The Curious Tale of the Gibeonites Quiz

Answer: Jericho

"Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things - those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) - they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel. However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: ..." (Joshua 9 v. 1-3)

The Gibeonites are here included within the Hivite grouping although later they will be classified as Amorites (2 Samuel 21 v. 2).

Despite an account from the book of Joshua that the Israelites were successful in carrying out their instructions, evidence from elsewhere suggests that the entry was more likely one of assimilation (Judges 3 v. 5-6) and that remnants of these peoples were still living in the land up to the reign of King Solomon (2 Chronicles 8 v. 7-8). The Gibeonites (known subsequently as the Natinim) were recorded in the Talmud as still being in existence within Israel over 1,000 years after these events.

Jericho was famously taken after the Israelites marched round its walls once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh (Joshua 6 v. 12-20).

Answer: Gilgal

"Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us" (Joshua 9 v. 6)

In Joshua's time, twelve stones taken from the bottom of the river Jordan were erected at Gilgal to remind the Israelites that the river had miraculously parted to let them pass. It is also recorded as a place where sacrifices were offered to God during the time of Samuel and Saul. Gilgal may also have been a site where offerings were made to pagan gods as it is criticised by the prophets Hosea and Amos:
"Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious" (Hosea 9 v. 15).

Gomer was the adulterous wife of the prophet Hosea. Gopher is the type of wood stipulated for the building of the ark (Genesis 6 v. 14). Godalming is a town in Southern England.

Answer: That they had come a long way and did not live in Canaan

"However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, 'We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.'" (Joshua 9 v. 3-6)

And it worked!

Answer: Seek God's view on the matter

"The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath." (Joshua 9 v. 14-15)

The passage does not specify the means by which an answer might have come from God but the book of Samuel suggests that the most common ways were through dreams, prophetic utterances or use of the Urim and Thurrim (1 Samuel 26 v. 8). The Urim and Thurrim were two small objects (the Bible gives us no more information than that) that seem to have been used in situations when a simple "yes" or "no" answer was required.

Answer: Three days

"Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim." (Joshua 9 v. 16-17)

The time period of three days occurs frequently in the Bible and may be intended not to be taken literally but as an expression of a relatively short period of time (i.e. it didn't take the Israelites long to travel to where the Gibeonites lived).

All of the other time spans are used elsewhere in the Bible. Seven days was the length of Creation (Genesis 1) including the day of rest; the duration of the Passover festival (Leviticus 23 v. 4-8) and the time spent marching around the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6 v. 12-16). Forty days was the length of the flood (Genesis 7 v. 17 but note also v. 24 which states that the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days) and of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4 v. 1-2). Forty-two months is the period of Jerusalem's occupation in the book of Revelation (Revelation 11 v. 1-2).

Answer: They were angry but accepted that nothing could be done

The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, but all the leaders answered, "We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them." (Joshua 9 v. 18-20)

Despite the Israelites' instructions to cast out the inhabitants of Canaan, and God's clear statement not to enter into any covenants with the local peoples (Exodus 23 v. 32) and despite the fact that the Gibeonites had used deception, God still required the Israelites to honor their commitment. In the ancient world, a covenant was a solemn undertaking between two people(s) and was intended to be unbreakable. Just as God had entered into a covenant with Israel that reflected his integrity and faithfulness, so he required them to bring that same level of integrity to any covenants into which they entered.

This may also lie behind Jesus' teaching that one should try not to swear by oath but "simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'" (Matthew 5 v. 33-37).

Answer: They cut wood and carried water

"So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day." (Joshua 9 v. 26-7)

With so many burnt offerings being made each year, one suspects that a woodcutter in the Temple was never under employed! It is, however, debateable whether the Gibeonites ever performed these duties in the Jerusalem temple or whether their role was limited to the local shrine at Gibeon. This had prominence during the reigns of Saul and David and was the scene of Solomon's famous dream on his ascension to the throne:
"Then Solomon spoke to all Israel - to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families - and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God's Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the Lord's servant had made in the desert. ... That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, 'Ask for whatever you want me to give you. Solomon answered God, "You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ... Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?'" (2 Chronicles 1 v. 2-3, 7-8 and 10)

Answer: The sun stood still

"On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: 'O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon'. So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" (Joshua 10 v. 12-14)

Nobody knows for certain what happened here and theories range from the figurative use of language to the literal truth as described. It isn't, however, the only instance in the Bible of extraordinary solar activity. God made the sun move backward for King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20 v. 8-11).

The following verses from G. K. Chesterton's poem, "The Ballad Of The Battle Of Gibeon" also celebrate the event:

"Stand thou still, thou sun upon Gibeon,
Stand thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon!
Shout thou, people, a cry like thunder,
For the kings of the earth are broken asunder.
Now we have said as the thunder says it,
Something is stronger than strength and slays it.
Now we have written for all time later,
Five kings are great, yet a law is greater.
Stare, O sun! in thine own great glory,
This is the turn of the whole world's story.
Stand thou still, thou sun upon Gibeon,
Stand thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon!

Smite! amid spear-blades blazing and breaking.
More than we know of is rising and making.
Stab with the javelin, crash with the car!
Cry! for we know not the thing that we are.
Stand, O sun! that in horrible patience
Smiled on the smoke and the slaughter of nations.
Thou shalt grow sad for a little crying,
Thou shalt be darkened for one man's dying-
Stand thou still, thou sun upon Gibeon,
Stand thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon!

After the battle was broken and spent
Up to the hill the Deliverer went,
Flung up his arms to the storm-clouds flying,
And cried unto Israel, mightily crying,
'Come up, O warriors! come up, O brothers!
Tribesmen and herdsmen, maidens and mothers;
The bondman's son and the bondman's daughter,
The hewer of wood and the drawer of water,
He that carries and he that brings,
And set your foot on the neck of kings."

(from "The Wild Knight and Other Poems" (1900))

Answer: Saul

"The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)" (2 Samuel 23 v. 2)

2 Samuel 23 is one of the most difficult of Old Testament passages to interpret. Summarised simply: There was a famine in Israel. David consulted God and came to the conclusion that it was due to Saul and his attempt at ethnic cleansing. As Saul was dead by this time, David approached the surviving Gibeonites who asked that they be given some members of Saul's family to execute. David handed them over and these seemingly innocent people were put to death. The famine then ended indicating that God had been appeased.

Some commentators have suggested that this says more about David than it does about God. In these times, it was common for a new king to eradicate all male remnants of the previous dynasty to prevent them becoming a focus for political opposition. Thus, it is argued, David took advantage of the famine to have the remaining sons of Saul killed whilst hiding behind a cloak of religion.

Answer: Allowing enemies to attack and conquer the Israelites

"The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon - to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task. Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land." (Isaiah 28 v. 21-22)

The reference may be to the battle under Joshua (Joshua 10) or to David's rout of the Philistines at Baal Perazim and his subsequent pursuit of them "all the way from Gibeon to Gezer" (1 Chronicles 14 v. 16).

It may seem ironic to begin a quiz with a quotation stating that God was giving Canaan into the Israelites' hands and finish with one speaking of his willingness to take it away. It is, however, entirely consistent with a God whose faithfulness is taken as beyond question but who made it clear that possession of the Land was conditional upon obedience:
"If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name - the Lord your God ... Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess" (Deuteronomy 28 v. 58 and 63).