Joshua 9:18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

◄ Joshua 9:18 ►

New International Version
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders,

New Living Translation
But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty.

English Standard Version
But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.

Berean Standard Bible
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

King James Bible
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

New King James Version
But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

New American Standard Bible
But the sons of Israel did not attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

NASB 1995
The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

NASB 1977
And the sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

Legacy Standard Bible
But the sons of Israel did not strike them down because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

Amplified Bible
But the sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel [to spare them]. And all the congregation murmured [expressing great dissatisfaction] against the leaders.

Christian Standard Bible
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

American Standard Version
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by Jehovah, the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

Contemporary English Version
But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the LORD that they would let these people live. The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack,

English Revised Version
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The Israelites didn't destroy these other people, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath about them to the LORD God of Israel. The whole congregation complained about the leaders.

Good News Translation
But the Israelites could not kill them, because their leaders had made a solemn promise to them in the name of the LORD, Israel's God. All the people complained to the leaders about this,

International Standard Version
The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders.

Majority Standard Bible
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

NET Bible
The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the LORD God of Israel. The whole community criticized the leaders,

New Heart English Bible
The children of Israel did not strike them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation murmured against the leaders.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

World English Bible
The children of Israel didn’t strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
and the sons of Israel have not struck them, for the princes of the congregation have sworn to them by YHWH, God of Israel, and all the congregation murmur against the princes.

Young's Literal Translation
and the sons of Israel have not smitten them, for sworn to them have the princes of the company by Jehovah God of Israel, and all the company murmur against the princes.

Smith's Literal Translation
And the sons of Israel smote them not, for the chiefs of the assembly sware to them by Jehovah the God of Israel. And all the assembly will murmur against the chiefs.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they slew them not, because the princes of the multitude had sworn in the name of the Lord the God of Israel. Then all the common people murmured against the princes.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And they did not strike them, because the leaders of the multitude had sworn to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And so all of the common people murmured against the leaders.

New American Bible
but did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. When the entire community grumbled against the leaders,

New Revised Standard Version
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And the children of Israel did not kill them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And the whole congregation murmured and were in an uproar against the princes.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And the children of Israel did not kill them, because the Princes of the assembly swore to them by LORD JEHOVAH The God of Israel, and all of the assembly were complaining and were in an uproar against the Princes

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Land the children of Israel fought not with them, because all the princes sware to them by the Lord God of Israel; and all the congregation murmured at the princes.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

The Deceit of the Gibeonites
…17So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders. 19All 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 · Download

Cross References

Numbers 30:2
If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. / But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin. / Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

Psalm 15:4
who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. / It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

Judges 11:35
As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”

2 Samuel 21:1-2
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.” / At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)

1 Samuel 14:24-28
Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food. / Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. / And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. ...

2 Kings 12:15
No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity.

2 Chronicles 6:22-23
When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple, / then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Ezekiel 17:18-19
He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’ / Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

Matthew 5:33-37
Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ / But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; / or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ...

Matthew 23:16-22
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ / You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? / And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ ...

Romans 1:31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20
When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”? / But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” / For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” ...

Galatians 3:15
Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.

Treasury of Scripture

And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

had sworn

2 Samuel 21:7
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

Psalm 15:4
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Ecclesiastes 5:2,6
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few…

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Joshua 9

1. The kings combine against Israel
3. The Gibeonites by craft obtain a league
22. They are condemned to perpetual bondage

Berean Study Bible

But the Israelites did not attack them
This phrase highlights a pivotal moment of restraint by the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "attack" is "נָגַף" (nagaph), which often implies a forceful strike or defeat. Historically, the Israelites were commanded to conquer the land of Canaan, yet here they refrain due to a prior oath. This restraint underscores the importance of honoring commitments, even when made under deceptive circumstances, reflecting a deep respect for covenants in the ancient Near Eastern context.

because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath
The act of swearing an oath in ancient Israel was a solemn and binding commitment. The Hebrew word for "sworn" is "שָׁבַע" (shaba), which conveys the idea of making a promise with a sacred obligation. This phrase emphasizes the gravity of oaths, especially those made in the name of the LORD. It serves as a reminder of the spiritual and communal responsibility leaders held in guiding the people according to divine principles.

to them by the LORD, the God of Israel
Invoking the name of the LORD, "יְהוָה" (Yahweh), in an oath was to call upon the highest authority and to bind the oath with divine witness. This phrase underscores the seriousness with which the Israelites viewed their relationship with God. The title "the God of Israel" reaffirms the covenantal relationship between Yahweh and His chosen people, highlighting the expectation of faithfulness and integrity in their dealings.

