Joshua 9:19

Translations

Modern

All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

Traditional

But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.

Literal

And all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by YHWH, God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.

Latin

Qui responderunt eis: Juravimus illis in nomine Domini Dei Israël, et idcirco non possumus eos contingere.

Original

Hebrew

English

All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

Notes

Joshua 9:18–21

Israel could not violate this treaty, even though the Gibeonites tricked them into making it. Violating a covenant sworn by an oath before the Lord would have shown a lack of respect for God's name and honor (compare Genesis 27:30–38).

Joshua 9:1–27

Joshua failed to consult God again (9:14; compare 7:2–4). This time it was about an unexpected request. Other ancient Near Eastern stories only describe a leader’s successes. However, this author also noted the mistakes of Joshua and Israel’s elders. God is the true hero of the story, and the author wanted to emphasize God's achievements.

Theme notes and profiles

Joshua

Events

War with Canaanites

Related verses

Ecclesiastes 8:2
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Joshua 9:20
This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”
Jeremiah 4:2
…and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2
It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

Alliance Conquest and Allotment of the Land Foreigner Gibeon, Gibeonites Jerusalem Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of Kiriath-jearim Mephibosheth Nethinim Samuel, Books of First and Second Tribe of Dan

Topics

Alliances: Ratification of by Oaths Contracts: Scriptures Illustrative of the Binding Force of Covenant: Binding Covenant: Sacred Covenants: The Jews: Regarded, As Sacred Gibeonites: Israel: Spared on Account of Their Oath Government: Executive officers of Tribes and Cities Joshua: Also Called Jehoshua, and Jehoshuah, and Oshea: Makes a Treaty with the Gibeonites Kirjath-Jearim: Inhabitants of Magnanimity: Joshua and the Elders of Israel to the Gibeonites Who had Deceived the Israelites Oath: The Israelites Confirm the Covenant with the Hivites Oaths: The Jews: Generally Respected the Obligation of Servant: Bond: Voluntary Servitude of Treaty: Sacredness of

Joshua 9:19

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