Joshua 9:3

"But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old, and rent, and bound up, and old and patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provisions was dry and was become mouldy. And they went to Joshua and the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make ye a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and whence come ye?"

Here the stratagem of the Gibeonites is explained. Their appeal to Israel appeared to be reasonable, and it was artfully presented, but, even so, the Israelites were suspicious, and Joshua himself took charge of the negotiations.

Gibeon was an important city some "six miles northwest of Jerusalem."[8] This city was the leader of a group of four cities, and, "The Four Cities Alliance led by the Gibeonites lay within a ten-mile radius of Jerusalem."[9] The importance of this union of the Gibeonites and their allies with the Israelites was pointed out by Boling: "Israel then controlled the entire northwest quadrant of the approaches to Jerusalem."[10]

"They also did work wilily ..." (Joshua 9:4). Note the word "also." The Israelites had worked "wilily" in their stratagem that aided their capture of Ai by pretending to flee from them; and, then, when the soldiers of Ai pursued them, the Israelites turned and destroyed them. Cook believed that the word "also," here apparently "connects the stratagem of the Gibeonites with that of the Israelites before Ai."[11]

Certainly, the stratagem of trickery or deceit was one with which Israel should have been very familiar. Such devices were frequently employed by the patriarchs in Israel's early history. Abraham and Isaac both passed their wives off as their sister, resulting in great financial gain to the deceivers. The same device was used by Jacob against his father-in-law, Laban; and Jacob's sons used it on him in the matter of Joseph's alleged death! The sons of Jacob, Levi and Simeon, also brutally deceived and destroyed the men of Shechem following the rape of Dinah.

"Unto the camp at Gilgal ..." (Joshua 9:6). "This was the base of Joshua's operations in the entire southern campaign in Canaan."[12] Alfred Plummer suggested that, "This is another Gilgal to be distinguished from the one previously occupied near Jericho."[13]

The whole paragraph here vividly reflects the restrictions imposed by Exodus 23:32 and Deuteronomy 7:12. Morton stressed this, pointing out that the Gibeonites were careful to pretend that they came from a "far country"; also the Israelites' remark, "peradventure you dwell among us" likewise reflects those same restrictions.[14] This is very significant, for it shows that not merely all Israel but that the total population of Canaan knew of those restrictions laid down through Moses to the effect that the Israelites were NOT to make a covenant with the Canaanites, NOR intermarry with them, NOR to compromise with them in any manner, but they were to drive them out of Palestine.

"Who are ye? and from whence come ye? ..." (Joshua 9:8). Here the Gibeonites were confronted with the crucial question regarding their actual identity. The artful manner of their skillful deception in the answers they gave are truly a marvel. They felt themselves obliged to give a detailed answer, and they did it very artfully with a mixture, of truth, falsehood, and hypocrisy."[15]