And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
When the strangers offered themselves as servants to Israel, Joshua met the offer with a direct challenge about who they were and from where they had come. The men who spoke were the neighboring Gibeonites, and their answer repeated the false claim to have journeyed from a very distant country, a deception contrived to preserve their lives. The meeting led to a treaty with the Gibeonites that was entered because Israel failed to seek counsel from God. That people afterward renounced heathenism and their former religion, united themselves with Israel, and were admitted to share in the blessings of God's covenant.
When the strangers offered themselves as servants to Israel, Joshua met the offer with a direct challenge about who they were and from where they had come. The men who spoke were the neighboring Gibeonites, and their answer repeated the false claim to have journeyed from a very distant country, a deception contrived to preserve their lives. The meeting led to a treaty with the Gibeonites that was entered because Israel failed to seek counsel from God. That people afterward renounced heathenism and their former religion, united themselves with Israel, and were admitted to share in the blessings of God's covenant.