Introduction: Israel was on the move! Jericho had fallen to them, Ai was gone, and the peoples of central Canaan were probably wondering who would be next. There was a group of four cities which decided to make peace with Israel—even if they had to use trickery to do it!
Text, Joshua 9:1-2, KJV: 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; 2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
Israel’s first conquest in Canaan was Jericho, documented in Joshua chapter 6. Then, after a setback (chapter 7), Ai, to the northeast of Jericho, fell to Israel as well (see chapter 8). Israel was now likely seeking the will of God as to which direction to go next, when two things happened. First, a large group of Canaanites (combining all the tribes listed above) decided to attack Israel! Second, and very important, a second group of other Canaanites decided to try and make peace. The next section details what they did.
1 The Deception by the Gibeonites
Text, Joshua 9:3-15, KJV: 3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 4 They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; 5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. 6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. 7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? 8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? 9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy 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, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. 11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. 12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 13 And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. 14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. 15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
Someone once remarked that if you can’t win the war, then make the peace, and that’s exactly what this group of four Canaanite cities decided to do. Oddly, the men of these cities were described as “mighty men (from Joshua 10:2)” so they may, in military terms, could have put up a good fight against Israel.
These Canaanites didn’t do that, though, and instead of putting up a good fight, they put on a good performance! If there had been a talent show in those days, these men of Gibeon and the other three cities would have won the prize for best performing actor or something similar.
All this started because the Gibeonites heard about Jericho and Ai. Oddly enough, Israel had been marching and taking a north-easterly direction; Gibeon and the other three cities were about a dozen miles or so to the southwest of Ai’s ruins. Even so, they guessed, “We’re next” and prepared some drastic actions!
The text says they “did work wilily” or craftily or with prudence, according to the on-line helps at https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6195.htm. In a word, they knew the situation, and they acted, we could say, shrewdly, in order to deceive Israel.
The military has a term for sending messages designed to influence enemies (and, perhaps, others), called psychological operations or “psy-ops”. The Gibeonites may not have been the first, but they were one of the best in this tactic. The first thing they did was to pretend to be ambassadors, and then found old stuff like clothes, shoes, wineskins (“bottles”, KJV) plus—and I have to confess, this sounds nasty to me—bread which had become moldy. (One might wonder, who had this stuff to begin with, and who kept it for so long it turned moldy?)
With all this preparation (!), the “ambassadors” set out from Gibeon to meet Joshua at Gilgal. This Gilgal (there was more than one) was likely near the Jordan Valley and probably close to where Israel had camped after crossing the Jordan. So then, they walked a few miles, pretending to walk many miles, and promptly put on the performance of a lifetime—perhaps, literally!
Note that the first thing these Hivites, one of the tribes marked for destruction (Deuteronomy 20:17; Judges 3:5), did was to claim, “We’re from a far country! Now make a league (sign a treaty) with us!” Remember that saying about making peace if you can’t win the war?
And the men (leaders) of Israel didn’t buy it—at first. They suspected something was up (there’s another saying, “I smell a rat”) and replied, “Who (really) are you? And where exactly do you come from (remember, they had only said, “We’re from a far country)”.
The Gibeonites/Hivites still didn’t say much about their true origin. They only said, again, “We’re from a very far country (they added the word “very” here), so make a league or covenant with us”. The fewer facts presented may well indicate a lot of fiction is in the making!
Now Joshua himself comes onto the scene, and kudos to that unsung hero who got word to Joshua about these “strangers” who wanted to make a peace treaty with Israel. And Joshua promptly asked them the same questions the others had, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” because apparently he had reservations or doubts about them as well.
Oh, my, did the word-slinging begin at this point. Whoever was the lead speaker for the Gibeonites did a masterful job of blending facts, fiction, and flattery. He began by repeating “we’re from a very far country”, maybe hoping the Israelites didn’t know which country he was talking about. Reading Exodus through Deuteronomy, I've seen how Israel had wandered over much of the entire Middle East, from Egypt to Ammon, Moab, and even the land of Gilead! Even so, there was a giant red flag when, having been asked at least twice, the “ambassador” never mentioned which country he represented!
Then he added some facts, mentioning, first, the name of the LORD. That wouldn’t have been much of a surprise, as, after all, Rahab and all of Jericho had known of the LORD for many years (Joshua 2!) This spokesman then mentioned all that the LORD had done in Egypt—but how would those of a very far country know what had happened in Egypt? He wrapped up this part of his speech by mentioning the conflicts between Israel and Sihon and Og—which had only happened relatively recently.
And, to maybe seal the deal, they presented verbal and physical “evidence” from their elders. These “ambassadors” showed Joshua and the other Israelites the “dry, moldy bread (and who would keep that kind of stuff in their houses?)”, the “bottles (wineskins)” which had been torn due, allegedly, to wear and tear on the alleged journey; and the clothing, including sandals, which had worn out because of the journey. I might have asked, why didn’t you stop somewhere along the way and get some new clothes if you really wanted to make a good impression!
But make an impression, they did, and the Israelites were fooled—badly. Not only did they not press these guests for FACTS, they failed to ask the LORD Himself about this. The facts, the fiction (we’re from soooooo far away, we can’t even tell you the name of our country, and just look at this awful food we have now, etc.) plus the flattery all worked.
Joshua and Israel made peace with these men, promising to let them live.
The deception worked, even better than I guess these Gibeonites/Hivites ever dared to hope.
Truth, though, has a way to bring facts from darkness to light and the light about these people ‘from a very far country” was about to shine bright and clear.
2 The Discovery of the Gibeonites
Text, Joshua 9:16-21, KJV: 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 neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. 17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. 18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. 19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. 21 And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.
