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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).

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 9 This chapter gives an account of the combination of the several kings of Canaan against Israel, Jos 9:1; and of the craftiness of the Gibeonites, pretending they were ambassadors from a far country, and desired to enter into a league with Israel, which they obtained, Jos 9:3; but when it was discovered who they were, it occasioned a murmuring among the people, Jos 9:16; which the princes quelled by proposing to make them hewers of wood, and drawers of water, Jos 9:19; in order to which Joshua summoned them before him, and chided them for beguiling them; and after they had made their excuse, he ordered them to the service the princes proposed, and so peace in the congregation of Israel was preserved, Jos 9:21.

And the princes said to them, let them live,.... They were very pressing upon them, and importunate with them, to save their lives, because of the oath they had taken: (but let them be hewers of wood, and drawers of water, unto all the congregation): which was a very low and mean employment, Deu 29:11; as well as wearisome; and this being a yoke of servitude on the Gibeonites, and a punishment of them for their fraud, and of service, profit, and advantage to the people of Israel, the princess proposed it in hopes of pacifying them, and that they would yield to spare the lives of the Gibeonites; what they proposed was, not that they should hew wood and draw water for all the Israelites for their private use, but what was necessary for the service of the sanctuary, which the congregation was obliged to furnish them with; and now these men should do that work for them, which before was incumbent on them; for Joshua afterwards imposed this upon them, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God, Jos 9:23; though Kimchi thinks that while the people of Israel were in camp, and before the land was divided, they were hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation; but after the land was divided, and they were settled in their cities and inheritances, then they only hewed wood and drew water for the sanctuary at Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob, Gibeon, and the temple; the Jewish writers say (s), the Nethinim and the Gibeonites were the same, who became proselytes in the times of Joshua, see Ch1 9:2, as the princes promised them; which is to be connected, not with their being hewers of wood and drawers of water, this the princes had said nothing of before, and which is rightly included in a parenthesis, but with their being let to live; this they had promised and sworn to, even all the princes, not only all that were now at Gibeon, and were persuading the people to let the Gibeonites live, but all the princes, even those that were not present, but in the camp at Gilgal. (s) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 4. sect. 1.

Thus, therefore, you also, if you have brought a word in praise of God, not new and fresh from the learning of the spirit, from the doctrine of God’s grace, your mouth indeed offers “a sacrifice of praise,” but your mind is accused on account of the sterility of yesterday’s flesh. For the Lord did not delay and order the bread which he gave to the disciples to be reserved for the next day when he said to them, “Take and eat.” Perhaps there is something of this mystery in the fact that “he commands them not to carry bread on the way,” that you always bring fresh loaves of the word of God which you carry within you. For this reason, the Gibeonites are condemned, and they become “cutters of wood and carriers of water” because they had brought old bread to the Israelites whom the spiritual law ordered always to use fresh and new.

Of course, it must be observed that the heretics reading this passage, those who do not accept the Old Testament, are accustomed to make a malicious charge and say, “See how Jesus [Joshua] the son of Nun showed no human kindness, so that, although permitting salvation, he inflicted a mark of infamy and a yoke of servitude upon those men who had come to him in supplication.” If the soul less instructed in the divine Scriptures hears these things, it can in consequence be enfeebled and endangered, so that it may shun the catholic faith; for they do not understand their deceptions. For Jesus [Joshua] passed a fitting judgment upon them according to the measure of their own faith.Formerly Rahab the harlot, who believed with a sound faith with all her house and received the Israelite spies with fullest devotion, was received fully into the community and society of the people; and it is written of her that “she was attached to the sons of Israel until today.” But those who did not so much love the community of the Israelite clan as they were terrified by fear of their destruction approached Jesus [Joshua] with cunning and fraud. How could they deserve the liberty of life and the community of the kingdom in their slavish deceits? Finally, do you wish to know that the condition was dispensed toward them by Jesus [Joshua] because the inferiority of their disposition was fitting for them? They themselves say, “We have heard how many things the Lord did for you.” through the midst of the Red Sea and in the desert. And although they said these things and confessed that they had both heard and known of the divine miracles, yet they produced nothing worthy in faith, nothing in admiration of such great powers. And therefore Jesus, when he sees the narrowness and smallness displayed in their faith, preserves a very just moderation towards them, so that they might merit salvation. Although they had brought a little faith, nevertheless they did not receive the highest rank of the kingdom or of freedom because their faith was not ennobled by the increase of works, since the apostle James declares, “faith without works is dead.”

All the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, unite them forces against Joshua, Jos 9:1, Jos 9:2. 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, Jos 9:3-5. Their address to Joshua, and the means they used to deceive the Israelites, Jos 9:6-13. The Israelitish elders are deceived, and make a league with them, which they confirm with an oath, Jos 9:14, Jos 9:15. After three day they are informed that the Gibeonites belong to the seven Canaanitish nations, yet they spare their cities, Jos 9:16, Jos 9:17. The congregation murmuring because of this, the elders excuse themselves because of their oath, Jos 9:18, Jos 9:19. They purpose to make the Gibeonites slaves to the congregation, Jos 9:20, Jos 9:21. Joshua calls them, and pronounces this sentence against them, Jos 9:22, Jos 9:23. They vindicate themselves, and submit to their lot, Jos 9:24, Jos 9:25. They are spared, and made hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation and to the altar, Jos 9:26, Jos 9:27.

Hewers of wood and drawers of water - Perhaps this is a sort of proverbial expression, signifying the lowest state of servitude, though it may also be understood literally. See below.

THE KINGS COMBINE AGAINST ISRAEL. (Jos. 9:1-27) all the kings which were on this side--that is, the western side of Jordan. in the hills, and in ther 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 afterwards 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. (As for the tribes mentioned, see on Num 13:29). heard thereof--that is, of the sacking of Jericho and Ai, as well as the rapid advance of the Israelites into the interior of the country.

Stratagem of the Gibeonites, and Their Consequent Preservation - Joshua 9 The victorious advance of the Israelites in the land induced the kings of Canaan to form a common league for the purpose of resisting them. But, as frequently happens, the many kings and lords of the towns and provinces of Canaan were not all united, so as to make a common and vigorous attack. Before the league had been entered into, the inhabitants of Gibeon, one of the largest towns in the central part of Canaan, together with the smaller neighbouring towns that were dependent upon it, attempted to anticipate the danger which threatened them by means of a stratagem, and to enter into a friendly alliance with the Israelites. And they succeeded, inasmuch as Joshua and the elders of the congregation of Israel fell into the snare that was laid for them by the ambassadors of the Gibeonites, who came to the camp at Gilgal, and made the desired treaty with them, without inquiring of the Lord. "This account," as O. v. Gerlach says, "is a warning to the Church of God of all ages against the cunning and dissimulation of the world, which often seeks for a peaceable recognition on the part of the kingdom of God, and even for a reception into it, whenever it may be its advantage to do so."

The princes declared again most emphatically, "They shall live." Thus the Gibeonites became hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation, as the princes had said to them, i.e., had resolved concerning them. This resolution they communicated to the congregation at the time, using the expression יחיוּ (let them live); but the historian has passed this over at Jos 9:21, and instead of mentioning the resolution proceeds at once to describe its execution.