Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 9:3

"But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai," — Joshua 9:3 (ASV)

THE GIBEONITES MAKE PEACE WITH JOSHUA (Joshua 9:3–27).

The inhabitants of Gibeon. —Hivites, as appears in Joshua 9:7. Gibeon was one member of a tetrapolis, or community of four cities, as is seen in Joshua 9:17. Their deception of Joshua and the Israelites on this occasion is a curious compensation for what was done by Simeon and Levi to the Hivites long before, when Jacob first came to Shechem from Padan-Aram (see Genesis 34). On that occasion, the inhabitants of a single city of the Hivites were put to the sword by Israel, by means of a stratagem; on this occasion, a stratagem saved four Hivite cities from destruction by Israel’s sword.