Well, now, this seems to be a “they all lived happily ever after moment”, doesn’t it? The Israelites had made a “league” or peace treaty with people they THOUGHT lived a long ways away. This is a stretch, but since Joshua knew there was plenty of land to conquer to the north, as well as the south, of Jericho, Ai, and Gilgal, maybe these new allies could help when or if the need would arise. As it turned out, the people who claimed to be from “a very far journey” were practically in Israel’s backyard!
Verse 16 tells us that Israel heard the “foreigners” were neighbors, dwelling among them! How this secret, so-called, was brought into the light is anybody’s guess but imagine the surprise when Israel found these same people, claiming to be from far, far, away were just a few hours’ walk from Israel’s camp!
The Gibeonites (because Gibeon seemed to be the largest of the four cities) lived in three other cities: Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim (a couple of different spellings for this last one). Looking at just about any Bible map or atlas, these cities were all within 10-20 miles of Israel’s now-controlled territory. Of note, the names of these cities are interesting: Gibeon means “hill” (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1391.htm), appropriate since that city appears to be located in hill country (https://bibleatlas.org/full/gibeon.htm).
Chephirah seems only to be known as “the village” according to The Cambridge Bible; see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/joshua/9.htm; also see Whedon’ts commentary at https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/whedon-s-commentary-on-the-bible/478816.” Peter Pett, however, states Chephirah was a “Hivite fortress . . . five miles west of Gibeon” and that Chephirah guarded a “wadi”or dry stream bed that led to another Canaanite city, Aijalon (https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/peter-pett-s-commentary-on-the-bible/329557)
Beeroth means “wells (plural; singular, “beer” per https://biblehub.com/hebrew/881.htm)” and was located just to the south of Gibeon (see map reference above). Kirjathjearim means “city of forests” per https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7157.htm and seems to be on the eastern slope of the hills near these cities. As these cities were all located in what could be considered the highlands, it still seems more incredible than ever these people would give up so easily.
Needless to say, Israel was not happy to discover the people who had pretended to be from so far away were neighbors. My hunch, based on verse 18, is that the people were maybe ready to take matters into their own hands because of the actions of the princes or leaders. After all, this was neither the first nor last time that the people had to endure the mistakes and outright errors of their leaders—and all this, because nobody thought to enquire of the LORD when these “visitors” or “ambassadors” came to call just days before.
To their credit, the leaders explained, “we made the deal and we have to live with it”, in so many words, but they had another plan or strategy. This was to make the Gibeonites perform the very menial tasks of being wood cutters, and “drawers of water”. Digressing for just a moment, wood was a very real necessity in those days, as the Levitical offerings required fire and wood was about the only fuel readily available. Water, too, was critical not only for drinking but also for washing. Many times the priests, especially, were told to wash their hands and feet (Exodus 30:18-21, e,g,) and on other occasions, the Israelites were told to wash either themselves or other items after certain events had happened (Numbers 19:7-19, Lev. 17:15-16, e,g,).
With all this in mind, the princes or leaders announced this decision to the people. Now they were about to announce this to Gibeonites themselves.
3 The Decree Concerning the Gibeonites
Text, Joshua 9:22-27, KJV: 22 And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? 23 Now therefore ye 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. 24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy 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 this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. 26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. 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 unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
These last few verses contain a rebuke from Joshua and a reply by the Gibeonites, most likely the leaders. It’s not said, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these were the same bunch of “ambassadors” who had approached Joshua with their “We’re from a far country so make a league with us!” speech. Whoever they were, they listened as Joshua delivered a final decree concerning them.
Joshua started by once again asking them, “Why did you lie to us? You live near us, so why did you say you lived a long distance away from where we are?” I don’t know of anybody who likes to “fess up” and tell the truth, but, as we’ll see, that’s exactly what these people did.
One of them spoke up and said, in so many words, “We heard how Moses told you to conquer this land and destroy all the people living here. We were ‘sore afraid’ and terrified of you.” Note how this is very close to what Rahab had said about herself and all the other people of Jericho in Joshua 2. The difference here is that Rahab had become a believer in the God of Israel and tried to get her family to safety; the Gibeonites wanted to protect their whole community, for lack of a better word, and agreed to surrender rather than die fighting.
Besides, since they knew about Moses, perhaps, somehow, some of the Law of Moses had reached them, too? Some of the commentators believe that these Gibeonites had more or less agreed to become converts or proselytes to the God of Israel, Only they and the LORD, of course, know for sure but this is a pleasant thought, that pagans agreed that life under the Law was better than life without it.
And in one final, resigned, speech, these leaders said, “We’re in your hands now, so do to us whatever you think is right.” No protests, no demands, just a “we give up and here we are” admission and surrender to Joshua and to Israel.
Joshua agreed and the first thing he did was to say “Hands off these people!” when some of the Israelites wanted to kill these Gibeonites. To his credit, he protected them and to their credit, there is no record that these Gibeonites ever rebelled against Israel. They lived and died for many years being hewers or wood (one might say woodcutters or lumberjacks) and drawers of water. In one almost humorous illustration, this was because two of the cities, Beeroth and Kirjathjearim translate to “Wellsville” and “Forest City” respectively!
We can take a few things away from this, applicable even today. First, when people become desperate, they may try anything, even deceit, to protect themselves. Second, there are times when fighting is futile—these Gibeonites knew they would lose to Israel no matter how hard they fought against them. Surrender was better than sacrifice, they must have thought, and that’s what they did. Finally, yielding to God may not make life a bed of roses down here, but it’s what is waiting on the other side that makes serving the LORD all worthwhile (Matthew 6:33).
In a sentence, deceit never works but devotion brings rewards!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
