Joshua 9:7
in Joshua 9But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you?
KJV
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
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This verse in Joshua 9
Commentary
7 notes on this versePeradventure ye dwell among us - It is strange they should have had such a suspicion, as the Gibeonites had acted so artfully; and it is as strange that, having such a suspicion, they acted with so little caution.
This site's exposition
unto the camp at Gilgal
on Joshua 9:6-8
They ask for a league at Gilgal, and the phrase they lead with, come from a far country, is lifted straight out of the law they are working around. Deuteronomy 20:10-15 permits terms of peace with a city very far off, and Deuteronomy 20:16-18 orders the opposite for the cities of these nations, so the entire disguise turns on one clause of one statute. The men of Israel see it and say it aloud in verse 7, which means the danger was named before the oath was sworn and the objection was met with evidence rather than with inquiry.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Hivites - That is, the Gibeonites who were Hivites, chap. xi, 19. Among us - That is, in this land, and so are of that people with whom we are forbidden to make any league or covenant.
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites,.... Though they did not know them to be such, but as they afterwards appeared to be the Hivites, as the Gibeonites were, they are here so called, see Jos 11:
"Who knows but the people of Israel may save us alive, though thus inveigled into a promise; and if we tell them at last we shall but die." [2.] Joshua put the questions to them, Who are you? and whence come you?
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard--This town, as its name imports, was situated on a rocky eminence, about six miles northwest from Jerusalem, where the modern village of El Jib now stands. It was the capital of the Hivites, and a large important city (Jos 10:2).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us--The answer of the Israelites implied that they had no discretion, that their orders were imperative, and that if the strangers belonged to any of the native tribes, the idea of an alliance with them was unlawful since God had forbidden it (Ex 23:32;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomeru | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִֽישׁ־ | ʾish- | [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַחִוִּ֑י | hachivi | the Hivite[s] | H2340 → | 25 times |
| אוּלַ֗י | ʾulai | perhaps | H194 → | |
| בְּקִרְבִּי֙ | bekirbi | in midst my | H7130 → | 227 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֔ב | yoshev | [are] dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| וְאֵ֖יךְ | veeikh | and how? | H349 → | |
| אֶֽכְרָת | ʾekhrot- | will I make | H3772 → | 288 times |
| לְךָ֥ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| בְרִֽית׃ | verit | a covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִֽישׁ־[the] man of
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַחִוִּ֑יthe Hivite[s]
hachiviH2340 →25 times
אוּלַ֗יperhaps
ʾulaiH194 →
בְּקִרְבִּי֙in midst my
bekirbiH7130 →227 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יוֹשֵׁ֔ב[are] dwelling
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
וְאֵ֖יךְand how?
veeikhH349 →
אֶֽכְרָתwill I make
ʾekhrot-H3772 →288 times
לְךָ֥to <the> you
lekha
בְרִֽית׃a covenant
veritH1285 →284 times
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
Exodus 34:12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 23:12–13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,
- Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Exodus 23:32–33
Through
Judges 2:2and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:2–4
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Jeremiah 2:36
How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- Deuteronomy 7:2–4
Through
Joshua 9:1Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan—those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites,…
it leads to
- Numbers 34:6
Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
- Exodus 3:17
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Numbers 34:6
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.