John Gill Commentary Joshua 9

And it came to pass, when all the kings which [were] on this
side Jordan
On the side Israel now were, and was that in which the land of Canaan lay, and was now governed by many kings, and all that were now remaining, even all but the kings of Jericho and Ai, who were slain: both those

in the hills, and in the valleys ;
that dwelt in the mountainous part of the country, and in the plains of it:

and in all the coasts of the great sea, over against Lebanon ;
who inhabited and governed in that part of the country which lay on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, the country of Phoenicia, in which were Tyre, Sidon, and other cities, and were over against Mount Lebanon, which was on the northern part of the country; according to the Latin version, they dwelt near Lebanon; and according to the Septuagint, near Antilibanus. It seems best, with Noldius ^F7 , to render the words, "even unto Lebanon", for it designs all the sea coasts reaching to it; for all the maritime coasts did not lie over against it:

the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard [thereof] ;
what they heard is not said, but to be understood; particularly they heard what had been done by Joshua, and the people of Israel, to Jericho and Ai: and their kings, (Joshua 9:3) . Some think, as Abarbinel, that they had heard of the altar Joshua had made, and of the stones he had set up, and of his reading the law to the people, by which they were to be governed; all which they understood as taking possession of the country, and looking upon it as conquered, and obliging his people to swear fealty to him. All the nations of Canaan are mentioned but the Gergasites; which, according to the Jewish writers, are omitted, because they were but few; the Septuagint version has them in some copies.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 80. No. 370.

That they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua ,
and with Israel
Not at this time, but they met together to consult what was proper to be done in order to secure themselves, and their people, and put a stop to the successes of the arms of Israel; and for this purpose entered into alliances with each other to assist one another, or at a convenient time and place to join their forces together, and attack Israel, as afterwards they did, (Joshua 11:1–5); and this they did

with one accord;
were unanimous in their councils and resolutions; they all confederated together, and agreed as one man to make a common cause of it, and oppose Israel with their united forces.

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon
A large and royal city, a metropolitan one, which had three others belonging to it, and under it, mentioned (Joshua 9:17) ; see (Joshua 10:2) ; no mention is made of any king over them, perhaps they were governed by elders, (Joshua 9:11) .

Though an Arabic writer ^F8 says, the king of Gibeon wrote to Joshua, and desired security, and sent him large gifts, whom having preserved in safety, Joshua placed on his throne: when these

heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai ;
had taken the one in a miraculous way, and the other by a stratagem, and had burnt them both, destroyed the inhabitants, plundered their substance, and slew both their kings, all which struck them with terror.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Patricides, p. 30. apud Hottinger. Smegm. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 507.

And they did work wilily
Acted craftily, dealt in much cunning and subtlety; our version leaves out a very emphatic word, "also"; they also, as well as other nations, acted a cunning part, but in a different way; they did not enter into consultations and alliances with others, how to defend themselves, but made use of a stratagem to make peace, and enter into a league with Israel; or also as the Israelites had done, either as Simeon and Levi had dealt craftily with the Shechemites, who were Hivites, (Genesis 34:2Genesis 34:13); so now the Gibeonites, who also were Hivites, (Joshua 9:7); worked in a wily and crafty manner with them, so Jarchi; or as the Israelites had lately done in the affair of Ai:

and went and made as if they had been ambassadors :
from some states in a foreign country, sent on an embassy to the people of Israel, to compliment them on their successes, and to enter into alliance with them, which they thought would be pleasing and acceptable to them; the Targum is, "they prepared food," which they took with them for their journey; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions:

and took old sacks upon their asses :
in which they put, their provisions:

and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up :
not made of glass, as ours usually are, but of the skins of beasts, as the bottles in the eastern countries commonly were; which in time grew old, and were rent and burst, and they were obliged to mend them, and bind them up, that they might hold together, and retain the liquor put into them, see (Matthew 9:17) .

And old shoes and clouted upon their feet
Which being worn out, were patched with various pieces of leather:

and old garments upon them ;
full of holes and rents, ragged and patched:

and the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy ;
having been kept a long time, and unfit for use; or like cakes over baked and burnt, as the Targum and Jarchi: the word for "mouldy" signifies pricked, pointed, spotted, as mouldy bread has in it spots of different colours, as white, red, green, and black, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; or it signifies bread so dry, as Ben Gersom notes, that it crumbles into pieces easily, with which the Vulgate Latin version agrees;

or rather through being long kept, it was become dry and hard like crusts, so Noldius ^F9 ; or very hard, like bread twice baked, as Castell ^F11 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: P. 379. No. 1218.
• F11: Lex. col. 2395.