Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Gibeonites, pretending to be foreigners from far away, deceitfully obtain peace from Joshua and the Hebrews. Therefore the Hebrews, having rashly sworn an oath to them, spare them even though the deceit is discovered; but on account of the fraud they condemn them to cutting wood and carrying water.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 9:1-27
1. When these things were heard, all the kings beyond the Jordan, who dwelt in the mountains and plains, on the coast and the shore of the Great Sea, and those also who lived near Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, 2. gathered together to fight against Joshua and Israel with one mind and one purpose. 3. But those who lived in Gibeon, hearing all that Joshua had done to Jericho and Hai, 4. and thinking cunningly, took provisions for themselves, placing old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins torn and patched, 5. and very old shoes that were patched with scraps to show their age, wearing old clothing: and the bread which they carried as provisions was hard and crumbled to pieces; 6. and they went to Joshua, who was then staying in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and at the same time to all Israel: We have come from a distant land, desiring to make peace with you. And the men of Israel answered them and said: 7. Perhaps you live in the land that is owed to us by lot, and we cannot make a treaty with you. 8. But they said to Joshua: We are your servants. And Joshua said to them: Who are you? And where have you come from? 9. They answered: From a very distant land your servants have come in the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard the fame of His power, all that He did in Egypt, 10. and to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth: 11. and our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us: Take provisions in your hands for the very long journey, and go to meet them, and say: We are your servants, make a treaty with us. 12. Behold our bread — when we left our homes to come to you, we took it hot; now it has become dry and crumbled from great age; 13. we filled new wineskins, now they are burst and loosened; the clothes and shoes we are wearing and have on our feet, from the length of the very long journey, are worn out and nearly consumed. 14. They therefore took some of their provisions, and did not consult the mouth of the Lord. 15. And Joshua made peace with them, and having entered into a treaty, he promised that they would not be killed: and the princes of the multitude also swore to them. 16. But three days after the treaty was made, they heard that they lived nearby and would be among them. 17. And the children of Israel moved their camp and came to their cities on the third day, whose names are: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18. And they did not strike them, because the princes of the multitude had sworn to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. And all the common people murmured against the princes. 19. And they answered them: We have sworn to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel, and therefore we cannot touch them. 20. But this we will do to them: Let them indeed be kept alive, lest the wrath of the Lord be stirred up against us if we break our oath; 21. but let them live so that they may cut wood and carry water for the use of the whole multitude. While they were saying these things, 22. Joshua called the Gibeonites and said to them: Why did you wish to deceive us with fraud, saying: We live very far from you, when you are in our midst? 23. Therefore you shall be under a curse, and there shall never fail from your descendants one who cuts wood and carries water into the house of my God. 24. They answered: It was told to us your servants that the Lord your God had promised Moses His servant that He would give you all the land and destroy all its inhabitants. Therefore we were very afraid, and provided for our lives, compelled by fear of you, and we adopted this plan. 25. But now we are in your hands: do to us what seems good and right to you. 26. So Joshua did as he had said, and delivered them from the hand of the children of Israel, so that they would not be killed. 27. And he decreed on that day that they should be in the service of all the people and of the altar of the Lord, cutting wood and carrying water, to the present time, in the place which the Lord should choose.
Verse 1: When These Things Were Heard
1. WHEN THESE THINGS WERE HEARD. — This refers to the slaughter inflicted by the Hebrews on Jericho and Hai, not to the covenant made with God on Ebal, which immediately preceded: for that is inserted only in passing; for it actually occurred after the intermediate cities had been conquered, so that all could proceed safely to Shechem and Ebal, as I have already said.
THE SHORE OF THE GREAT SEA — namely the Mediterranean Sea, which was great in comparison to the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, both of which are in Judea. Moreover, along the Mediterranean Sea dwelt the Tyrians, Sidonians and other Phoenicians, who by nation and race were Canaanites, likewise the Philistines, who had occupied their cities after expelling the Canaanites. Therefore all these (and their territories) were handed over to the Hebrews, even though through their own negligence they did not actually occupy them.