So the whole assembly grumbled against the leaders
The Hebrew root for "grumbled" is "לוּן" (lun), which conveys a sense of murmuring or complaining. This reaction from the assembly reflects a common human response to perceived injustice or dissatisfaction. Historically, the Israelites often expressed discontent during their wilderness journey, and this incident echoes those moments. It serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges of leadership and the importance of maintaining unity and trust within a community, even amidst difficult decisions.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - And the children of Israel smote them not. There is great difference of opinion among the commentators as to whether this oath were binding off the Israelites or not. This difference is to be found among Roman Catholics as well as Protestants, and Cornelius a Lapide gives the ingenious and subtle arguments used on both sides by the Jesuit commentators. Many contend that as it was obtained by fraud, and especially by a representation that the Gibeonites did not belong to the tribes which Joshua was specially commanded to destroy (see Deuteronomy 20:10-18, with which compare the passages cited in note on ver. 7), it was null and void, ab initio. But the Israelites had sworn by the sacred name of Jehovah to spare the Gibeonites. It would have been to degrade that sacred name, and possibly (ver. 20) to bring trouble on themselves, to break that oath under any pretence whatever. If they had been deceived the fault was their own. The Jehovah by whom they swore had provided them with a ready mode of detecting such deceit, had they chosen to use it. Calvin, though he thinks the princes of the congregation were unnecessarily scrupulous, remarks on the superiority of Israelitish to Roman morals. It would have been easy enough for the congregation to argue, as the Romans did after the disaster at the Candine Forks, that the agreement was of no effect, because it was not made with the whole people. Cicero, however, had no sympathy with such morality. He writes ('De Officiis,' 1:13), "Atque etiam si quid singuli temporibus adducti, hosti promiserunt, est in eo ipso tides conservanda." And not a few instances of similar perfidy since the promulgation of Christianity may lead us to the conclusion that the example of Israel trader Joshua is not yet superfluous. As instances of such perfidy, we may adduce the battle of Varna, in 1444, in which Ladislaus, king of Hungary, was induced by the exhortations of Cardinal Julian to break the truce he bad entered into with Amurath, sultan of the Turks. It is said in this case that Amurath, in his distress, invoked Jesus Christ to punish the perfidy of His disciples. Be that as it may, a signal defeat fitly rewarded their disregard of truth. Later instances may be drawn from the conflict between Spain and the Netherlands in the latter part of the sixteenth century, in which the Spaniards frequently and wantonly, in the supposed interests of religion, violated the articles of capitulation formally entered into with the insurgents. These breakers of their plighted word also found that "wrath was upon them;" that God would not prosper the arms of those who, professedly for His sake, were false to their solemn obligations. Both the princes, in the narrative before us, in withstanding the wrath of the congregation, and the congregation in yielding to their representations, present a spectacle of moral principle which few nations have surpassed. Cornelius a Lapide, after giving the opinions of others, as we have seen, and remarking on the opinion here followed as "probabilior," sums up in the following noble and manly words: "Disce hic quam sancte fides, praesertim jurata, sit servanda hosti, etiam impio et infideli. Fide enim sublata, evertitur omnis hominum contractus et societas, quae fidei quasi basi innititur, ut homines jam non homines, sed leones, tygrides, et ferae esse videantur." Would that his Church had always acted upon these insatiable principles of justice and morality! In after years a terrible famine visited the Israelites as a chastisement for the infringement of this agreement (see 2 Samuel 21:1-9). Murmured. Literally, were stubborn.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

But the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

did not
וְלֹ֤א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

attack them,
הִכּוּם֙ (hik·kūm)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5221: To strike

because
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the leaders
נְשִׂיאֵ֣י (nə·śî·’ê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5387: An exalted one, a king, sheik, a rising mist

of the congregation
הָֽעֵדָ֔ה (hā·‘ê·ḏāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5712: A stated assemblage

had sworn an oath
נִשְׁבְּע֤וּ (niš·bə·‘ū)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7650: To seven oneself, swear

to them
לָהֶם֙ (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

by the LORD,
בַּֽיהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of Israel.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

And the whole
כָל־ (ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

congregation
הָעֵדָ֖ה (hā·‘ê·ḏāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5712: A stated assemblage

grumbled
וַיִּלֹּ֥נוּ (way·yil·lō·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3885: To stop, to stay permanently, to be obstinate

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the leaders.
הַנְּשִׂיאִֽים׃ (han·nə·śî·’îm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5387: An exalted one, a king, sheik, a rising mist

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OT History: Joshua 9:18 The children of Israel didn't strike them (Josh. Jos)