Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
Joshua 9:22-23
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?
Joshua then summoned the Gibeonites, charged them with their deceit, and
pronounced upon them the curse of eternal servitude: "There shall not be cut off
from you a servant," i.e., ye shall never cease to be servants, ye shall remain servants
for ever (vid., 2 Sam 3:29; 1 Kings 2:4), "and that as hewers of wood and drawers of
waters for our God's house." This is a fuller definition of the expression "for all the
congregation" in v. 21. The Gibeonites were to perform for the congregation the
slaves' labour of hewing wood and drawing water for the worship of the sanctuary-a
duty which was performed, according to Deut 29:10, by the lowest classes of people.
In this way the curse of Noah upon Canaan (Gen 9:25) was literally fulfilled upon the
Hivites of the Gibeonitish republic.
Joshua 9:24-25
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.
The Gibeonites offered this excuse for their conduct, that having heard of the
command of God which had been issued through Moses, that all the Canaanites were
to be destroyed (Deut 7:1; 20:16-17), they had feared greatly for their lives, and
readily submitted to the resolution which Joshua made known to them.
Joshua 9:26,27
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