Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 9:21
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.
21. hewers of wood and drawers of water ] “trees thei kutten and watris thei beren,” Wyclif. They were devoted to the sanctuary, called at a later period Nethinims = Deo dati, donati, and were bound to discharge menial duties which usually devolved upon the lowest classes. Comp. Deu 29:10-11, “Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water ” Compare also 1Ch 9:2; Ezr 2:43; Ezr 2:70; Neh 7:46; Neh 7:60.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Let them be public servants, and employed in the meanest offices and drudgeries, (such as this was, this one kind being put for all the rest, as it is Deu 29:11) for the use and benefit of the congregation; to do this partly for the sacrifices and services of the house of God, as it is expressed, Jos 9:23, which otherwise the Israelites themselves must have done, partly for the service of the camp or body of the people, and sometimes upon occasion even to particular Israelites; whence they are made bondmen, which is mentioned as a filing distinct from their service in the house of God, Jos 9:23. And so they are in effect stripped of all their possessions, whereby the main ground of the peoples quarrel was taken away.
As the princes had promised them; or, because or seeing that (as the Hebrew word sometimes signifies) the princes (i.e. we ourselves; they speak of themselves in the third person, which is very frequent in the Hebrew language) had promised it to them, to wit, that they should live, and confirmed their promise by an oath. So the princes speaking here to the people allege the promise or oath of the princes when they met among themselves, and apart from the people. And this change of persons may possibly arise from hence, because some of the princes who were present in the assembly of the princes might now be absent upon some occasion. And this clause relates not to the next words, which are fitly enclosed within a parenthesis, but to the foregoing clause,
let them live, because the princes have promised them their lives.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the princes said to them, let them live,…. They were very pressing upon them, and importunate with them, to save their lives, because of the oath they had taken:
(but let them be hewers of wood, and drawers of water, unto all the congregation): which was a very low and mean employment, De 29:11; as well as wearisome; and this being a yoke of servitude on the Gibeonites, and a punishment of them for their fraud, and of service, profit, and advantage to the people of Israel, the princess proposed it in hopes of pacifying them, and that they would yield to spare the lives of the Gibeonites; what they proposed was, not that they should hew wood and draw water for all the Israelites for their private use, but what was necessary for the service of the sanctuary, which the congregation was obliged to furnish them with; and now these men should do that work for them, which before was incumbent on them; for Joshua afterwards imposed this upon them, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God, Jos 9:23; though Kimchi thinks that while the people of Israel were in camp, and before the land was divided, they were hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation; but after the land was divided, and they were settled in their cities and inheritances, then they only hewed wood and drew water for the sanctuary at Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob, Gibeon, and the temple; the Jewish writers say s, the Nethinim and the Gibeonites were the same, who became proselytes in the times of Joshua, see 1Ch 9:2;
as the princes promised them; which is to be connected, not with their being hewers of wood and drawers of water, this the princes had said nothing of before, and which is rightly included in a parenthesis, but with their being let to live; this they had promised and sworn to, even all the princes, not only all that were now at Gibeon, and were persuading the people to let the Gibeonites live, but all the princes, even those that were not present, but in the camp at Gilgal.
s Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 4. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The princes declared again most emphatically, “ They shall live.” Thus the Gibeonites became hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation, as the princes had said to them, i.e., had resolved concerning them. This resolution they communicated to the congregation at the time, using the expression (let them live); but the historian has passed this over at Jos 9:21, and instead of mentioning the resolution proceeds at once to describe its execution.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
21. Hewers of wood and drawers of water We will keep our oath to the letter: they shall live, but live as slaves. Upon the “great high place” of Gibeon the tabernacle was set up at a later period, (1Ch 16:39,) and there it remained till it was removed to Jerusalem by Solomon. From beneath this eminence water and wood for the service of the tabernacle were constantly carried up, requiring the labour of a large number of people. Stanley says: “They hewed the wood of the adjacent valley and drew the water from the springs and tanks which in its immediate neighbourhood abound, and carried them up to the Sacred Tent, and there attended the altar of the Lord.” Respecting the drudgery of this menial service, Dr. Thomson, while passing through this very region of the Gibeonites, says: “I was forcibly reminded of one item in the sentence of condemnation pronounced upon them for their cunning deception that they should be hewers of wood by long files of women and children carrying on their heads heavy bundles of wood. It is the severest drudgery, and my compassion has often been enlisted in behalf of the poor women and children who daily bring loads of wood to Jerusalem from these very mountains of the Gibeonites. To carry water, also, is very laborious. The fountains are far off, in deep wadies with steep banks; and a thousand times have I seen the feeble and the young staggering up long and weary ways, with large jars of water on their heads. It is the work of slaves.”
As the princes had promised them They had promised life not servitude. This promise was kept by successive generations, till Saul rashly killed some and planned the general massacre of the rest. Seven of Saul’s descendants atoned for this breach of the covenant with their lives. 2Sa 21:1-9. At the time of Saul’s massacre they were so identified with Israel that the historian was obliged to insert a note explaining their origin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the princes said to them, “Let them live, so they become hewers of wood, and drawers of water to all the congregation”, as the princes had spoken to them.’
Now the explanation was given of what would be done to them. They would become slaves to Israel. No Israelite could be made a slave. But these were not Israelites. Thus slavery was to be their lot. ‘Hewers of wood and drawers of water’ were the lowest of the low (Deu 29:11). Their slavery would involve the most menial service in the sanctuary (Jos 9:23), and also the fulfilling of meeting the general and continual need for wood and water throughout the tribes of Israel.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jos 9:21 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.
Ver. 21. But let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water. ] Lignatores et lixae: so they are freed from a natural death, because of the princes’ oath, but condemned to a civil death (slavery) by the princes’ sentence.
Unto all the congregation.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
be = become.
promised. Compare Jos 9:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
let them: Jos 9:23, Jos 9:27, Deu 29:11, 2Ch 2:17, 2Ch 2:18
as the princes: Jos 9:15
Reciprocal: 1Ch 9:2 – the Nethinims Ezr 2:58 – Nethinims
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 9:21. Unto all the congregation That is, let them be public servants, and employed in the meanest offices (one kind being put for all the rest) for the use of the congregation; doing these things partly for the sacrifices and services of the house of God, which otherwise the Israelites themselves must have done; partly for the services of the camp or body of people; and sometimes even for particular Israelites.