Verse 3: Those Who Lived in Gibeon
3. BUT THOSE WHO LIVED IN GIBEON. — Gibeon was a great and powerful city and had very strong inhabitants, as is said in chapter 10:2; it was about two hours' journey from Jerusalem toward the west, situated in the tribe of Benjamin on a mountain: whence it was called Gibeon, meaning "mountain" or "hill." Hear Adrichomius in the Description of the Holy Land, page 17: "Gibeon, once the capital and royal city of the Hivites, who were descended from Hivite the son of Canaan, is about fifty stadia from Jerusalem, situated on Mount Shiloh, as Brocardus is our authority. Whence it is also said that there was a very great high place there. Under it were the cities of Chephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim: but afterward it was assigned to the sons of Aaron the Levites. Now, however, says Jerome, a village of the same name is shown at the fourth milestone from Bethel toward the eastern side, near Ramah and Rimmon, where Solomon offered sacrifices. Its inhabitants, the Gibeonites, wearing worn-out clothing showing signs of age, came as deceitful suppliants to Joshua at Gilgal, and cunningly made a treaty: when the fraud was discovered, they were permanently assigned as water-carriers and woodcutters for the temple, called Nethinim, that is, 'given' or 'donated' to serve the temple; and when Saul later wished to destroy them, on account of this the whole land was afflicted with famine for three years. Here Solomon, in the tabernacle of Moses (for the tabernacle was here, I Chronicles 16:21 and II Chronicles 1), having sacrificed a thousand victims on the bronze altar, asked for and obtained wisdom from God," III Kings 3:9.
Verse 4: And Thinking Cunningly
4. AND THINKING CUNNINGLY. — In Hebrew, they also acted with cunning, or with astuteness and shrewd prudence, namely cunningly and prudently thinking how to look after themselves, as the other Amorites were doing: but these were taking counsel for war, whence they were defeated and slain; but the Gibeonites, more prudent, by simulating a more distant habitation, sought and obtained their lives from the Hebrews. For they saw that, although they were warlike and very strong, they could not resist while God fought for the Hebrews. Therefore in this matter they did not sin, but acted piously and prudently. For they saw that they could not escape destruction unless through this simulation they became suppliants to the Hebrews, in which although they mixed in some lies, yet in good faith they thought it was lawful to lie in such an extreme necessity, as Plato once held, and Cassian and other wise men.
THEY TOOK PROVISIONS FOR THEMSELVES. — So also the Chaldean translates it, and even the Septuagint, if in their text, as Masius holds from the Syriac, one reads epotisanto, and not epresbeusan, that is "they sent ambassadors," as the Complutensian edition reads: so also the Hebrew, if instead of resh one reads the similar daleth, namely iitstaiadu instead of iitstaiaru. For the root tseda signifies food or provisions. But Masius, Cajetan and other more recent scholars, because they read with resh hitstaiaru, translate it as "they acted as ambassadors" or "they simulated being ambassadors"; for tsir signifies "ambassador," and thence in the Hitpael form hitstaier means "to act as" or "to simulate being an ambassador." So Marinus in his Lexicon.
Placing old sacks (full of provisions and other things necessary for the journey) on their donkeys. — So it must be read with the Hebrew, Chaldean, Romans and the rest. Therefore an error crept into the Septuagint, which instead of onon (donkeys) has omon (shoulders).
Verse 5: Patched with Scraps to Show Their Age
5. WHICH WERE PATCHED WITH SCRAPS TO SHOW THEIR AGE. — "With patches," that is, mended with various pieces. For the Hebrew talu signifies a variegated fleece sewn together from diverse pieces, which Saint Francis used to say that patched clothes and shoes were signs of poverty, and therefore he commended them to his followers. Hence Masius translates: "whose soles were patched with scraps."
AND THE BREAD ALSO, etc., WAS HARD AND CRUMBLED TO PIECES. — In Hebrew the bread is called niccudim, that is, "of dots," namely bread that from dryness crumbled into pieces and crumbs, like dots, or could easily be crumbled. Whence Arias translates "dotted bread"; Vatablus, "moldy"; the Septuagint, "covered with mold and corroded"; Masius, "spotted with mold": for moldy bread has mold spots like dots; the Chaldean, "crackers"; others, "burnt," from the root nacad, meaning "to burn."
