Bound by Oath

In the providence of God, the Gibeonites’ duplicity does not remain concealed from Israel for long. It is a mere three days later that Joshua and the people find that the Gibeonites actually live only 19 miles to the west of Gilgal, within the Promised Land. The writer of Joshua tells us the Israelites “hear” about it, suggesting that their own scouts or others (possibly deserters from the enemy, Matthew Henry says) bring the news. It is also possible, if the three days of verses 16 and 17 are synonymous, that Israel moves west from Jericho and Ai to attack Gibeon and its sister cities, blissfully unaware that they are occupied by the people with whom they so recently have made a treaty. Only upon arriving do they learn the truth. And so, bound by their oath, the leaders of Israel refrain from attacking.

The sudden cancellation of the attack angers the Israelite soldiers, and they complain against Joshua and the other leaders. The writer does not explain just why they react this way; it is possible they are zealous to carry out God’s edict against the Canaanites, or they may simply feel let down after being primed for action. Henry suggests that they may be disappointed at the lost opportunity to take plunder for themselves. In any case, they complain that Joshua and his aides should not have made this covenant. But the leaders stand firm in the face of this pressure, declaring, “ ‘We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them.’ ” To go forward with an attack would violate their oath, which was lawfully made, and that would bring all sorts of unpleasant consequences, as Henry points out: “The princes and the people for whom they transacted were bound by [by oath], bound in conscience, bound in honor to the God of Israel, by whom they had sworn, and whose name would have been blasphemed by the Canaanites if they have violated [it].… To preserve their reputation, and to keep up in Israel a veneration for an oath, they would stand to it; … [also] they … were apprehensive that the wrath of God would fall upon them if they broke it.”

Thus, Israel lets the Gibeonites live. However, Joshua’s oath allows him to make the Gibeonites serve as woodcutters and water carriers for Israel, and this he does. Thus, the Gibeonites are subdued and the Israelites receive a benefit, which silences their complaints.