Joshua 9:21
in Joshua 9They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the princes said unto them, Let them live: so they became hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had spoken unto them.
KJV
And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.
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This verse in Joshua 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Render “they shall be hewers of wood and drawers of water:” menial duties belonging to the lowest classes only (compare the marginal reference). The curse of Noah Gen 9:25 on the children of Ham was thus fulfilled to the letter in the case of these Hivites.
This site's exposition
This is how we will treat them
on Joshua 9:20-21
Psalm 15:4 praises the man who does not revise a costly oath, and 2 Samuel 21:1-2 records the famine after Saul broke this oath. Deuteronomy 29:11 names those who cut wood and draw water inside the covenant assembly, so Gibeon is set at the bottom of Israel, within it.
This site's exposition
woodcutters and water carriers
Matthew Henry sees the proposal quieting the angry congregation. Those who wanted the Gibeonites dead could accept a perpetual servitude that most men counted worse than death. Adam Clarke takes woodcutters and water carriers as a common saying for the lowest service, though he allows it may be meant literally.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Thus, therefore, you also, if you have brought a word in praise of God, not new and fresh from the learning of the spirit, from the doctrine of God's grace, your mouth indeed offers "a sacrifice of praise," but your mind is accused on account of the sterility of yesterday's flesh. For the Lord did not delay and order the bread which he gave to the disciples to be reserved for the next day when he said to them, "Take and eat." Perhaps there is something of this mystery in the fact that "he commands them not to carry bread on the way," that you always bring fresh loaves of the word of God which you carry within you. For this reason, the Gibeonites are condemned, and they become "cutters of wood and carriers of water" because they had brought old bread to the Israelites whom the spiritual law ordered always to use fresh and new.
Of course, it must be observed that the heretics reading this passage, those who do not accept the Old Testament, are accustomed to make a malicious charge and say, "See how Jesus [Joshua] the son of Nun showed no human kindness, so that, although permitting salvation, he inflicted a mark of infamy and a yoke of servitude upon those men who had come to him in supplication."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And the princes said to them, let them live,....
By this proposal the discontented congregation was pacified; for, (1.) Those who were angry that the Gibeonites lived might be content when they saw them condemned to that which, in the general apprehension, is worse than death, perpetual servitude.
But here the kings of Canaan are in consultation to attack Israel, and concert matters for a vigorous effort of their united forces to check the progress of their victorious arms. It was strange they did not do this sooner. They had notice long since of their approach;
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Hewers of wood and drawers of water - Perhaps this is a sort of proverbial expression, signifying the lowest state of servitude, though it may also be understood literally. See below.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֧וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֛ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַנְּשִׂיאִ֖ים | hanesiim | the leaders | H5387 → | 134 times |
| יִֽחְי֑וּ | yichyu | let them live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| וַ֠יִּֽהְיוּ | vaiyihyu | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| חֹטְבֵ֨י | chotevei | cutters of | H2404 → | 9 times |
| עֵצִ֤ים | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וְשֹֽׁאֲבֵי־ | veshoavei- | and drawers of | H7579 → | 19 times |
| מַ֙יִם֙ | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | for all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה | haedah | the congregation | H5712 → | 149 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבְּר֥וּ | diberu | they had spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| הַנְּשִׂיאִֽים׃ | hanesiim | the leaders | H5387 → | 134 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֧וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֛םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
הַנְּשִׂיאִ֖יםthe leaders
hanesiimH5387 →134 times
יִֽחְי֑וּlet them live
yichyuH2421 →282 times
וַ֠יִּֽהְיוּand they were
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
חֹטְבֵ֨יcutters of
choteveiH2404 →9 times
עֵצִ֤יםwood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
וְשֹֽׁאֲבֵי־and drawers of
veshoavei-H7579 →19 times
מַ֙יִם֙water
mayimH4325 →581 times
לְכָל־for all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָ֣עֵדָ֔הthe congregation
haedahH5712 →149 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבְּר֥וּthey had spoken
diberuH1696 →1141 times
לָהֶ֖םto <the> them
lahem
הַנְּשִׂיאִֽים׃the leaders
hanesiimH5387 →134 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
Joshua 9:15And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 21:2
At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal…
- Joshua 11:19
No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle.
- Deuteronomy 20:10–11
When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.
- Joshua 6:22–25
Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised…
- 2 Samuel 21:2
Through
Joshua 9:27On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Deuteronomy 12:5
Through
Joshua 9:23Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
it leads to
- Joshua 9:27
On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- Leviticus 27:28–29
Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
- Genesis 9:25–26
he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
- Joshua 9:27
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 5.8 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 10.2.