6 The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, "Don't abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua, etc The course of the narrative is inverted; for the Gibeonites certainly did not wait till they were besieged, but on seeing an army levied and prepared, and having no doubt that they would have to sustain the first onset, as they had incurred general hatred, they anticipate the attack, and hasten to have recourse to the protection of Joshua. [1] To desert those to whom life had been given, would have been at once unlawful, unjust, and inhumane. Nay, as their surrender had been consequent on the agreement, they were entitled to be defended against violence and injury. With justice, therefore, they implore the Israelites, under whose protection they were; and there is no hesitation on the part of Joshua, who judges it to be his duty to defend those whose submission he had agreed to accept. They had deceived him, it is true, but after the fraud had been detected, and they had confessed it, interposing some palliating circumstances, they had obtained pardon. Equity and a sense of duty thus did not allow the Israelites to abandon the Gibeonites to their fate. Still, Joshua is entitled to praise for his promptitude in complying with the request, and sending assistance without delay. He is said to have marched during the whole night, and thus could not have proceeded with greater haste had the safety of the whole people been at stake. Had the same sincerity always been evinced by profane nations, they would rather have assisted their allies in due time than avenged their disasters after they had suffered them. The term suddenly ought not, however, to be confined to a single day, as if Joshua had accomplished three days' journey in a single night, and made his appearance among the Gibeonites next morning. All that is meant to be expressed is his great speed, and his not delaying his departure till next day. [2] Though the Israelites moved their camp from Ai or that neighborhood, it was the third day before they entered the confines of the Gibeonites. Granting that they then proceeded slowly in order of battle, Joshua was still at some distance when application is made to him to assist the Gibeonites. We have seen that Gilgal was the first station after crossing the Jordan, and therefore more remote than Jericho. If any one deems it absurd, that after receiving the submission of several cities, he should have turned backwards, and left an empty district, the recovery of which from the enemy might again cost new labor, I answer, there was no ground to fear that the enemy would come forward to occupy it, and engage in an expedition attended with great danger and difficulty. It is probable that when a body of troops was selected to attack Jericho, the women, children, and all others unfit for war remained in that quiet corner, where they might have the protection of those of the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh, who had been left on the opposite bank of the Jordan. For to what end would they have carried with them into their battles children and women heavy with child, or nursing babes at their breasts? How, during the incursions of the enemy, could food be found for such a multitude, or water sufficient to supply all their flocks and herds? I conclude, therefore, that Joshua and his soldiers returned to their tents that they might refresh themselves for a little with their wives and children, and there deposit the spoils with which they had been enriched.
1 - The conjecture that the narrative is here inverted, seems somewhat gratuitous. Lachish, the most remote of the towns, was not more than thirty miles distant, and Jerusalem, as has been mentioned, was only five; and, therefore, in so far as distance merely is concerned, there is nothing to prevent us from holding in accordance with the literal purport of the narrative, that the kings had suddenly advanced against Gibeon, and were actually besieging it when the Gibeonites dispatched their embassy to Joshua.
2 - Here, again, apparently from exaggerating the distance, Calvin thinks it necessary to resort to an ingenious explanation, and give a kind of coloring to the narrative. The distance from Gilgal to Gibeon was more than eighteen miles, and this might certainly be accomplished by a forced march in the course of a single night. Calvin says we are not to suppose that "Joshua accomplished three days' journey in a single night." But it is nowhere said that Gibeon was three days' journey from Gilgal. The words are, "The Israelites journeyed and came into the cities on the third day." (Joshua 9:17). In other words, the Israelites, on this particular occasion, employed three days, or rather, if we adopt the common Hebrew mode of computation, part of a first, the whole of a second, and part of a third day. Such a statement scarcely justifies the inference that the average time of making the journey between the two places was three days. -- Ed.
The language reflects the urgency of the crisis. Accordingly Joshua made a forced march, accompanied only by his soldiers Joshua 10:7, and accomplished in a single night the distance from Gilgal to Gibeon (about 15 miles in a direct line), which on a former occasion had been a three days' journey Joshua 9:17.
And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal,.... Which some think they did when besieged, and not before, which showed their faith in the power of God, whom they now professed; but it is not likely that they should defer sending for help so long, since it is reasonable to suppose they might have heard of the design of the five kings against them; or that they should be able to send out messengers when surrounded on all sides; it may be better therefore to render the words, "had sent" (m), which they did as soon as they heard of the preparations made by the five kings to war with them, and of their rendezvous at Jerusalem, and especially as soon as they had information of their march towards them:
saying, slack not thine hands from thy servants; they entreat that he would not neglect them, be indifferent to them, and delay to assist them, since they were his subjects; and were entitled to his protection:
come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; they did not doubt, if he made haste and helped them, but they should be saved by him:
for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. Jerusalem lay among mountains, and Hebron was in the hill country in Judea, see Psalm 125:2; and the other cities were doubtless in a like situation.
(m) "sed miserant", Piscator; so Pool and Patrick.
JOSHUA RESCUES IT. (Joshua 10:6-9)
the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua--Their appeal was urgent and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (Joshua 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.
The Gibeonites then sent to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and entreated him to come to his help as speedily as possible. "Slack not thy hand from thy servants," i.e., withhold not thy help from us. The definition appended to "the kings of the Amorites" ("that dwelt in the mountains") is to be understood a potiori, and does not warrant us in drawing the conclusion, that all the towns mentioned in Joshua 10:3 were in the mountains of Judah. The Amorites who dwelt in the mountains were the strongest of all the Canaanites.
Slack not thy hand - Do not neglect or delay to help us. Whom thou art obliged to protect both in duty as thou art our master; and by thy owns interest, we being part of thy possessions; and in ingenuity, because we have given ourselves to thee, and put ourselves under thy protection. In the mountains - ln the mountainous country.
*More commentary available at chapter level.