Verse 6: They Went to Joshua at Gilgal
6. AND THEY WENT TO JOSHUA, WHO WAS THEN STAYING IN THE CAMP AT GILGAL. — For it is likely that Joshua, after the destruction of Jericho and Hai, returned to his original camp at Gilgal, and therefore at Gilgal established and fortified a camp against the raids of the Canaanites. For Gilgal was near the Jordan, across which the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half of Manasseh were dwelling in fortified cities, whom he could summon to himself, or to whose cities he could retreat if he were hard pressed by the Canaanites. Therefore from Gilgal he went forth to the conquest of Jericho, Hai and the other cities, leaving the baggage and the non-combatant crowd at Gilgal, as a place most strongly fortified both by nature and by art, especially because of the proximity of the Jordan, and after conquering and destroying cities he would return to the camp at Gilgal, and there he would remain until he was called out to other expeditions at God's prompting, as is gathered from chapters 10:7, 43; 14:6.
Hear Leo the Emperor giving precepts about the location of camps to his commanders in the Tactics, or On the Ordering of the Battle Line, chapter 11, section 1: "Therefore you will fortify the camp, or ditch (for the camp is properly the ditch of the whole army), as strongly as you can. If you can conveniently make camp in spacious and open places, do so: if not, not carelessly, but diligently, firmly and closely you will make camp; but above all you will avoid those places which have something higher and more elevated nearby, lest the enemy, seizing it by night in force, inflict great harm upon you from that place." And chapter 20, section 27: "It is always safe to fortify the camp, even in time of friendship and peace. If you are near the enemy, dig a ditch around it or surround it with a wall of stones or bricks, and so place your camp in safety. For if something adverse should happen, it will be unbecoming of a commander ever to say: 'I did not think of that.'"
The same precept is given by Vegetius, Aelian, Cyllenius, Lipsius, Valtrinus and others who have written on military matters. Leo adds that it is not expedient for a camp to remain in the same place for long, on account of the filth and refuse that is produced daily by individuals in a confined space, and therefore infects the air and generates diseases and plague, as we have experienced in Italy and elsewhere, and experience daily through the arrival of foreigners bringing in pestilence.
WE HAVE COME FROM A DISTANT LAND. — They are lying, but they think it lawful for themselves in order to save their own and their people's lives; and although they knew this lie would soon be discovered by the Hebrews, nevertheless they hoped they would be spared on account of the sacred nature of the oath they would extract.
Verse 7: Perhaps You Live in the Land Owed to Us
7. PERHAPS YOU LIVE IN THE LAND THAT IS OWED TO US BY LOT. — In Hebrew it simply says: "Perhaps in my midst (that is, of my land, promised to me by God and to be divided among us by lot) you dwell." They touch on the key point and the truth, as if to say: If your land has been promised to us by God, we do not want it to be occupied by you and taken from us. Whence God had forbidden the Hebrews to make a treaty with the inhabitants of Canaan, but to slay them all. Deuteronomy 7:2; Exodus 34:12, and elsewhere.
Verse 8: We Are Your Servants
8. BUT THEY SAID TO JOSHUA: WE ARE YOUR SERVANTS. — They say this not merely as a courtly compliment, as courtiers are accustomed to say to one another: "I am your servant"; but truly and sincerely. For they knew they would not be spared by the Hebrews unless they submitted to them and made themselves slaves. Therefore they desired to redeem their lives with servitude. Whence Joshua also converted their natural death into a civil one, that is, into servitude. So say Serarius and others. This will become clearer from their words in verse 9 and following.
Verse 9: From a Very Distant Land
9. THEY ANSWERED. — In Hebrew: "And the sons of Israel said," that is, each Israelite, to the Hivite (so the Gibeonites were Hivites): "Perhaps in my midst you dwell, and how shall I make a treaty with you?" For God had forbidden this, Deuteronomy 7:2.
FROM A VERY DISTANT LAND YOUR SERVANTS HAVE COME IN THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD. — In Hebrew, "to the name of the Lord your God," that is, drawn by the fame of the power and wonders of your God, by which He Himself struck down Og and Sihon, kings and your enemies, in the desert. They are silent about the destruction of Jericho and Hai, because that was new and recent, and could not have traveled so quickly to distant peoples (which they pretend to be). See here their cunning and art of deception. Whence some think that from Gibeon and the Gibeonites the Italian words gabare and gabatore, meaning "to deceive" and "deceiver," are derived.
