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34 (A)At that time we captured all his cities and put every city under the ban,[a] men, women and children; we left no survivor. 35 Our only plunder was the livestock and the spoils of the captured cities.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:34 Under the ban: in Hebrew, herem, which means to devote to the Lord (cf. 7:1–5; 20:10–18). The biblical text often presents herem as the total extermination of a population as a manifestation of the will of the Lord. It is historically doubtful that Israel ever literally carried out this theological program.

(A)As we had done to Sihon, king of Heshbon, so also here we put all the towns under the ban, men, women and children;

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26 You shall not bring any abominable thing into your house, so as to be, like it, under the ban; loathe and abhor it utterly for it is under the ban.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 7:26 Under the ban: and therefore doomed to destruction; see note on 2:34.

16 (A)you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, placing the city and all that is in it, even its livestock, under the ban.

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18 You shall not hold on to anything that is under the ban; then the Lord will turn from his burning anger and show you mercy, and in showing you mercy multiply you as he swore to your ancestors,

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16 (A)But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, you shall not leave a single soul alive. 17 You must put them all under the ban—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—just as the Lord, your God, has commanded you, 18 so that they do not teach you to do all the abominations that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord, your God.

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32 You shall not make a covenant with them or their gods. 33 They must not live in your land. For if you serve their gods, this will become a snare to you.(A)

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12 (A)Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that you are to enter; lest they become a snare among you.

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15 Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land; else, when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to them, one of them may invite you and you may partake of the sacrifice.

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The Gibeonite Deception. On hearing what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, the inhabitants of Gibeon(A) formed their own scheme. They chose provisions for a journey, making use of old sacks for their donkeys, and old wineskins, torn and mended. They wore old, patched sandals and shabby garments; and all the bread they took was dry and crumbly. Thus they journeyed to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, where they said to him and to the Israelites, “We have come from a far-off land; now, make a covenant with us.”(B) But the Israelites replied to the Hivites,[a] “You may be living in land that is ours. How, then, can we make a covenant with you?” But they answered Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you? Where do you come from?” They answered him, “Your servants have come from a far-off land, because of the fame of the Lord, your God. For we have heard reports of all that he did in Egypt(C) 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan,(D) Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us, ‘Take along provisions for the journey and go to meet them. Say to them: “We are your servants; now make a covenant with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was still warm when we brought it from home as provisions the day we left to come to you, but now it is dry and crumbly. 13 Here are our wineskins, which were new when we filled them, but now they are torn. Look at our garments and sandals; they are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 Then the Israelite leaders partook of their provisions, without inquiring of the Lord.(E) 15 So Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant to let them live,(F) which the leaders of the community sealed with an oath.

Gibeonites Made Vassals. 16 Three days after the covenant was made, the Israelites heard that these people were from nearby, and would be living in Israel. 17 The third day on the road, the Israelites came to their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim, 18 but did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. When the entire community grumbled against the leaders, 19 these all remonstrated with the community, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and so we cannot harm them. 20 Let us therefore let them live, and so deal with them that no wrath fall upon us because of the oath we have sworn to them.”(G) 21 Thus the leaders said to them, “Let them live, and become hewers of wood and drawers of water[b] for the entire community.” So the community did as the leaders advised them.(H)

22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us and say, ‘We live far off from you’?—You live among us! 23 Now are you accursed: every one of you shall always be a slave, hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were fully informed of how the Lord, your God, commanded Moses his servant that you be given the entire land and that all its inhabitants be destroyed before you. Since, therefore, at your advance, we were in great fear for our lives, we acted as we did.(I) 25 And now that we are in your power, do with us what is good and right in your eyes.” 26 [c]Joshua did what he had decided: while he saved them from being killed by the Israelites, 27 on that day he made them, as they still are, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of the Lord, in the place the Lord would choose.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:7 The Hivites: apparently the Gibeonites belonged to this larger ethnic group (cf. also 11:19), although in 2 Sm 21:2 they are classed as Amorites; both groups are listed among the seven nations of Canaan whom, according to Dt 7:1–2, the Israelites were to dispossess.
  2. 9:21 Hewers of wood and drawers of water: proverbial terms for those who do menial work; cf. Dt 29:10–11.
  3. 9:26–27 Later on, Saul violated the immunity of the Gibeonites, but David vindicated it; cf. 2 Sm 21:1–9.

40 (A)Joshua conquered the entire land; the mountain regions, the Negeb, the Shephelah, and the mountain slopes, with all their kings. He left no survivors, but put under the ban every living being, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.

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11 He also struck down with the sword every person there, carrying out the ban, till none was left alive. Hazor itself he burned. 12 All the cities of those kings, and the kings themselves, Joshua captured and put to the sword, carrying out the ban on them, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded.(A)

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but you must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you must pull down their altars.(A) But you did not listen to me. Look what you have done!

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