The Gibeonites, inhabitants of a significant city in what would become the land of Benjamin, deceived Joshua and the Israelites by misrepresenting themselves to secure a covenant of peace. Israel's leaders, failing to verify the Gibeonites' claims or seek God's counsel, entered into an oath that bound them to protect the Gibeonites, even after discovering the deception. Fearing God's wrath for breaking the agreement, the Israelites made the Gibeonites slaves, tasked with cutting wood and carrying water, a role that left them without hope of freedom. This arrangement spared their lives but severely limited their existence. The Gibeonites' subterfuge succeeded due to Israel's neglect in consulting God, despite knowing His overall will to drive out the inhabitants of the land. This failure, even by a faithful leader like Joshua, marked a low point and set a damaging precedent. Over time, the Gibeonites' influence, though they were mere servants, contributed to idolatry and helped topple the nation. Their presence became an exception to God's command to eliminate the Canaanites, a deviation that bore bitter fruit after Joshua's death as Israel abandoned the conquest and chose to enslave rather than expel other peoples. Later, the Gibeonites played a role in a tragic event during Saul's reign, when he massacred some of them in a misguided attempt to fulfill God's will without seeking His guidance. This act led to a severe famine under David's rule, which David addressed by appeasing the Gibeonites through the execution of Saul's descendants, contrary to God's law. The Gibeonites' initial deception and Israel's repeated failure to seek God's direction created a corrosive precedent, ensnaring the nation in spiritual stumbling blocks and resulting in responses driven by self-interest and bloodshed.

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us. Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you? But they said to Joshua, We are your servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are you, and where do you come from? So they said to him, From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.' This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey. Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. Gibeon was a sizeable city located in the area later allotted to Benjamin, a short distance from Jebus (Jerusalem). The people of Gibeon were Hivites, descendants of Canaan, the grandson of Noah. For their part, the Gibeonites were simply trying to save their skins. They wanted to live and pursued this end more pragmatically than the other Canaanites, who chose to go down fighting. The Gibeonites fashioned masterful disguises and played their parts exactly right to achieve their goal. Because the Israelites judged by appearances, everything appeared legitimate. The Gibeonites deftly answered the Israelites' minor inquiries, producing false evidence to support the story. The subterfuge worked, and the Gibeonites got what they were after. Evoking pity works, as the Gibeonites proved, as does playing to other emotions.

In the unfolding narrative of King David's reign, the matter of the Gibeonites reveals a deeper layer of spiritual and national unrest. God brought a famine upon the land due to Saul's earlier massacre of the Gibeonites, a Gentile group who had secured a fraudulent treaty with Joshua, thus becoming a protected class within Israel. After three years of famine, David, emerging from a spiritual slumber, chose to address the issue by delivering seven of Saul's descendants to the Gibeonites as retribution for their ancestor's sin, rather than seeking God's direct guidance. Following this act, God permitted another full season of crop failure before the rains returned, ending the famine. Though He heeded the prayer for the land, there remains a sense that His satisfaction was incomplete, hinting at unresolved issues in David's approach. This episode likely ties into the subsequent anger of the LORD against Israel, as seen in later events, suggesting that David's handling of the Gibeonites contributed to a broader context of divine displeasure.