Hence it is clear that the Gibeonites, struck with fear of the powerful God's vengeance exercised against the enemies of the Hebrews, recognized His majesty, power and divinity, and believed in Him as the only true God, or offered themselves ready and willing to believe in Him and worship Him: and therefore God preserved them above the other Canaanites who were obstinate in their idolatry, and impelled Joshua and the Hebrews to spare them, make them proselytes, and unite them to His Church. They say therefore: "We have come in the name of the Lord," in Hebrew, "to the name of the Lord," as if to say: We have come, drawn by the name and fame of the wonderful deeds of your God, to join with you in the same community. So say Saint Augustine, Lyra, Cajetan, Arias. Elsewhere, to come in the name of the Lord is to come by the help, power and strength of God, as in Psalm 117: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." And John 17: "Holy Father, keep them in Your name," that is, by Your power. "While I was with them, I kept them in Your name," that is, by the power given to Me by You; but to walk in the name of the Lord is to worship Him, invoke Him, hope in Him, and undertake any matter.
Verse 14: They Took Some of Their Provisions
14. THEY THEREFORE TOOK SOME OF THEIR PROVISIONS — not to eat them: for they had fresh bread from the produce of the land; but either as a symbol of friendship and treaty, as Lyra, Arias, Vatablus and Cajetan hold: for to receive food and taste what had been tasted by others was an ancient and very common symbol of mutual sharing, trust, friendship and hospitality among all nations in the past, and is still observed today by Easterners as well as by the Irish; or, as Masius says, for the purpose of testing, namely to examine whether they spoke the truth, whether the bread was truly dried out and moldy from age, as they claimed. For he contrasts this with what follows:
AND THEY DID NOT CONSULT THE MOUTH OF THE LORD — as if to say: They tested the truthfulness of the ambassadors and the distance of their journey with their own eyes and hands, but not by consulting the Lord through the high priest wearing the Rational, in which were the Urim and Thummim. See what was said on Exodus 28:30; and thus they erred and were deceived. There was therefore in this some sin of the Hebrews: first, of inconsiderateness, that although they had God present, directing and answering, they did not consult Him in so grave a matter; second, of rashness and haste, that they so quickly entered into a treaty with strangers and unknowns, indeed with people suspected of lying, and confirmed it with an oath, without first examining so important a matter more carefully to see whether any deceit lay hidden in it, as indeed it did; but God permitted this and withdrew His light from them, in order to preserve and promote the Gibeonites, who now recognized and feared Him, both in their lives and in their recognition and fear and worship of Him. Wherefore Leo the Emperor thus commands his military commander in the Tactics, chapter 20, section 9: "To deliberate slowly and circumspectly, and not to reject what has been deliberated and decided because of some hesitation or fear, is especially necessary: for fear is not only not a safe thing, but is most adverse even to good things that have been found."
Morally, learn here in doubtful and difficult matters to consult God, implore His light, and approach and listen to learned and religious men, especially Confessors and Superiors, who hold the place of God. If you are wise therefore, begin nothing great without first consulting and propitiating God. Thus Judas Maccabeus is always read to have invoked God before battle, and therefore by His help to have obtained so many and such great victories, except in the last battle, in which he is not recorded as having prayed, and therefore, although fighting bravely, he fell.
Verse 15: Joshua Made Peace with Them
15. AND JOSHUA MADE PEACE WITH THEM, AND HAVING ENTERED INTO A TREATY, HE PROMISED THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE KILLED — in Hebrew, "to give them life," that is, that he would preserve their lives and not kill them. For this was the purpose of the peace and treaty sought by the Gibeonites. Hear Saint Ambrose in Book III of On Duties: Joshua, he says, because he was still ignorant of the places and unaware of the inhabitants, did not recognize their deception; nor did he consult the Lord, but quickly believed. So holy was fidelity in those times that it did not seem possible for anyone to deceive: who would reproach the saints for this, who judge others by their own disposition? And because truth is dear to them, they think no one lies, and they do not know what it is to deceive. They readily believe what they themselves are, and cannot suspect what they are not.
