That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Parallel translations
- WEB They were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- BSB So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- NKJV that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- NASB that he feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- NLT He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town—as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Canaanite kings are terrified because Gibeon was a great, royal-sized city full of mighty men. Its surrender signaled real danger to them.
Overview
Gibeon's size and strength made its peace with Israel especially alarming, since such a formidable city had chosen submission over war. The fear that grips these kings echoes the dread Rahab described earlier (Joshua 2), confirming that the Canaanites sensed God's hand against them. Their terror, rightly directed, should have led to surrender like Gibeon's rather than to doomed resistance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 11:25There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
- Josh 2:24And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
- Exod 15:14–16The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
- Prov 1:26–27I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
- 2 Sam 12:26And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
- 1 Sam 27:5And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
- Rev 6:15–17And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
- Prov 10:24The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
- Ps 48:4–6For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
- Josh 2:9–13And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
- Heb 10:27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
- Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- Deut 28:10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
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Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
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Original language
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