And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse highlights a crucial oversight: "the princes of the congregation swore to them." This shows that the oath wasn't just Joshua's responsibility, but a collective commitment by Israel's leadership, underscoring the gravity of their deception and the binding nature of the covenant they made.
And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Gibeonites, hearing of Israel's swift conquests, devise a clever trick to secure their own safety. They disguise themselves as ambassadors from a far-off land, bringing stale provisions to make their story believable, all to persuade Joshua to form a peace treaty with them. This deception leads Joshua and the Israelite leaders to make a binding covenant without first consulting God.
The Gibeonites arrive with a story, and Joshua and Israel buy it... hook, line, and sinker. What does this say about how we make decisions?
A Quick Decision, A Costly Mistake
The Gibeonites came to Joshua with worn-out clothes, moldy bread, and patched sandals, claiming to be from a distant land. Their entire presentation was a carefully crafted lie to secure a peace treaty.
Joshua and the Israelite leaders, instead of seeking God’s wisdom, relied on their own judgment and the evidence before them. The text explicitly states, 'And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord' (Joshua 9:14).
This lack of divine consultation led to a crucial error. They were so focused on the Gibeonites' story of distance and supposed lack of threat that they failed to discern the deception.
This moment serves as a stark reminder that even with the best intentions, decisions made without seeking God's guidance can lead to unintended and significant consequences.
Ask a follow-up
A peace treaty is made, an oath is sworn, but it's all based on a falsehood. What happens when the truth comes out?
The Hollow Foundation of Deception
The covenant made between Joshua and the Gibeonites was, from its inception, flawed because it was built upon deceit. The Gibeonites used trickery to secure their safety, and the Israelites, by failing to consult God, accepted their false representation.
This raises a critical question: can a covenant born of lies truly hold? While the Israelites were bound by their oath, the foundation was shaky.
This situation teaches us that while honesty and integrity are the bedrock of true fellowship and binding agreements, even flawed covenants carry weight, especially when an oath is involved. Yet, the ultimate stability of any relationship or agreement rests on truth.
Understand the original words
shalom · Hebrew Noun
A state of harmony, completeness, and wholeness; in the Bible, it signifies more than the absence of war, representing divine blessing, reconciliation, and restored order.
edah · Hebrew Noun
The collective body of God's people, gathered together for worship, decision-making, or national identity, signifying the unity and covenantal bond of the community.
shaba' · Hebrew Verb
A solemn invocation of God’s name to witness to the truth of a statement or the sincerity of a promise, binding the speaker to the fulfillment of an obligation under the threat of divine judgment.
This event highlights the critical importance of seeking God's wisdom before making decisions, as Joshua and the elders were deceived due to their haste and failure to consult the Lord, leading to a covenant that complicated their mission to cleanse the land.
c. 1400 BC
Israelites Conquer Canaan
Following their exodus from Egypt and wandering in the desert, the Israelites, led by Joshua, began their military campaign to conquer the land of Canaan, as promised by God.
c. 1400 BC
Fall of Jericho and Ai
The swift and miraculous destruction of Jericho and the subsequent victory over Ai demonstrated God's power and served as a stark warning to the remaining inhabitants of Canaan.
c. 1400 BC
Gibeonites Hear of Israel's Victories
News of Israel's devastating victories at Jericho and Ai reached the Gibeonites, striking fear into their hearts and prompting them to seek a way to survive.
c. 1400 BC— this verse
Gibeonites Devise a Deception
The Gibeonites, inhabitants of a prominent Hivite city, cleverly disguised themselves as travelers from a distant land to trick Joshua and the Israelite leaders into making a peace treaty with them.
c. 1400 BC
Joshua and Princes Make a Covenant
Based on the Gibeonites' ruse and without seeking God's counsel, Joshua and the Israelite princes entered into a solemn covenant, promising to let the Gibeonites live.
c. 1400 BC
Deception Revealed
Shortly after the covenant was made, the Israelites discovered the Gibeonites' true identity and their deception, realizing they had unknowingly made a treaty with one of the Canaanite peoples they were commanded to destroy.
c. 1000 BC
Violation of the Covenant
Centuries later, during the reign of King Saul, the covenant with the Gibeonites was broken, leading to a famine in Israel that was ultimately resolved by executing seven of Saul's descendants.
This passage shows Esau's distress after Jacob deceives him, mirroring the Gibeonites' later distress when their deception is revealed, and highlighting the consequence of broken trust.
Exodus 23:32-33God explicitly commanded Israel not to make treaties with the Canaanites, establishing the original divine prohibition that Joshua's covenant with the Gibeonites appears to violate.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2This passage reiterates the command to destroy the Canaanite nations completely, providing the theological backdrop for why making peace with them, even through deception, was problematic.
2 Samuel 21:1-2This passage describes the consequences of Israel's broken covenant with the Gibeonites centuries later, demonstrating the enduring seriousness and divine oversight of oaths made.
Romans 12:17Paul's instruction to 'live peaceably with all' and 'never avenge yourselves' offers a New Testament perspective on how believers should approach conflict and broken trust, contrasting with the Old Testament's immediate, often harsh, divine judgment.
calvinJoshua 9:1-15: "And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;"
- And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaan…
gillJoshua 9:15: "And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them."
And Joshua made peace with them,.... Upon the report the princes made of having examined what they had said, and which they found to be true, particularly concerning their victuals: and made a league with them, to let them live; and not destroy them as he did the Canaanites, and was ordered to do; they being supposed not to belong to them by the rep…
The verse highlights a crucial oversight: "the princes of the congregation swore to them." This shows that the oath wasn't just Joshua's responsibility, but a collective commitment by Israel's leadership, underscoring the gravity of their deception and the binding nature of the covenant they made.
The Gibeonites, hearing of Israel's swift conquests, devise a clever trick to secure their own safety. They disguise themselves as ambassadors from a far-off land, bringing stale provisions to make their story believable, all to persuade Joshua to form a peace treaty with them. This deception leads Joshua and the Israelite leaders to make a binding covenant without first consulting God.
The Gibeonites, hearing of Israel's swift conquests, devise a clever trick to secure their own safety. They disguise themselves as ambassadors from a far-off land, bringing stale provisions to make their story believable, all to persuade Joshua to form a peace treaty with them. This deception leads Joshua and the Israelite leaders to make a binding covenant without first consulting God.
"And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them." — The verse highlights a crucial oversight: "the princes of the congregation swore to them." This shows that the oath wasn't just Joshua's responsibility, but a collective commitment by Israel's leader…
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Last reviewed October 2026