Discovery BoxJoshua 9:15-20 
Context9:15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community 1 sealed it with an oath. 2
9:16 Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby. 3 9:17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 9:18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. 4 The whole community criticized 5 the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of 6 the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt 7 them! 9:20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.” 8
1 tn Or “assembly.”
2 tn Heb “Joshua made peace with them and made a treaty with them to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.”
3 tn Heb “At the end of three days, after they made the treaty with them, they heard that they were neighbors to them and in their midst they were living.”
4 tn Heb “by the
5 tn Or “grumbled against.”
6 tn Heb “to them by….”
7 tn Or “touch.”
8 tn Heb “This is what we will do to them, keeping them alive so there will not be upon us anger concerning the oath which we swore to them.”
