And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
They answered Joshua, saying, 'We were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all this land and to destroy all the people living here. We were terrified for our lives because of you, so that's why we did this.'
The Gibeonites are explaining to Joshua that they deceived the Israelites because they were terrified of being destroyed, having heard about God's command to give Israel the land.
📚 Historical Context
In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites were carrying out God's command to Moses by conquering the Promised Land and destroying its inhabitants as part of their divine inheritance. The Gibeonites, who were local Canaanite people, learned of these conquests and became terrified of being wiped out, so they devised a plan to deceive Joshua and the Israelites into making a peace treaty by pretending to come from a distant land. This event reflects the widespread fear among the Canaanites as they witnessed the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel through military victories.
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