Joshua 9:19

All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Israelite leaders address the grumbling congregation after the Gibeonites' deception is uncovered. They respond to the people's complaint by defending their decision to spare the Gibeonites.

The words — נִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּ (nish.Ba'.nu) translates literally to "we have sworn an oath," marking the vow as completed and binding. כָּל־ (kol-) appears twice in the supply to emphasize that "all" the leaders and "all" the congregation are engaged in the dispute.

The thread — The binding force of an oath before God appears in Ecclesiastes 8:2, which commands keeping a king’s decree because of an oath made to God. Joshua 9:20 immediately follows this verse by proposing to spare the Gibeonites specifically to avoid divine wrath for breaking that same oath.

Why it lands — The text records the leaders stating a factual constraint: they cannot harm the Gibeonites because they already bound themselves by an oath to the Lord. A reader must acknowledge that a public vow before God creates a binding obligation that overrides immediate political or military convenience.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּאמְר֤וּva/i.yo.me.Ruand/ they said כָל־khol-all הַנְּשִׂיאִים֙ha./ne.si.'Imthe/ leaders אֶל־'el-to כָּל־kol-all הָ֣עֵדָ֔הha./'e.Dahthe/ congregation אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙'a.Nach.nuwe נִשְׁבַּ֣עְנוּnish.Ba'.nuwe have sworn an oathלָהֶ֔םla./Hemto <the>/ themבַּֽיהוָ֖הba./Yah.wehby/ Yahweh אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei[the] God of יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsrael וְעַתָּ֕הve./'a.Tahand/ therefore לֹ֥אlo'not נוּכַ֖לnu.Khalwe are able לִנְגֹּ֥עַli/n.Go.a'to/ touchבָּהֶֽם׃ba./Hem<in> <the>/ them

King James Version

But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 8:2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Joshua 9:20 This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2 It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.
Jeremiah 4:2 and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”