Joshua 9:7

Translations

Modern

But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”

Traditional

And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?

Literal

And the men of Israel said to the Hivite, “Perhaps among us you are dwelling, and how can I cut with you a covenant?”

Latin

Ne forte in terra, quæ nobis sorte debetur, habitetis, et non possimus fœdus inire vobiscum.

Original

Hebrew

English

But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”

Notes

Joshua 9:7–8

The name Hivites is known only from the Bible and refers to a non-Semitic ethnic group that lived in various parts of Canaan (see Genesis 34:2; 36:2; Exodus 23:23, 28). Semitic people were ancient groups from the Middle East and North Africa, known for their shared languages (such as Hebrew, Aramaic, or Arabic) and cultural traditions.
Perhaps you dwell near us: Israel’s leaders worried that the visitors were lying. They asked how they could know the visitors did not live nearby. Joshua then asked two direct questions. Still, he could have learned the truth by asking the Lord for guidance (Joshua 9:14).

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

Joshua 11:19
No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle.
Judges 2:2
…and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
Deuteronomy 20:16
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
Exodus 34:12
Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
Exodus 23:31–33
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
Deuteronomy 7:2–3
…and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
Exodus 3:8
I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
Joshua 9:1
Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan—those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)—
Numbers 33:52
…you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
Genesis 10:17
…the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
Genesis 34:2
When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

People

Hivites: A Canaanite people group Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

Alliance Conquest and Allotment of the Land Foreigner Gibeon, Gibeonites Gilgal Hivites Horites Jerusalem Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of Kiriath-jearim Mephibosheth Meunim, Meunites Tribe of Dan

Topics

Confidence: Betrayed: Joshua, by the Gibeonites Contracts: Scriptures Illustrative of the Binding Force of Craftiness: Gibeonites, in Deceiving Joshua and the Israelites Into a Treaty Deception: The Gibeonites, in Misrepresenting Their Habitat Diplomacy: The Gibeonites, in Securing a Treaty with the Israelites Through Deception Gibeonites: Descended from the Hivites and Amorites Gibeonites: Israel: Deceived By Hivites: Shechemites and Gibeonites Were Families of Hivites: The Gibeonites a People of 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 The Amorites: The Gibeonites a Tribe of, Deceived Israel Into a League Treaty: Between Nations: Israelites and Gibeonites

Joshua 9:7

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