Joshua 9:21

21. Hewers of wood and drawers of water We will keep our oath to the letter: they shall live, but live as slaves. Upon the “great high place” of Gibeon the tabernacle was set up at a later period, (1 Chronicles 16:39,) and there it remained till it was removed to Jerusalem by Solomon. From beneath this eminence water and wood for the service of the tabernacle were constantly carried up, requiring the labour of a large number of people. Stanley says: “They hewed the wood of the adjacent valley and drew the water from the springs and tanks which in its immediate neighbourhood abound, and carried them up to the Sacred Tent, and there attended the altar of the Lord.” Respecting the drudgery of this menial service, Dr. Thomson, while passing through this very region of the Gibeonites, says: “I was forcibly reminded of one item in the sentence of condemnation pronounced upon them for their cunning deception that they should be hewers of wood by long files of women and children carrying on their heads heavy bundles of wood. It is the severest drudgery, and my compassion has often been enlisted in behalf of the poor women and children who daily bring loads of wood to Jerusalem from these very mountains of the Gibeonites. To carry water, also, is very laborious. The fountains are far off, in deep wadies with steep banks; and a thousand times have I seen the feeble and the young staggering up long and weary ways, with large jars of water on their heads. It is the work of slaves.”

As the princes had promised them They had promised life not servitude. This promise was kept by successive generations, till Saul rashly killed some and planned the general massacre of the rest. Seven of Saul’s descendants atoned for this breach of the covenant with their lives. 2 Samuel 21:1-9. At the time of Saul’s massacre they were so identified with Israel that the historian was obliged to insert a note explaining their origin.