You will ask whether Joshua could lawfully make a treaty with the Gibeonites and give them their lives, since God had forbidden the Hebrews to make a treaty with the Canaanites (which the Gibeonites were) and had ordered them all to be killed. Exodus 23:32. I respond that Joshua could lawfully make a treaty with them, given two conditions. The first was that the Gibeonites would cede their cities, fields and territories to the Hebrews: for these had been given to them by God; and consequently they would submit to them as slaves. The second, that they would become proselytes, and leaving their idols, would receive the faith and worship of the true God, and thus pass into one Church and Commonwealth with the Hebrews. For the reason God had commanded them to be killed was that they were idolaters and wicked, and there was danger that they might draw the Hebrews to their idols and crimes. For this is the reason God gives, Exodus 23:32 and 33, and Deuteronomy 7:4. But when this danger ceased, God allowed them to be spared and their lives granted; and both conditions the Gibeonites fulfilled: for they offered themselves as servants to the Hebrews, and acknowledged their God, and offered themselves ready to embrace His religion; therefore Joshua could spare them.
That this is so is clear, first, because in a similar way the Hebrews gave their word to Rahab the Canaanite that they would preserve her and all her relatives and kin, and they kept their given word, because Rahab with her family had submitted to the Hebrews and was ready to embrace their faith and religion. Why could Joshua not in a similar way grant life to the Gibeonites?
Second, because Joshua in fact spared the Gibeonites after their deceit was discovered and he knew them to be Canaanites, and he wanted the faith given and sworn to them to be kept. But he could not have done this if this treaty had been unlawful and forbidden by God. For no promise, even one sworn, is valid and binding that opposes God and His law and command. For no one can bind himself or promise that he will violate the law of God, or act against it.
Third, because God severely punished the descendants of Saul and ordered them to be crucified, II Kings 21:1 and following, because Saul had killed the Gibeonites contrary to the faith given by Joshua. Therefore God willed that the faith given to them should be ratified and sacredly observed.
Fourth, because God, in Deuteronomy 20:10, commands the Hebrews to offer peace to enemies, and if they accept it, to enter into a treaty with them. And under this, interpreters judge that even the Canaanites are included. For that God in the same passage, verses 15 and 18, makes a distinction between the nearby Canaanites and other nations dwelling far away, He seems to do so only in this respect: that He wants all the Canaanites killed without exception, lest they draw the Hebrews to their idols, but in the case of the other nations He wants women and children to be spared. This will become even clearer from what will be said on verse 19.
Verse 17: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim
17. GIBEON, CHEPHIRAH, BEEROTH, AND KIRIATH-JEARIM. — It seems that these cities of the Canaanites received their names for various reasons, taken from the situation, nature and character of the place, and also from the advantages and disadvantages that certain nearby features brought them. Thus Gibeon is a Canaanite word meaning "summit," because this city was situated on a mountain; Chephirah means "little lion," because it had inhabitants strong as lions; Beeroth means "wells," which were excellent and abundant there; Kiriath-jearim means "city of forests," because of the abundance of forests there. So says Arias. Properly, Gibeon means "hill of iniquity and sorrow," says Saint Jerome in the Hebrew Names, because Gibeon before Joshua was a wicked city, and therefore full of sorrows, until Jesus preserved and saved it.
Verse 19: We Have Sworn to Them in the Name of the Lord
19. WE HAVE SWORN TO THEM IN THE NAME OF THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, AND THEREFORE WE CANNOT TOUCH THEM. — The question is whether this oath of the Princes given to the Gibeonites about preserving their lives obligated them to keep the faith they had given. That it did not obligate them is held by Abulensis, Masius, Arias, Magalianus, Serarius and Saint Augustine here, Question XIII.
