Joshua 9:19-27

Jos 9:19

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.

 

Then the princes of Israel had told the congregation that they could not touch them because they had sworn a covenant by the LORD God of Heaven which meant the covenant was sealed.  They were safe from physical harm and the plundering of their goods.

 

Jos 9:20

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.

 

Then they began to concoct a plan in dealing with the Gibeonites. They knew they would have to let them live because of the oath that they made with them, so they had to do something with them.

 

Jos 9:21

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.

 

Then the princes declared to the congregation that they are to be allowed to live but no longer would they be soldiers or fighting men, instead they would be reduced to manual labor.  Knowing what they knew about Joshua and his conquest of Canaan and the total destruction of Jericho and Ai, they accepted their plight.  They knew they had deceived Joshua and now realized that they no longer would be their own people but would now be servants of Israel.  Hewers of wood meant they would chop down trees and drawers of water to keep the people of Israel supplied with fresh water.  They literally went from being a proud people to a people of servitude and if they rebelled then Joshua would not be held liable if he responded militarily.

 

Jos 9:22

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?

 

Then Joshua starts dealing with the situation at hand.  He asks them why did they deceive him by stating they were from a far country when they were their neighbors living very close to them and Israel was to possess that land.  Joshua wanted to know what their reasons were for their actions?  Joshua speaks to them not in an angry or vicious tone but with civility.

 

Jos 9:23

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.

 

Now Joshua gives them the penalty for deceiving him.  They are now cursed people and will remain as bondmen or slaves to manual labor, they will not be allowed to rise up as any threat to Joshua.  The covenant Joshua made with them only allowed them to live but did not include what Joshua could do with them.  Here he has made them bondservants to cut wood and draw water for the Tabernacle and also they would probably be doing other things as well.  Joshua now had a labor force to free up all the other men from the menial tasks.  Joshua had to enslave them and no doubt took all the weapons out of the cities or else he risked having a major army at his rear.

 

Jos 9:24

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.

 

Then they told Joshua the truth about why they did what they did.  They had known about the fact that God gave the land of Canaan through what Moses taught and they had feared greatly that their towns were to be included in the slaughter of the inhabitants of the land.  They did not want to be destroyed like Jericho and Ai and suffer a complete loss of life. 

 

Jos 9:25

And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.

 

The Gibeonites had now accepted their position as indentured servants to the people of Israel because they knew as long as they did not cause trouble they would be allowed to live but now that Joshua knew of their deception, they would never rise as a local power again.

 

Jos 9:26

And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.

 

It seems that there some among the congregation of Israel who did not accept the covenant which was made with the Gibeonites and wanted to slay all these pagans just as they did Jericho and Ai.  So Joshua being true to his word and oath had taken these Gibeonites from among the people so they would not be slain because that would have been a violation of the covenant and since the LORD’s names used, then it would be a slur upon his character among the Gibeonites.

 

Jos 9:27

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.

 

From the time that Joshua delivered the Gibeonites from the hands of the Israelites who wanted to slay them, they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the entire congregation and for the workings of the Tabernacle.  They continued to be servants of Israel even when Joshua penned this book which would have been around 1386 B.C around the time of his death.  They would go to work wherever they were needed whether it would be in the congregation or in the work of the Tabernacle. There might even have been some of the elect of God within the Gibeonites who became saved.  If they were destroyed and there were elect among them, then the Scripture would be broken because God is not willing any of his elect should perish.

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