Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelite leaders address the Gibeonite delegation and the assembly, resolving how to handle the treaty after discovering their deception but recognizing their binding oath.
The words — The text anchors its decision in זֹ֛את (zot, “this”) and קֶ֔צֶף (ke.tzef, “wrath”), declaring a concrete course of action. The leaders state they will actively preserve the Gibeonites’ lives specifically to prevent divine anger from striking them for violating their sworn promise.
The thread — This obligation to honor a commitment despite unfavorable conditions runs alongside Proverbs 20:25 on the trap of hasty vows and Malachi 3:5 on judgment against perjurers. The narrative treats the oath as a fixed boundary that dictates subsequent action.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to treat sworn commitments as binding obligations regardless of changed circumstances. It demands that personal integrity and verbal promises take precedence over convenience or revised judgment.
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
King James Version
This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 20:25 It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
- Ezekiel 17:12 “Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- 2 Samuel 21:1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Zechariah 5:3 Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
- Romans 1:31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
- 1 Timothy 1:10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching