Joshua 9:20
in Joshua 9This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This we will do to them, and let them live; lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
KJV
This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
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This verse in Joshua 9
Commentary
2 notes on this verseHe that ratifies a promise with an oath imprecates the divine vengeance if he wilfully break his promise, and has reason to expect that divine justice will take him at his word. God is not mocked, and therefore oaths are not to be jested with.
This site's exposition
This we will do to
on Joshua 9:20-21
Lest wrath be upon us gives the princes their reason, and it treats an oath obtained by fraud as binding on the men who swore it. Psalm 15:4 states the principle in the same terms, of a man who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not, and 2 Samuel 21:1-2 records the three years of famine that followed Saul breaking this exact oath generations later. Hewers of wood and drawers of water is a phrase already in use, since Deuteronomy 29:11 applies it to the lowest class standing inside the covenant assembly, so the sentence sets the Gibeonites at the bottom of Israel rather than beyond its edge.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֛את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה | naaseh | we will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| וְהַחֲיֵ֣ה | vehachayeh | and we will let live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| אוֹתָ֑ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִֽהְיֶ֤ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙ | ʾaleinu | towards us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קֶ֔צֶף | ketzef | wrath | H7110 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַשְּׁבוּעָ֖ה | hashevuah | the oath | H7621 → | 30 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֥עְנוּ | nishba'nu | we swore | H7650 → | 186 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ | lahem | to <the> them |
זֹ֛אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
נַעֲשֶׂ֥הwe will do
naasehH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶ֖םto <the> them
lahem
וְהַחֲיֵ֣הand we will let live
vehachayehH2421 →282 times
אוֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִֽהְיֶ֤הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙towards us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
קֶ֔צֶףwrath
ketzefH7110 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַשְּׁבוּעָ֖הthe oath
hashevuahH7621 →30 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נִשְׁבַּ֥עְנוּwe swore
nishba'nuH7650 →186 times
לָהֶֽם׃to <the> them
lahem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- James 5:8–9
Through
1 Timothy 1:10for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Leviticus 18:22
You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- 2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- Romans 1:26
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
About Joshua
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.