seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Joshua 10:1 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed[a] it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2 He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3 So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4 “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5 Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.
5 Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.
a. Joshua 10:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 28, 35, 37, 39 and 40
Bible.org goes into the significance of this alliance.
Being very alarmed over the news of the victories of Israel, as at Jericho and Ai, and hearing of the Gibeonite’s covenant with Israel which was viewed as treasonous, one of the kings of the south, Adoni-Zedek (Lord of Righteousness), king of Jerusalem, gathered other kings of the region together to attack Gibeon. They had belonged to the Amorite coalition which was probably a defense coalition against invading forces. So, in retaliation and also because of fear of the united power of the Gibeonites with Israel, the five kings listed in Joshua 10:5, moved against the city of Gibeon.
The defection of the Gibeonites was cause for great alarm for three reasons: (1) it was discouraging to see such a large city with an excellent army surrender to the enemy, (2) without Gibeon the southern coalition was severely weakened, and (3) they constituted a fifth column that would fight with Israel in time of war. Though it had no king, Gibeon was “like one of the royal cities”; it was just as strong and influential as any city-state . There is a wordplay between “Gibeon” and “good fighters,” which is literally gibborim. Boling (p. 279) defines gibborim as “men trained in combat and prosperous enough to afford armament, squire, and leisure time for such activity.”
The defection of the Gibeonites was cause for great alarm for three reasons: (1) it was discouraging to see such a large city with an excellent army surrender to the enemy, (2) without Gibeon the southern coalition was severely weakened, and (3) they constituted a fifth column that would fight with Israel in time of war. Though it had no king, Gibeon was “like one of the royal cities”; it was just as strong and influential as any city-state . There is a wordplay between “Gibeon” and “good fighters,” which is literally gibborim. Boling (p. 279) defines gibborim as “men trained in combat and prosperous enough to afford armament, squire, and leisure time for such activity.”
So Gibeonites were strong and wealthy and now they were chopping wood and carrying water. The Israelites were really stirring up the neighbors. So, seeing what the Israelites had done to Jericho and Ai, the neighbors formed a coalition to defend themselves against the Israelites.
Here's a map of the area during Joshua's time.