The first reason is that this treaty and oath was extorted by the fraud and deceit of the Gibeonites; the second, because there was involved in it an error of person: for Joshua and the Princes thought they were making a treaty and swearing not with nearby Canaanites, but with foreigners from afar, such as Arabs or Syrians, which the Gibeonites falsely claimed to be, and they intended to bind themselves only to such people. For an oath, as Sylvester, Lessius and others teach, follows the nature of its act or contract, and must be understood according to the conditions and restrictions that are understood in such an act or contract. But here the understood condition is: "If you are not Canaanites." Therefore, since the Gibeonites were Canaanites, the Hebrews intended that they would not wish to make peace or enter into a treaty with them, and consequently not bind themselves by oath to them. Third, because the act itself was against the law of God commanding all Canaanites without exception to be destroyed, Numbers 23:52; Deuteronomy 20:16. Nevertheless the Princes thought they were bound by this oath: from which error you may gather how great at that time was the reverence and religion toward the divine name: and God, whom they had neglected to consult, allowed them to err, in order thereby to bring about the salvation of the Gibeonites and to show them His clemency. The Israelites were however obligated by the renewed pact, because when they discovered the fraud shortly after, they ratified the earlier pact and the faith given to them, God impelling them to this; for that it pleased God that those who voluntarily sought peace should be spared and the given faith should be kept, by overlooking the law of death enacted against the Canaanites, is clear from the fact that God most severely avenged the violation of this treaty by Saul, II Kings, chapter 21, verse 1. This opinion is probable.
More probable, however, is the contrary view, namely that this treaty and oath obligated Joshua and the Hebrews to keep faith and to preserve the life given to the Gibeonites, as Lyra, Hugh, Dionysius, Cajetan, Saint Ambrose (Book III of On Duties, chapter 10), Gratian (Book XXII, Question IV, final chapter), and at length and solidly Suarez (Book II On the Oath, chapter 18) hold, who cites Saint Thomas, Bonaventure, and Richard. The reason is:
First, because God had permitted, indeed practically commanded, that the Canaanites be spared if they sought peace, ceded their cities to the Hebrews, and embraced their religion, as I showed at verse 15. But all these things the Gibeonites performed. Therefore He could, indeed out of charity He ought to, spare them and make a treaty with them. Scripture sufficiently indicates the same, in chapter 11:19, where it says: "There was no city that surrendered itself to the children of Israel, except the Hivite who lived in Gibeon; for all the rest He took by war. For it was the Lord's sentence that their hearts should be hardened, and that they should fight against Israel and fall, and deserve no clemency, and perish as the Lord had commanded Moses," as if to say: Therefore God commanded the Canaanites to be destroyed, because they obstinately resisted the Hebrews; but because the Gibeonites, who were Hivites, did not do this but sought peace, therefore God willed that it be given to them.
Second, because the deceit of the Gibeonites here was not about the substance of the matter, or about what the oath required for it to be valid, but only about an accident, namely about the nearness or remoteness of their habitation; therefore it did not vitiate or invalidate the oath or the sworn treaty. It would have been about the substance if they had wished to retain their cities and their idolatry, and thus make a treaty with the Hebrews: for this was forbidden by God, and therefore the Hebrews could not bind themselves by any oath to this. But now, since they offer their possessions to the Hebrews and desire to embrace their religion, they fulfill the substance of the treaty permitted, indeed commanded by God: and the deceit does not violate or destroy it. Therefore there was not here an error of person, but of some accident of the person. For the Hebrews wished to contract a treaty with the Gibeonites present before them; but they erred in an accident, thinking them to dwell far away rather than nearby, which does not vitiate the treaty: just as if someone contracts marriage with a woman present before him, he contracts validly, even if he errs and thinks her to be Italian when she is German.
You will say: Joshua did not intend to contract with the Gibeonites except on this condition, that they were not Canaanites. I respond: add, or that they would not remain Canaanites, if namely they wished to persist in the hostility, infidelity and impiety of the Canaanites. But now the Gibeonites renounced these three things and desired to enter into friendship, religion and piety of the Hebrews. Therefore they should now be considered not Canaanites, but rather Hebrews and proselytes, with whom Joshua desired to make a treaty.
Third, because this deceit was not harmful but advantageous to the Hebrews. For what would the slaughter and death of the Gibeonites have profited them, except to gain among all nations the reputation and infamy of barbarous cruelty for having slaughtered those who sought peace? But their lives benefited the Hebrews greatly, because they used them as servants for cutting wood and carrying water. Therefore this deceit did not vitiate the treaty, nor make the Hebrews unwilling; for shortly after, when the deceit was discovered, they voluntarily approved the treaty they had entered.
