Joshua 9, Treaty with Gibeon

The Israelites have conquered Jericho and Ai and (possibly) other towns.

Joshua 9: 1-2, An alliance against Israel

Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things--those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)-- they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.

(The Great Sea is the Mediterranean Sea.) The kings between the Jordan and the Mediterranean are worried about these invaders and so form an alliance to fight this new threat, the people of Israel. Hubbard says these tribes are from Jerusalem and area further south and west.

Joshua 9: 3-8a, The Gibeonites

However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.

    

Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us." The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"

    

"We are your servants," they said to Joshua. 

The Gibeonites are more cautious and subtle. They know they are likely to get a peace treaty if they are not viewed as a nearby tribe and so they fake their identification, hoping that a peace treaty is a treaty, even if some deception was used to gain it.

Joshua 9: 8b-13, We are from far away

But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

    

They answered: "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan--Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 

    

"And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, `Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; make a treaty with us."' This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey."

Joshua is suspicious and presses the Gibeonites on their story.  The Gibeonites emphasize the fear that has spread by the actions of the God of Israel. They push their ruse of long weary travel, pointing to old bread and clothes.

Joshua 9: 14-21, Treaty

The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, but all the leaders answered, "We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now.  This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them."
    

They continued, "Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community." So the leaders' promise to them was kept.

Verse 14 implies that had the men of Israel inquired of YHWH, the ruse would have been revealed. The possible outcome of that inquiry is not clear.

The Gibeonite ruse allows them to be absorbed into Israel, but as servants. Later in the settlement of Canaan, the town of Gibeon will be a refugee city for the Benjamites (see Joshua 21: 13-18.) 

Joshua 9: 22-27, Treaty confirmed ... and a curse.

Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, "Why did you deceive us by saying, `We live a long way from you,' while actually you live near us? You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God."

They answered Joshua, "Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you."

    

So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the LORD at the place the LORD would choose. And that is what they are to this day.

This paragraph repeats the earlier story, this time as a conversation involving Joshua. The Gibeonites become part of Israel, in a servile role.  The text implies this is to always be true.

Do we hear of the Gibeonites later? Centuries later, King Saul will attempt to annihilate the Gibeonites and David then offers restitution to that tribe by allowing the Gibeonites to kill seven sons of Saul. Although Saul's attack on the Gibeonites is not recorded in scripture, the lurid episode in which David turns over seven sons of Saul is described in II Samuel 21: 1-9.

There is a brief allusion here to an altar "at the place YHWH would choose". Just as Israel must follow the only One God, there will be one central place for all the people to worship. The tabernacle will move (says Madvig) from Shechem to Shiloh to Gibeon and eventually Jerusalem, where Solomon will build the permanent temple.