{"id":53638,"date":"2019-04-13T23:03:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T20:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=53638"},"modified":"2022-11-03T18:43:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T16:43:32","slug":"the-object-of-the-gibeonite-ruse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-object-of-the-gibeonite-ruse\/","title":{"rendered":"The Object Of The Gibeonite Ruse"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[860,625,409,434],"acf":{"old_id":"53638","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":53309,"related_cahpter":"196","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Hint: It wasn\u2019t to protect themselves against the Israelites","content":"

Fearing for their lives, the Gibeonites realized that military resistance to the Israelites would be futile and attempted to preserve their cities through guile. What is more puzzling is Joshua\u2019s initial surprise at the Gibeonites\u2019 conduct. After all, if the threat of death was indeed suspended over them as ominously as they said, isn\u2019t their duplicity perfectly intelligible? <\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua\u2019s bewilderment provides indirect support for the rabbinic tradition first mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud and adopted by many of the later authorities:<\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua sent three proclamations to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, before the people of Israel entered the land. The first stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to leave, let him do so.\u201d The second stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to conclude peace, let him do so.\u201d The third stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to wage war, let him do so. The Girgashites decided to evacuate… to Africa, the Gibeonites concluded peace, and the other thirty-one kings of Canaan waged war and were defeated\u201d (Y. Shevi\u2019it 6:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

If in fact the Gibeonites had been offered the possibility of surrendering peacefully, why did they risk arousing the wrath of their vanquishers by securing their survival through deception? <\/span><\/p>\n

Recall that the narrative of the Gibeonites is introduced by the assertion that all of the Canaanite kings had decided to battle Israel as one (Josh. 9:1-2). Recall, also, that the verses in chapter 11 pointedly indicate that only the Gibeonites, of all of the land’s inhabitants, sued for peace. Finally, note that in the aftermath of the Gibeonite treaty struck with Israel, the southern kings launched a punitive assault against the towns of Gibeon (10:1-5), which was ultimately repelled by an unexpected Israelite counterattack. <\/span><\/p>\n

The implication of these citations is clear: The greatest impediment to the adoption by the Gibeonites of more honest methods was the unified Canaanite front that opposed any compromise with the Israelites. The town of Gibeon was forced to adopt subterfuge in order to avoid arousing the ire of the other Canaanite kings who would have opposed such an overture of peace. The Gibeonites thus sent their emissaries secretly and in disguise. Once they were in possession of the precious Israelite pledge of support, they discarded the pretense. The Canaanite attack was indeed forthcoming, but so was the Israelite defense. Had the Gibeonites sued for peace openly, they would have been attacked and overwhelmed by their countrymen long before Joshua and the Israelites might have come to their aid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/span><\/p>\n

from: <\/span>Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land <\/span><\/i>(Jerusalem: Koren, 2015); chapter: \u201cThe Duplicity of the Gibeonites\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":53639,"id":53639,"title":"jo9-giv'on sign","filename":"jo9-givon-sign.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo9-givon-sign.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-object-of-the-gibeonite-ruse\/jo9-givon-sign\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo9-givon-sign","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53638,"date":"2019-04-13 20:03:04","modified":"2019-04-13 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