the heavenly places. Israel was asked to drive the

JOSHUA 9. THE STRATAGEM OF THE GIBEONITES. This account, though composite, is straightforward enough if Joshua 9:17 be omitted. These verses _give_ an account by the priestly writer in which the princes of the congregation take the leading part, and make a treaty which immediately afterwards is made again by Joshua Joshua 9:22 is plainly the continuation of Joshua 9:16. That a treaty was made with the Gibeonites at an early date is a historical fact, but that treaty was very far from making them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Temple (Joshua 9:23; Joshua 9:2

THE CANAANITE, THE PERIZZITE. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite"....