Bible Strands
Joshua 9:7
But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The men of Israel address the Hivites at Gilgal after hearing their claim of distant origins. Joshua and his commanders pause to evaluate the Hivites' proximity before deciding whether to formalize an agreement.
The words — The text records אִישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵל (ish-Yisra'el, "man of Israel") and אוּלַי (ulai, "perhaps"). These terms mark the Israelite leaders' tentative assessment of the Hivites' location and the unresolved question of their true origin.
The thread — The negotiation directly engages the command in Judges 2:2 prohibiting covenants with the land's inhabitants. The outcome contrasts with Joshua 11:19, which notes that only the Hivites of Gibeon secured peace, while the Hivites themselves appear in the genealogical record of Genesis 10:17.
Why it lands — The verse documents a moment of political calculation where Israel's leaders prioritize proximity over prior instruction. It establishes the factual basis for the subsequent treaty that will later require divine intervention to resolve.
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
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?
Cross-references
- Joshua 11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle.
- Judges 2:2 and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Genesis 10:17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
- Genesis 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
- Exodus 3:8 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Exodus 23:31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
- Exodus 34:12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Numbers 33:52 you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 20:16 However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.