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Joshua 9:8

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”
Joshua 9:8 · New King James Version
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?
  • BSB “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have 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 20:11It shall be, if it makes you answer of peace, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you.
  • 2 Kgs 10:5He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes.”
  • Josh 9:11Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take supplies in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them. Tell them, “We are your servants. Now make a covenant with us.”’
  • Josh 9:25Now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as it seems good and right to you to do.”
  • Gen 9:25–26He said, “Canaan is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”
  • Josh 9:23Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you will never fail to be slaves, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my God.”
  • Josh 9:27That day Joshua made them wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for Yahweh’s altar to this day, in the place which he should choose.
  • 1 Kgs 9:20–21As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)
CONFIDENCECONTRACTSCRAFTINESSDECEPTIONDIPLOMACYJOSHUAKIRJATH-JEARIMMAGNANIMITYOATHTREATY

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Joshua videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Joshua 9:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JoshuaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.

And they saidאָמַרunto JoshuaיְהוֹשׁוּעַWe are thy servantsעֶבֶדAnd Joshuaיְהוֹשׁוּעַsaidאָמַרunto them, Who are ye? and from whenceאַיִןcomeבּוֹא
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