Fourth, the Gibeonites as suppliants were asking only for life, offering themselves for every kind of servitude; who but a barbarian would have denied them this and slaughtered them? Certainly neither Tamerlane, nor Murad, nor the Ottoman, nor any other however cruel and tyrannical did so.
Fifth, Joshua could have and should have, and therefore would have, spared them if they without deceit, confessing themselves to be Canaanites, had submitted and given themselves as slaves. For this was the intention of God, as I have already shown. Therefore since they now do the same thing, he was obligated to spare them, even though some deceit intervened: whence in fact, once the deceit was discovered, he did spare them.
Sixth, they themselves here expressly confess and assert this: "We have sworn," they say, "to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel (whose faith and worship they acknowledge and desire to embrace): and therefore we cannot touch them." And soon after: "Lest the wrath of God be stirred up against us if we break our oath." Note the word "we have sworn," namely in the past tense; they are therefore speaking about the oath not renewed after the deceit was discovered, but originally given before the discovery of the deceit, and they assert that they are bound by it. The same is clear from the violation of this oath, which God avenged by the crucifixion of Saul's descendants, II Kings 21. Hence the answer to the arguments of the contrary opinion is clear. Finally, it is likely that Eleazar the High Priest, once the deceit was discovered, consulted God (for God had commanded this, Numbers 27:21) as to what should be done in so grave and perplexing a matter; or certainly that Joshua prayed to God and heard from Him that he should spare the Gibeonites, and preserve both their bodies and their souls through the profession of the true religion.
You will say: The Canaanites were the most wicked and corrupt of men, and therefore God had commanded them all to be destroyed, lest they rub their vices off on the Hebrews. Therefore even if the Gibeonites promised amendment of their manners and vices from fear of death, the Hebrews should not have believed them, but should have feared that shortly afterward they would relapse into their former crimes, and therefore should have destroyed them all, as God had commanded. I respond: this was generally true, but not in the case of the Gibeonites, who so seriously offered themselves as servants ready for all things and for the worship of the true God. Add that their sincerity and constancy had to be tested, and that they needed to be given teachers of religion as well as overseers and guards, who if they detected them relapsing to their idols, would report this to Joshua, whose task it was to punish and exterminate them, as is now done with Moors and Jews who have converted to Christ; and there is no doubt that Joshua did the same. But the outcome showed that the Gibeonites were constant in the faith and in Judaism, and therefore God so severely avenged their slaughter on Saul's descendants. There was no danger of rebellion here, because the Gibeonites were few, disarmed, and distributed among the Hebrews, so that they could not unite among themselves and conspire against them.
Learn here how sacredly faith, especially sworn faith, must be kept with an enemy, even an impious and unfaithful one, such as the Gibeonites were. The same is expressly taught and decreed by the Emperor Leo in his Tactics, or On the Ordering of the Battle Line. For with faith removed, all human contracts and society are overturned, since they rest upon faith as their foundation, so that men would appear to be no longer men but lions, tigers and wild beasts.
Verse 21: Let Them Cut Wood and Carry Water
21. BUT LET THEM LIVE SO THAT THEY MAY CUT WOOD AND CARRY WATER FOR THE USE OF THE WHOLE MULTITUDE. — The Princes here grant the Gibeonites life but condemn them to servitude, and justly so: both because they had promised and sworn to them only life; and because the Gibeonites had practiced deceit and extorted the oath by fraud; and because they were Canaanites, whom God wanted killed, and if any were spared on account of surrender, He wanted them subjected to servitude. Mild therefore was this punishment of theirs, which eventually became the honored lot and condition of serving the temple, as will be clear from the last verse.
WHILE THEY WERE SAYING THESE THINGS, JOSHUA CALLED THE GIBEONITES — in order to approve the decision of the Princes and, as the supreme Prince and Judge, to promulgate it to the Gibeonites. The Translator correctly renders the sense, which in Hebrew literally reads: "When the Princes had spoken concerning them, Joshua called them," etc. For in Hebrew caasar signifies not only "as" but also "when" or "while."
Verse 23: Therefore You Shall Be Under a Curse
23. THEREFORE YOU SHALL BE UNDER A CURSE — namely under the servitude and burden of cutting wood and carrying water. For burdensome servitude is a kind of curse, that is, of affliction and punishment.
