Joshua 9:16-21 meaning

In Joshua 9:16-21, the Israelites discover the Gibeonites' deceit. They realized the Gibeonites did not come from a distant land, as they had stated.

In the previous passage, the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites into thinking they were from a distant country, in order to secure a peace treaty and be spared. Without consulting God for guidance and direction, Joshua, as the Israelite leader, established a covenant/treaty with the Gibeonites, and the leaders of Israel ratified it (Joshua 9:7-15).

Thus, it came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors (v. 16). The book of Proverbs tells us that "a lying tongue is only for a moment" (Proverbs 12:19). This incident is a prime example of that. It only took Israel three days to learn about the enemy's trickery. The truth exposed them, showing that they were Israel's neighbors. The writer of this book emphasized this fact by saying they were living within their land. Israel and Gibeon lived in the same vicinity.

Having learned about the Gibeonites' lies, the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day (v. 17). It took them three days to travel to the Gibeonite towns to verify the report. The cities they visited were Gibeon and Shephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. The village of Chephirah was in the territory of Benjamin, about four miles southwest of Gibeon (Joshua 18:26). Many inhabitants of this city returned to Judea with the repatriates after the exile (Ezra 2:25, Nehemiah 7:29). It is the modern-day Khirbet Kefireh.

The town of Beeroth was about four miles northeast of Gibeon. Its inhabitants were also among the returned exiles (Ezra 2:25, Nehemiah 7:29). The village named Kiriath-jearim was about ten miles northwest of Jerusalem. These three towns were all near Gibeon. Thus, the Israelites visited them during their trip to Gibeon and confirmed that the Gibeonites did indeed live in the land of Canaan. Nevertheless, the sons of Israel did not strike them. The rationale for sparing their lives was that the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel.

To swear means to vow to keep a promise and is a serious business. Swearing falsely breaks trust and destroys the solidarity that binds a community. That is why Moses said to the heads of the Israelite tribes, "If a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth" (Numbers 30:2; Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). Swearing falsely is ultimately a transgression against the LORD, the oath guarantor.

Although the Israelite leaders resolved to keep their promise to the Gibeonites, their decision was not without challenge. The whole congregation grumbled against them because they thought this pagan presence would threaten Israel’s existence in Canaan. Yet, Israel's leaders refrained from committing a second sin to fix the first one. They remained loyal to the Gibeonites because they feared the LORD. God told the Israelites that if they did not destroy all the inhabitants of the land, they would become a "thorn in their side" in the future. This occurred primarily by the inhabitants of the land tempting the Israelites to serve other gods (Judges 2:2-3).

The congregation's anger is easy to understand. They had been fooled into this treaty; the Gibeonites had lied. But anger does not cancel a promise made in God's name. The leaders knew this. To break the oath would mean using God's name to cover a broken promise, which is exactly what the third commandment forbids (Exodus 20:7). Honoring God's name was worth more than punishing the people who tricked them. The leaders chose integrity over revenge.

Rather than listening to the people's complaints regarding the presence of the Gibeonites in their midst, the leaders of Israel answered, We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. The leaders reminded the covenant community that once someone makes a vow, he must keep it. It is a sin to violate a solemn promise (Malachi 3:5). For this reason, they declared, This we will do to them, even let them live so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath we swore to them. Simply put, the leaders asked the Israelites to let the Gibeonites live among them freely. Failure to do so would bring God's judgment upon them, as was the case during David's reign when Saul ignored this oath and "put the Gibeonites to death" (2 Samuel 21:1).

In Joshua's day, the Israelite leaders strove to be men of integrity. They feared the LORD and sought to live righteously before Him. Despite the tension and grumbling against the Gibeonites, they commanded the people, saying: Let them live. They urged the congregation to preserve the Gibeonites and remain faithful to their covenant/treaty. They resorted to a different tactic to discipline the Gibeonites in a way that honored the LORD. They asked them to serve as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation. That means that the people of Gibeon became Israel’s vassals. They performed menial labor for the entire assembly just as the leaders had spoken to them.

The decision of the Israelite leaders agrees with the divine prescription in Deuteronomy: "When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you" (Deuteronomy 20:10). The leaders rightfully applied this law as a way of honoring their promise to the Gibeonites.