Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 10:2

"that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty." — Joshua 10:2 (ASV)

As one of the royal cities. —One of the cities of the kingdom. Gibeon was later the city of the first king of Israel, Saul (1 Chronicles 8:29–30; 1 Chronicles 8:33).