John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 9:23
Now therefore ye are cursed ,.... Appear to be the posterity of cursed Canaan, and, notwithstanding the artifice used, should not be exempted from the curse denounced on Canaan: "a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren", Genesis 9:25 ; as these Gibeonites were; they became the servants of the Levites, who were servants to the priests; and they seemed to be spared in Providence, that that part of the curse on Canaan might be fulfilled: "and Canaan shall be his servant"; the... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 9:22-27
The matter is here settled between Joshua and the Gibeonites, and an explanation of the league agreed upon. We may suppose that now, not the messengers who were first sent, but the elders of Gibeon, and of the cities that were dependent upon it, were themselves present and treated with, that the matter might be fully compromised. I. Joshua reproves them for their fraud, Josh. 9:22. And they excuse it as well as they can, Josh. 9:24. 1. Joshua gives the reproof very mildly: Wherefore have you... read more