THE COVENANT WITH THE GIBEONITES. In chapter 9, some Gibeonites fear
the children of Israel because they destroyed Jericho. To avoid their own
destruction, the Gibeonites approach Joshua and say they come from a “far
country . . . because of the name of the Lord thy God” (9:9), and they desire
that Joshua make a “league” with them (9:11). The word the KJV translates as “league”
is ברית, or brit, in Hebrew, which can also be translated “covenant.”
Here the Gibeonites are asking for a covenant where the Israelites promise not
to kill them. Their lie is short lived, however, as the children of Israel hear
that “their neighbors . . . dwelt among them” (9:16) and did not come from a
distant land. Yet due to the covenant, the Israelites do not kill the
Gibeonites, but Joshua angrily makes them “day hewers of wood and drawers of
water” (9:27; also 9:21, 23). Even though the Gibeonites had deceived Israel,
the covenant with them was likely kept out of fear of offending God by breaking
it—an act consistent with the Deuteronomic History’s emphasis on the sanctity
of the covenant relationship between Yahweh and the Israelites. Joshua demonstrates
the serious nature of covenants and is yet again an example to his fellow
Israelites of how to keep them. As in the situation with Rahab, the Israelites
prioritized their promises over other considerations, such as not being
Israelites. (Jared M. Ludlow, “Joshua: Successor to Moses, Successful
Trailblazer,” in From Wilderness to Monarchy: The Old Testament Through the
Lens of the Restoration, ed. Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade [Provo,
Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2025], 15-16)
