Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 9:9
And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
9. we have heard the fame of him ] Comp. Jos 2:10; Jos 6:27.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 9. Because of the name of the Lord thy God] They pretend that they had undertaken this journey on a religious account; and seem to intimate that they had the highest respect for Jehovah, the object of the Israelites’ worship; this was hypocrisy.
We have heard the fame of him] This was true: the wonders which God did in Egypt, and the discomfiture of Sihon and Og, had reached the whole land of Canaan, and it was on this account that the inhabitants of it were panic-struck. The Gibeonites, knowing that they could not stand where such mighty forces had fallen, wished to make the Israelites their friends. This part of their relation was strictly true.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Because of the name of the Lord; being moved thereunto by the report of his great and glorious nature and works; so they gave them hopes that they would embrace their religion.
All that he did in Egypt: they cunningly mention those things only which were done some time since, and say nothing of the dividing of Jordan, nor of the destruction of Jericho and Ai, as if they lived so far off that the fame of those things had not yet reached them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. From a very far country thyservants are come because of the name of the Lord thy GodTheypretended to be actuated by religious motives in seeking to be alliedwith His people. But their studied address is worthy of notice inappealing to instances of God’s miraculous doings at a distance,while they pass by those done in Canaan, as if the report of thesehad not yet reached their ears.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they said unto him, from a very far country thy servants are come,…. Which they magnified and expressed in stronger terms than before, but were careful not to mention any country, lest such questions should be asked about it, their answers to which would betray them, but put it off by saying they were come,
because of the name of the Lord thy God; because of what they had heard of his name, his power and goodness; or “unto the name of the Lord thy God” o; that is, they were come to profess it, and to embrace the religion of the Israelites, and be proselytes to it; which they knew would be very agreeable to them, and engage them to show them favour; and so the Samaritan Chronicle p represents them as promising to do this, saying,
“we will believe in thy Lord, nor will we contradict him in what ye shall mark out for us, be it small or great;”
which seems to be, confirmed by what follows, unless it be considered as an explanation of the preceding clause:
for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt; the miracles wrought there, the plagues he inflicted on the Egyptians, and the wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel from their slavery.
o “ad nomen Domini”, Masius; “ad nomen Jehovae”: Junius & Tremellius. p Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 507.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9, 10) All that he did in Egypt, and . . . to the two kings of the Amorites.The Gibeonites carefully abstain from referring to more recent exploits, as the passage of Jordan, the taking of Jericho and Ai; they mention only those which might have had time to reach them in the far country from which they asserted that they came.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Because of the name of the Lord thy God The word LORD, in capitals, here as elsewhere in the Old Testament, is the Hebrew Jehovah, the proper name of the God of Israel, as Baal was the god of the Canaanites. These Canaanite-Gibeonites, assuming that Baal and Jehovah are two rival national deities, are proposing to make submission, and even, if needs be, to transfer their allegiance to the latter, who has shown himself by his victories to be the mightier god of the two.
And all that he did in Egypt They are too cunning to say that they have heard of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, of Jericho’s downfall, and the capture of Ai. This would intimate that they were so near as to become cognizant of these recent events. So they speak of events forty years ago in Egypt, and many months ago beyond the Jordan. Thereby fulfilling God’s words to Pharaoh, that he had raised him up to make his name declared throughout all the earth. Exo 9:16. And wonderfully have these words been fulfilled.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And they said to him, “Your servants are come from a very far country because of the name of YHWH your God, for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were in Beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth . ” ’
Their claim was that they lived in a far country and had come because they knew the reputation of YHWH and wanted to be in alliance with His people. The suggestion was that they too wanted to know YHWH. Joshua knew that Israel was to be a kingdom of priests ministering to the nations (Exo 19:6). We can therefore understand why he found the idea here tempting. We can often be so eager to do spiritual service that we forego caution.
