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The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:32
And he wrote there upon the stones; i.e; upon the plaster, as we read in Deuteronomy 27:2, Deuteronomy 27:4. "The wall destined to receive the picture," and it was just the same with inscriptions—was covered with a coat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:33
And all Israel (see Joshua 23:2; Joshua 24:1, Joshua 24:2). The word כל is used very loosely in Hebrew (see Genesis 4:14). We need not, therefore, assume as a matter of course that the whole people, men, women, and chil…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:34
All the words of the law, the blessings and the curses. The form of this expression, combined with the words of the next verse, seems to include not only the special curses in Deuteronomy 27:1-26; but Deuteronomy 28:1-6…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:35
That were conversant with them. Literally, who were going in the midst of them; i.e; the strangers who had attached themselves to them, either at their departure from Egypt, or since their conquest of Eastern Palestine.…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 9:1-2
Hitherto the Canaanites had defended themselves, but here they consult to attack Israel. Their minds were blinded, and their hearts hardened to their destruction. Though often at enmity with each other, yet they united…
The Application of the Gibeonites. (b. c. 1450.)
THE APPLICATION OF THE GIBEONITES. (B. C. 1450.) Hitherto the Canaanites had acted defensively; the Israelites were the aggressors upon Jericho and Ai. But here the kings of Canaan are in consultation to attack Israel,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1
And it came to pass, when all the kings. According to the explanation given above (Joshua 6:5, Joshua 6:15) of the particle כwith the infinitive, this must mean immediately. We must therefore suppose that the distance a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1-27
God's people off their guard. This chapter contains the record of a venial sin; an act, that is, which was rather one of thoughtlessness than of deliberate intention to offend. It is one thing to forget for a moment God…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1-27
EXPOSITION THE GIBEONITES.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:2
With one accord. One mouth, according to the Hebrew, referring not merely to their opinions, but to the expression of them. "O that Israel would learn this of Canaanites, to sacrifice private interests to the public wel…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 9:3-13
Other people heard these tidings, and were driven thereby to make war upon Israel; but the Gibeonites were led to make peace with them. Thus the discovery of the glory and the grace of God in the gospel, is to some a sa…
The Artifice of the Gibeonites. (b. c. 1450.)
THE ARTIFICE OF THE GIBEONITES. (B. C. 1450.) Here, I. The Gibeonites desire to make peace with Israel, being alarmed by the tidings they heard of the destruction of Jericho, Joshua 9:3. Other people heard those tidings…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:3-27
The submission of the Gibeonites. According to the explicit law of Moses (in Deuteronomy 20:10-18), there were three courses which Israel might pursue towards the cities they besieged: 1. In the event of a city refusing…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:3
The inhabitants of Gibeon. That is, of a confederation of cities (see Joshua 9:17), of which Gibeon was the head. Gibeon was a city of some importance (Joshua 10:2). Though it was for size and importance "as one of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:4
They did work wilily. Rather, and they worked—they also—with craft. The reference, no doubt, is to the confederacy of the other kings. The Gibeonites also acted upon what they had heard, but they preferred an accommodat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:5
Shoes. Literally, things tied on; i.e; sandals, attached with straps to the sole of the foot. Clouted, i.e; patched. The intensive Pual suggests that they were very much patched. The participle Kal is translated "spotte…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:6
To the camp at Gilgal. Many commentators, among whom we may number Vandevelde and the recent Palestine Exploration Expedition, suppose that the Gilgal mentioned here is another Gilgal, and certainly the supposition deri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:7
And the men of Israel said. The Keri here has the singular number instead of the Chethibh plural, in consequence of Israel speaking of itself collectively in the word בְּקִרְבִּי and of the singular אִישׁ. But this last…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:8
We are thy servants. This does not mean altogether, as Joshua 9:9 shows, that the Gibeonites intended by this embassy to reduce themselves to servitude. Their object, as Grotius remarks, was rather to form an alliance o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:9
And they said unto him. "I commend their wisdom in seeking peace; I do not commend their falsehood in the manner of seeking it. Who can looke for any better in pagans?" (Bp. Hall) It is worthy of the craft of the Gibeon…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:10
Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan (see Numbers 21:21, Numbers 21:35). Ashtaroth (see Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:31; also Deuteronomy 1:4). In Numbers 21:1-35. Edrei only is mentioned. This is not the Ashtar…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:11
Our elders. Gibeon and its allied cities did not possess a regal government (see note on Joshua 9:3).
Matthew Henry on Joshua 9:14-21
The Israelites, having examined the provisions of the Gibeonites, hastily concluded that they confirmed their account. We make more haste than good speed, when we stay not to take God with us, and do not consult him by…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:14
And the men took of their victuals. Most commentators prefer this rendering to that of the margin, "and they received the men because of their victuals." The natural explanation—though several others are given, for whic…