Joshua 9:22

Joshua 9:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us?
• New International Version (NIV)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?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, "Why did you deceive us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell among us?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us?

Context of Joshua 9:22

20But this is what we will do. We will let them live, because we made a strong promise to do that. Then God will not punish us. 21We will let them live, but they will become our servants. They will cut wood and they will fetch water for all the Israelite people.’ That is what the Israelite leaders decided to do. Joshua called the Gibeonites to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why did you deceive us like that? You said that you lived far away from us. But you really live near to us. 23Because you told lies to us, you will always have to be our servants. You will cut wood and you will fetch water to serve our God.’ 24The Gibeonites said to Joshua, ‘We heard about the command that the Lord your God had given to his servant, Moses. We know that he told Moses to take the whole of our land for you to live in. We know that you must kill all the people who live there now. Because of that, we were very afraid that you would kill us. That is why we did what we did.

Joshua 9:22 word by word

וַיִּקְרָ֤א לָהֶם֙ יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַ וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר לָמָּה֩ רִמִּיתֶ֨ם אֹתָ֜נוּ לֵאמֹ֗ר רְחוֹקִ֨ים אֲנַ֤חְנוּ מִכֶּם֙ מְאֹ֔ד וְאַתֶּ֖ם בְּקִרְבֵּ֥נוּ יֹשְׁבִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Joshuaיְהוֹשׁוּעַyehôshûa‛ yehôshûa‛ · JoshuaH3091
• calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• for them, and he spakeדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• unto them, sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Wherefore have ye beguiledרָמָהrâmâh · to deceiveH7411
• veryמְאֹדme'ôd · muchH3966
• farרָחֹקrâchôq râchôq · distantH7350
• from you; when ye dwellיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• amongקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130

Cross-references for Joshua 9:22

• Genesis 3:13Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘Why have you done a thing like that?’ The woman replied, ‘It was the snake. The snake deceived me with a lie. So I ate the fruit.’
• Genesis 27:35But Isaac said, ‘Your brother came to me. He deceived me and he took your blessing away from you.’
• Genesis 29:25When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to get Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’
• 2 Corinthians 11:3Remember how the snake deceived Eve. Because he was clever, she believed his lies. I am afraid that the same thing might happen to you. False teachers may make you believe wrong things. Then you will no longer love Christ in a pure and honest way.
• Joshua 9:6They arrived at the tents of the Israelites in Gilgal. They said to Joshua and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a land that is very far away. Please let us make an agreement that we will not fight each other.’
• Joshua 9:16Three days after they made this agreement, the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites lived near to them.

Commentaries on Joshua 9:22

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Were the Israelites bound to respect an oath thus procured by fraud? Were they right in doing so? Dr. Sanderson (“Works,” vol. iv. 4 pp. 269,300, Oxford edition), determines these questions in the affirmative; and rightly, since the oath, though unlawfully taken, was not an oath taken to do an unlawful thing, i. e. a thing in itself unlawful. It was the carelessness of the Israelites themselves which betrayed them into this league. It was therefore their…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-27Verses 22-27 The Gibeonites do not justify their lie, but plead that they did it to save their lives. And the fear was not merely of the power of man; one might flee from that to the Divine protection; but of the power of God himself, which they saw engaged against them. Joshua sentences them to perpetual bondage. They must be servants, but any work becomes honourable, when it is done for the house of the Lord, and the offices thereof. Let us, in like…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22As Israel's leader, Joshua had the right to gather the Gibeonites for questioning. "when in fact you live among us?": By using this phrase, Joshua quietly admitted (acknowledged without saying it directly) that he should not have trusted the Gibeonites without first asking the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2718-27. the children of Israel smote them not--The moral character of the Gibeonites' stratagem was bad. The princes of the congregation did not vindicate either the expediency or the lawfulness of the connection they had formed; but they felt the solemn obligations of their oath; and, although the popular clamor was loud against them, caused either by disappointment at losing the spoils of Gibeon, or by displeasure at the apparent breach of the divine…Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 9:22

• Contracts
• Joshua
• Kirjath-Jearim
• Magnanimity
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Joshua
• Alliance
• Gibeon
• Slave
• Wilily
• Betray
• Chephirah
• Exodus, the Book of
• Joshua, Book of
• Palestine

Commentaries on Joshua 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings