They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.
Parallel translations
- WEB The princes said to them, “Let them live, so they became wood cutters and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them.”
- KJV And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.
- NKJV And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”
- NASB So the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” And they became gatherers of firewood and labor to draw water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.
- NLT Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.
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 Gibeonites are spared but made woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation. They live, but in lasting servitude.
Overview
The Gibeonites are preserved according to the oath, yet placed in a subordinate role of menial service to Israel and its worship. This outcome both honors the covenant and reflects the consequence of their deception. Their incorporation as servants in the house of God hints at how outsiders may yet be brought, however humbly, into the service of the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 29:11your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—
- Josh 9:23Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
- Josh 9:27On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- 2 Chr 2:17–18Solomon numbered all the foreign men in the land of Israel following the census his father David had conducted, and there were found to be 153,600 in all.
- Josh 9:15And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
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Christ at the center
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.
How Joshua 9:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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