“We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?”
Here, I. The Gibeonites desire to make peace with Israel, being alarmed by the tidings they heard of the destruction of Jericho, Jos 9:3. Other people heard those tidings, and were irritated thereby to make war upon Israel; but the Gibeonites heard them and were induced to make peace with them.
Commenting on Joshua 9:3-14
And they said unto Joshua, we are thy servants,.... Not that they meant to be subjects of his, and tributaries to him; but this they said in great humility and lowliness of mind, being willing to be or do anything he should enjoin them.
THE GIBEONITES OBTAIN A LEAGUE BY CRAFT. (Jos 9:3-15) when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard--This town, as its name imports, was situated on a rocky eminence, about six miles northwest from Jerusalem, where the modern village of El Jib now stands. It was the capital of the Hivites, and a large important city (Jos 10:2).
Commenting on Joshua 9:3-15