Verse 27: In the Service of All the People and of the Altar
27. AND HE DECREED ON THAT DAY THAT THEY SHOULD BE IN THE SERVICE OF ALL THE PEOPLE AND OF THE ALTAR OF THE LORD. — There was therefore a twofold burden and duty of the Gibeonites: The first was to carry wood and water for the entire camp of the Hebrews. Whence by Josephus, Book XI of the Antiquities, chapters 4 and 5, they are called demosioi, that is, public servants.
The second was to carry the same things for the tabernacle, and later for the temple, to which they were almost exclusively assigned after the division of the camps and tribes and the possession of the promised land, especially in the time of Solomon, and this by the ordinance and more precise distribution of temple duties made by David, who probably called them Nethinim, who are frequently mentioned in Ezra chapter 2, verses 43 and 50; chapter 8:20; Nehemiah 3:26 and 31; I Chronicles 9:2. For that these Gibeonites are the Nethinim is taught not only by more recent scholars, such as Lyra, Masius, Rabbi Solomon, Sigonius, Book V of On the Republic of the Hebrews, chapter 7; Ribera, Book III On the Temple, chapter 4; Vilalpando in the Apparatus, Part I, Book II, chapter 7; but also Saint Jerome (if indeed he is the author) in the Hebrew Traditions on I Chronicles: "The Nethinim," he says, "that is, 'the given' (from the root 'nathan', meaning 'he gave'), are the Gibeonites, because they were given to serve at the temple of the Lord," given, that is, first by Joshua here: whence in Hebrew it says vaiithenem, that is, "he gave them" (whence the name Nethinim) to the Tabernacle; and then by David: given, I say, to serve the Priests and Levites, not directly as Subdeacons serve Deacons, as Sigonius would have it, but remotely, as laymen and foreigners serving the sacred persons descended from Levi, and Scripture indicates this in Ezra chapter 8:29 and I Chronicles 9:2.
Whence it is also very probable that the Gibeonites were initiated into the Jewish sacred rites and passed over to Judaism through circumcision, as Abulensis well proves. And for this reason Josephus calls them "sacred servants," that is, servants of the sacred temple. "Nethinim" therefore in Hebrew is the same as "given to God" (Deodatus). Thus among the Carthusians and other Religious Orders, lay brothers are called donati or oblati, that is, given to the order and to God. These therefore are similar to the ancient Nethinim, and may rightly be called Nethinim.
You will say: Solomon in the temple built a bronze sea filled with water, and also many aqueducts through which water would flow into the temple. There was moreover the Sheep Pool near the temple for washing the victims to be sacrificed to God. The Hebrews also offered wood to the temple and transported it there: therefore for neither duty were the Nethinim needed. I respond by denying the conclusion. For Solomon with all those aqueducts indeed lightened the burden of the Nethinim, but did not entirely remove it. For from the aqueducts the Nethinim had to carry water not only to the altar, but also to all the kitchens of the priests near the altar. I say the same about wood. Moreover, the priests used the Nethinim for all manner of temple services, just as we use sacristans and their assistants. For the temple was immense, like a city, and daily very many, and sometimes thousands (as Solomon offered) of sheep, calves and oxen were sacrificed in it, for the washing, cooking and burning of which an enormous quantity of water was required. Therefore just as the Priests and Levites served the temple in turns, and during their turn lived in the temple, so also the Nethinim; otherwise it is likely that they lived scattered in the cities assigned to the priests, and served them. Finally, Solomon in building the temple used the Nethinim among other workers, as Vilalpando and others teach.
IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHOULD CHOOSE — for placing in it the Tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant, the Cherubim and the Mercy Seat, and consequently for His veneration, worship, sacrifices and adoration. This place was first at Gilgal, then at Shiloh, third at Nob, fourth at Gibeah, and finally in the temple when Solomon built it. Moreover the Ark remained at Gilgal for the entire seven years during which Joshua waged war against the Canaanites: for the Ark was in the camp, and the camp was at Gilgal, as is clear from chapter 10, last verse. When the seven years of wars were finished, in the eighth year of his leadership, Joshua transferred the Ark from Gilgal to Shiloh, as will be clear from chapter 18, verse 1.