Commentary - Joshua 9:22-27

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we come to the formal resolution of the Gibeonite deception. Having discovered that their new treaty-partners were in fact Canaanites living just over the hill, Joshua confronts them. The Gibeonites, for their part, confess their fear of Yahweh's decree as their motive. The result is not their annihilation, which they feared, but their subjugation. A curse is pronounced, but it is a curse that binds them to the house of God. This entire episode is a masterful display of God's sovereignty, where even pagan deception, born of a holy fear, is bent and repurposed to serve the long-term purposes of redemption. Israel was bound by an oath, even a foolish one, and God holds His people to their word. The Gibeonites, through their own craftiness, find a back-door salvation, becoming servants of the very altar of the God they rightly feared.

This is not a story about the triumph of human cleverness. It is a story about the triumph of God's unswerving commitment to His own word and His own covenant purposes. The Gibeonites are incorporated into the life of Israel, not as equals, but as servants. Yet, to be a servant in the house of God is infinitely better than to be a king in the tents of wickedness. Their story becomes a living parable of how God grafts outsiders into His covenant people, albeit in a subordinate way that constantly reminds Israel of both the sanctity of their oaths and the folly of their own judgment.

Outline

Commentary

Verse 22: Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you are living nearly in the midst of us?

Joshua begins where he must, with a direct confrontation. The sin is named plainly: "Why have you deceived us?" Deception is the native tongue of the serpent, and it has no place among the people of God, let alone as the foundation of a covenant. Joshua is not asking for information; the facts are already plain. He is demanding an accounting. This is the role of godly leadership. Sin must be brought out into the light and called by its right name. The Gibeonites had lied with their mouths, their clothes, and their provisions. Their entire presentation was a calculated falsehood. Joshua's question highlights the central contradiction, the lie that enabled the treaty: their claim of being from a distant land when they were, in fact, local. This was not a small fib; it was a foundational lie that subverted the express command of God regarding the inhabitants of Canaan.

Verse 23: So now, you are cursed, and you shall never be cut loose from being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”

Here is the consequence. The curse is pronounced, but we must pay close attention to its nature. It is not a curse of annihilation, which was the fate of the other Canaanite tribes. It is a curse of perpetual servitude. They are bound, never to be "cut loose." But where are they bound? To the "house of my God." This is a curse that smells suspiciously like grace. Through their lie, they are brought into a permanent, subordinate relationship with the God of Israel. They wanted to save their lives, and they have. But they lose their autonomy and are conscripted into the service of the tabernacle, and later the temple. They will chop the wood for the sacrificial fires and haul the water for the ritual cleansings. This is a curse that places them at the very center of Israel's worship, constantly in proximity to the presence of the living God. It is a judgment, yes, but a judgment saturated with an unexpected mercy. God takes their deception and turns it into a vocation that serves His glory.

Verse 24: So they answered Joshua and said, “Because it was certainly told to your slaves that Yahweh your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you and have done this thing.

The Gibeonites' defense is simple and profound. They confess their motive, and it is a surprisingly theological one. They had heard the word of the Lord. They knew about the commands given to Moses concerning the conquest of Canaan. Notice their precision: they knew God had commanded Moses to give Israel the land and to destroy the inhabitants. Their actions were not born of malice, but of a healthy and intelligent fear. "We feared greatly for our lives because of you." This is the kind of fear that the fear of God produces in those who stand outside the covenant of grace. It is the beginning of wisdom. They believed the threats of God more than the leaders of Israel did. Their fear drove them to deception, which was a sin, but their fear was grounded in the truth of God's revealed will. They acted shrewdly, like the unjust steward, to secure a future for themselves in the face of certain doom.

Verse 25: So now, behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.”

Having confessed their motive, they now throw themselves entirely on the mercy of Joshua. "We are in your hands." This is the posture of true submission. They do not haggle or try to justify their lie. They acknowledge Joshua's authority, which is ultimately the authority of Israel's God. They are prepared to accept the consequences, whatever they may be. They appeal to what is "good and right" in Joshua's sight. This is a tacit appeal to the covenant they have just made. They are banking on the fact that Joshua, as a servant of Yahweh, will be bound by his oath, even an oath secured by deceit. They are casting themselves not on their own merits, but on the integrity of Israel's word. It is a position of utter vulnerability, but it is also a shrewd appeal to the character of the God with whom they are now dealing through covenant.

Verse 26: Thus he did to them and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.

Joshua's response is twofold. First, he honors the oath. He "delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel." There must have been a grumbling in the camp. The men of Israel would have felt cheated, tricked into a treaty with a people they were commanded to destroy. The temptation to exact bloody vengeance would have been strong. But Joshua stands firm. A word given, an oath sworn in the name of Yahweh, is binding. This is a crucial lesson for Israel, and for us. God takes vows with the utmost seriousness. Our word ought to be our bond, because His Word is His bond. Joshua protects the Gibeonites, not because they deserved it, but because the name of God was on that treaty. He prevents Israel from committing a greater sin, the sin of violating a sworn oath, which would have brought wrath upon the whole congregation.

Verse 27: But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place which He would choose.

Here the sentence is formally enacted. Joshua "made them" what the curse had declared them to be. Their servitude is not just for the "house of God" in a general sense, but specifically "for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh." They are public servants, tasked with the menial but essential work that supports the entire sacrificial system. Their labor makes the worship of Israel possible. The phrase "to this day" indicates that this arrangement was a lasting one, a permanent reminder of this event written into the very fabric of Israel's national life. And it was all to take place "in the place which He would choose," pointing forward to Shiloh and ultimately to Jerusalem. The Gibeonites, the cursed Canaanites, are bound by their own lie to the central sanctuary of the true God. It is a stunning picture of sovereign grace, which takes our crooked, sinful, self-preserving schemes and uses them to build His own house.

Application

There are several sharp points of application for us here. First, the sanctity of an oath. Israel was tricked, but they were bound. In our day of crossed fingers and contractual loopholes, we must recover a high view of our given word. An oath made before God is a solemn and binding thing, and He will not be mocked. Our 'yes' should be 'yes'.

Second, we see the fear of the Lord at work in the hearts of pagans. The Gibeonites heard of God's power and His decrees, and they trembled. This led them to act, albeit sinfully. It should chasten us when we see unbelievers taking the threats of God more seriously than many in the church do. Do we live in light of the coming judgment? Does the terror of the Lord persuade us?

Finally, and most gloriously, we see the overruling sovereignty of God. He uses the Gibeonites' lie to preserve them and attach them to His worship. He uses Israel's foolishness to teach them about covenant-keeping. God is never cornered by our sins or our follies. He weaves them all into the tapestry of His redemptive plan. The Gibeonites, through a curse, found themselves tethered to the altar. In the same way, we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We were under a curse of death, but through the cross, that curse has become our salvation, binding us as living sacrifices, as perpetual servants in the house of our God forever. To be a wood-chopper for the God of glory is a far greater thing than to reign in hell.