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John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 9:12

This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses ,.... These are not the words of the elders to the messengers they sent, continued, but of the ambassadors to the Israelites, pointing to the bread they brought with them, which they pretended was newly baked and took hot out of the oven: on the day we came forth to go unto you, but now, behold, it is dry , and it is mouldy : See Gill on Joshua 9:5 ; which they gave as a demonstration and proof that they were come... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 9:13

And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new ,.... That is, on the day they came out on their journey: and, behold, they be rent ; which were owing to the long use that had been made of them, as they pretended: and these our garments, and our shoes, are become old by reason of the very long journey : quite worn out through length of time and tedious travels. Isidore of Pelusium F17 L. 1. Ep. 281. thinks these Gibeonites were Cappadocians, of whom he gives a shocking... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:3

The inhabitants of Gibeon heard - These alone did not join the confederation. Gibeon is supposed to have been the capital of the Hivites. In the division of the land it fell to the lot of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25 , and was afterwards given to the priests, Joshua 21:17 . See the note on Joshua 10:2 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:4

They did work wilily - Finesse of this kind is allowed by the conduct of all nations; and stratagems in war are all considered as legal. Nine tenths of the victories gained are attributable to stratagem; all sides practice them, and therefore none can condemn them. Much time and labor have been lost in the inquiry, "Did not the Gibeonites tell lies?" Certainly they did, and what is that to us? Does the word of God commend them for it? It does not. Are they held up to us as examples!... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:5

Old shoes and clouted - Their sandals, they pretended had been worn out by long and difficult travelling, and they had been obliged to have them frequently patched during the way; their garments also were worn thin; and what remained of their bread was mouldy - spotted with age, or, as our old version has it, bored - pierced with many holes by the vermin which had bred in it, through the length of the time it had been in their sacks; and this is the most literal meaning of the original... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:6

Make ye a league with us - ברית לנו כרתו kirethu lanu berith , cut, or divide, the covenant sacrifice with us. From this it appears that heathenism at this time had its sacrifices, and covenants were ratified by sacrificing to and invoking the objects of their adoration. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:7

Peradventure ye dwell among us - It is strange they should have had such a suspicion, as the Gibeonites had acted so artfully; and it is as strange that, having such a suspicion, they acted with so little caution. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:8

We are thy servants - This appears to have been the only answer they gave to the question of the Israelitish elders, and this they gave to Joshua, not to them, as they saw that Joshua was commander-in-chief of the host. Who are ye? and from whence come ye? - To these questions, from such an authority, they felt themselves obliged to give an explicit answer; and they do it very artfully by a mixture of truth, falsehood, and hypocrisy. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:9

Because of the name of the Lord thy God - They pretend that they had undertaken this journey on a religious account; and seem to intimate that they had the highest respect for Jehovah, the object of the Israelites' worship; this was hypocrisy. We have heard the fame of him - This was true: the wonders which God did in Egypt, and the discomfiture of Sihon and Og, had reached the whole land of Canaan, and it was on this account that the inhabitants of it were... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 9:11

Wherefore our elders , etc. - All this, and what follows to the end of Joshua 9:13 , was false, contrived merely for the purpose of deceiving the Israelites, and this they did to save their own lives; as they expected all the inhabitants of Canaan to be put to the sword. read more

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