Covenant in Josh 9:1–15a
The theme of covenant signifies a
conditional alliance in the book of Joshua, rather than an unconditional
pledge. The term bĕrît, “covenant,”
occurs twenty-two times in Joshua. Thirteen references are to the “ark of the
covenant” (Josh 3:3, 6 [twice], 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33), where
it symbolizes the conditional presence of Yahweh with the Israelite army. The
conditional nature of covenant is illustrated in the story of Achan, where his
breaking of the covenant results in the army’s defeat. The Deity tells Joshua:
“Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant” (7:11, 15). Joshua’s speech
in Josh 23:16 and the subsequent covenant at Shechem in Josh 24:25 also
reinforce its conditional nature: “If you transgress the covenant of Yahweh,
your God, … you will perish.”
The conditional nature of
covenant in the book of Joshua aids in interpreting Josh 9, where the theme is
concentrated in the first half of the narrative (9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16). The
masquerade of the Gibeonites in Josh 9:1–15a is aimed at Joshua and the “men of
Israel.” The Gibeonites introduce the theme of covenant in Josh 9:6, when they
say, “From a faraway land we have come. Now make a covenant with us.” The theme
reappears in the unfolding negotiations (vv. 7, 8), until the success of the
trick is indicated in Josh 9:14–15a, when the men of Israel eat food with the
Gibeonites and Joshua makes “peace” with them through a “covenant.” Although
Joshua violates the rules for war in Deut 20:10–18, the conditional nature of
covenant in the book of Joshua indicates that it is not the central theme of
the story. If the central theme of the chapter were the making of a covenant
under false pretenses, Joshua would be free to destroy the Gibeonites, just as
Yahweh was free to abandon the Israelite army at Ai after Achan broke the
covenant (7:11, 15).
Oath in Josh 9:15b–27
The theme of swearing an oath
signifies a permanent and irrevocable promise or curse in the book of Joshua
that, once made, cannot be abrogated. The term šāba‘, “to swear,” occurs sixteen times in the book: five times in
the Hiphil form of the verb (2:12, 17, 20; 6:26; 23:7), and eleven times in the
Niphal (1:6; 5:6 [twice]; 6:22; 9:15, 18, 19, 20; 14:9; 21:43, 44). The Niphal
occurrences describe unconditional oaths that invoke the Deity or are stated by
God. Yahweh promises the land to the ancestors with an oath (1:6; 21:43, 44)
and denies the fulfillment of the promise to the first generation with a
similar oath (5:6 [twice]). These promises are unchangeable. Caleb also demands
land on the basis of Moses’ unconditional oath (14:9). The Hiphil form of the
verb describes the negotiations between Rahab and the spies for an oath of
rescue (2:12, 17, 20), which, once agreed upon, also becomes irrevocable (the
Niphal form of the verb in 6:22). Joshua’s permanent curse on the city is also
stated with the Hiphil form of the verb (6:26), as is the command not to make
an oath by invoking any other deity than Yahweh (23:7).
The unconditional nature of the
oath in the book of Joshua aids in interpreting Josh 9, where the theme is
concentrated in the second half of the narrative (9:15, 18, 19, 20). It appears
unexpectedly in v. 15b, when the leaders of the congregation suddenly and
without clear cause swear an oath to the Gibeonites after Joshua had already
made a conditional covenant with them in v. 15a. Once the oath is sworn, it
becomes the central theme in the second half of the narrative, as opposed to
the conditional covenant Joshua and the men of Israel made in the first half.
When the masquerade of the Gibeonites is discovered (9:16–17), the Israelites
are forced to spare them—not because they had made a covenant with them, but
“because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by Yahweh
the God of Israel” (9:18). The oath is unconditional. The leaders state: “We
have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. So now we are not able to
strike them” (9:19). Thus, it is the leaders of the congregation, not Joshua,
who create a condition in which the Gibeonites must be spared, because of their
unconditional oath. The leaders wish to avoid the divine wrath that would
accompany the breaking of the oath and thus they make the Gibeonites permanent
cultic personnel: “And the leaders
said to them, ‘Let them live.’ And they were woodcutters and drawers of water
for the entire congregation, as the leaders
stated to them” (9:21). The speech of Joshua in vv. 22–23 follows the decision
of the leaders and thus must be read as commentary on the leaders’ solution
regarding the fate of the Gibeonites. Joshua reframes that solution as a curse:
“Now you are cursed. Slavery will not be cut away from you. You will be
woodcutters and drawers of water for the house of my God” (9:23).
Joshua 9 is a unified narrative.
The setting of its composition is the postexilic period. The evidence is the
author’s interweaving of Deuteronomistic notions of holy war and conditional
covenant (vv. 1–15a) with Priestly views of leadership and cultic service. The
aim of the author is to write a polemical story against the “leaders of the
congregation,” who are judged to be responsible for the cultic service of the
Gibeonites, which is a violation of the rules for holy war in Deut 20:10–18
that dominates the first half of the narrative. The rules for war represent the
perspective of the author, who would prefer to destroy the foreign Gibeonites
for making a covenant under false pretenses but is restrained by the
unconditional oath of the leaders of the congregation that guarantees their
cultic status. The best that the author can do is to curse this situation
through the speech of Joshua. (Thomas B. Dozeman, Joshua 1-12: A
New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AYB 6B; New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2015], 412-13)
