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

20This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath. 21Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed. Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us? 23May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.” 24They replied, “We did it because we—your servants—were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this.

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 asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
• Genesis 27:35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.”
• Genesis 29:25But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”
• 2 Corinthians 11:3But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
• Joshua 9:6When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”
• Joshua 9:16Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!

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