“We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?”
Parallel translations
- WEB They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Joshua said to them, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
- KJV And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
- NKJV But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”
- NASB So they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”
- NLT They replied, “We are your servants.” “But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
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 profess to be Israel's servants, and Joshua probes their identity and origin. Joshua questions but does not yet consult God.
Overview
Calling themselves servants, the Gibeonites bid for favor and a treaty. Joshua's questions show prudence, yet the narrative builds toward the central failure of not asking counsel of Yahweh. The exchange highlights how even wise leaders can be deceived when they lean on their own discernment apart from God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 20:11If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.
- 2 Kgs 10:5So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”
- Josh 9:11So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
- Josh 9:25Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”
- Gen 9:25–26he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
- 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.
- 1 Kgs 9:20–21As for all the people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (the people who were not Israelites)—
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.