Compare on this verse Rahab’s description of the same incidents in Jos 2:10. For Ashtaroth see Jos 12:4. For Egypt see Exodus 1-15. For the defeat of the two kings mentioned see Num 21:21-35. Their subtlety comes out in that they made no mention of Jericho or Ai. That would not have had time to filter through to a far country.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 9-13. And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come, &c. Nothing can be more artful than this answer of the Gibeonites, to the prudent and close questions put by Joshua 1. Instead of saying, without evasion, whence they came, they again reply, that they came from afar. 2. They give him to understand that they were led to undertake this long journey from a motive of respect for the God of Israel; and, affecting to celebrate the wonders of his power in Egypt, and beyond Jordan, they speak neither of the sacking of Jericho, nor of the destruction of Ai, in order to leave no room to suspect that fear and policy are the real motives of their embassy. 3. To understand them, some would suppose, that they beg of Joshua to enter into league with them, only that they might be united to a people so much more highly favoured by God than any other; and so dexterously is their discourse turned this way, that the Samaritans, in their Chronicle, say, that the Gibeonites made an offer to Joshua to embrace the religion of the Hebrews, and to submit to whatever he should enjoin them. 4. And lastly, The better to deceive Joshua and the heads of the people, they dwell upon their outward condition, where every thing, their clothes, shoes, provisions, and utensils, indicate a long and tedious journey, and bear testimony to the truth of their assertions.After this, how are they to be excused, and how can their conduct be even justified? This, however, has been done, and the cause of the Gibeonites pleaded, by one of the greatest men of the last age. “The artifice of the Gibeonites,” says Puffendorf, in his Law of Nature and Nations, “has nothing blameable in it, and, properly speaking, does not deserve the harsh name of lying. For who would impute a crime to any one, because, to screen himself from the fury of an inexorable and all-destroying enemy, he hath recourse to an innocent fiction? Besides,” adds this celebrated writer, “the Israelites, strictly speaking, sustained no injury by this piece of finesse; for what is lost by not shedding the blood of a man, whom yet we can deprive of all his substance, after having so disarmed and weakened him that he is no longer able to rebel against us?” See lib. 4: cap. 2 sect. 7. But the question is, Whether we may justly give to this cunning of the Gibeonites, the appellation of an innocent fiction? Had the Israelites been robbers, who, without any command from heaven, carried their bloody arms into countries to which they had no right; and had the Gibeonites been ignorant that a wonderful providence superintended the conduct of these conquerors; then we might consider the fraud they had recourse to as innocent. But let any one read what they say to Joshua in the 9th verse. The idea which they had formed of the God of Israel, should have engaged them to use every other expedient, rather than that of eluding his justice by disguise and falsehood. They should have gone back, so far as the obscurity of that oeconomy under which they lived would permit, to the cause of that rigour which God exercised towards them. They should have acknowledged, that their crimes had drawn down upon them all those troubles wherewith their nation was oppressed; and after having clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes, in order to the obtaining pardon, should have left the rest to Providence, and have been convinced that that God, who had moved all nature and the elements to punish guilty nations, is ever able to find out some means or other to serve those who turn unto him and repent.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 9:9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
Ver. 9. From a very far country, &c. ] Thus mendacium mendacio assunt, they lay lie upon lie, as those in Psa 119:69 . They had taught their tongues to speak lies, and were artists at it. Jer 9:5 They had taken fast hold of deceit. Jer 8:5
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
God. Hebrew Elobim. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
From a: Deu 20:15
because: 1Ki 8:41, 2Ch 6:32, 2Ch 6:33, Neh 9:5, Psa 72:19, Psa 83:18, Psa 148:13, Isa 55:5, Act 8:7
we have: Jos 9:24, Jos 2:9, Jos 2:10, Exo 9:16, Exo 15:14, Num 14:15, Isa 66:19
Reciprocal: Exo 18:1 – done Jos 6:27 – his fame Jos 9:6 – We be Jos 9:22 – We are 1Ki 8:42 – For they shall 2Ki 5:15 – now I know 2Ki 20:14 – a far country 1Ch 19:19 – the servants 2Ch 20:29 – they had heard Psa 77:14 – thou hast Psa 126:2 – then said Psa 145:6 – And men Isa 33:13 – Hear Isa 39:3 – They are Isa 60:9 – unto Eze 20:9 – in whose Rom 9:17 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 9:9. Because of the Lord thy God Being moved thereunto by the report of his great and glorious nature and works. Thus they gave them hopes that they would embrace their religion. In Egypt They cunningly mention those things only which were done some time ago, and say nothing of dividing Jordan, or the destruction of Jericho and Ai, as if they lived so far off that the fame of those things had not yet reached them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of {e} the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
(e) Even the idolaters for fear of death will pretend to honour the true God, and receive his religion.