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     THE TANACH STUDY CENTER [http://www.tanach.org]
          In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag
     Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem Leibtag
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             Sefer Yehoshua - chapters 9->10
             
                   The Giv'onim

     The story of the Giv'onim is certainly very interesting,
but why does Sefer Yehoshua dedicate so much time to its
details?
  In this week's shiur, we try to explain why - by taking into
consideration some of the basic military problems that Bnei
Yisrael faced at this time.
  
INTRODUCTION
     Even though Bnei Yisrael boasted a rather large army,
conquering the land remained a difficult task for two primary
reasons:
  1) The threat that all the nations of Canaan (or a large
  group of them) would gather forces against him.

  2) The problem of conquering a 'walled city' - as it would
  require either a lengthy siege; or should they opt to storm
  the wall - that battle would inflict heavy casualties.

     As we explained in our shiur on chapters 3-4, the miracle
of the Jordan River had originally scared the nations from
gathering their armies against Bnei Yisrael (see 5:1); and the
miracle of the 'wall of Jericho' helped Yehoshua conquer that
walled city.
  However, Bnei Yisrael's defeat in their first battle against
"ha-Ai" indicated that Yehoshua's army was indeed vulnerable,
and hence Yehoshua immediately expresses his fear that the
nations will now gather against him (see 7:7-9)!  And even
though they had defeated ha-Ai in the second battle, that
victory could be attributed to the use of wise military
strategy that drew the enemy's army outside their walled city.
  For these reasons, as Sefer Yehoshua now informs us, the
nations of Canaan begin their effort to organize a counter
attack, realizing that Yehoshua was planning to continue his
military campaign into the mountain range:
  "And it came to pass, when all the kings that were beyond
  the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and on
  all the shore of the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the
  Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the
  Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard... they gathered themselves
  together, to fight against Yehoshua & Israel... (see 9:1-2).

     As Providence would have it, one nation - the Giv'onim -
broke away from this growing alliance, and decided to attempt
to make peace with Yehoshua.  This decision, as we will show,
led to a chain of events that basically solved these two
military problems facing Yehoshua, and facilitated his
conquest of the south.  We begin our shiur with an explanation
why the Giv'onim were the first to surrender.
  
WHY THE GIV'ONIM WERE AFRAID
  It became rather obvious to the Canaanites that Yehoshua was
planning a strategy of 'divide and conquer' - i.e. to cut the
country in half by crossing the mountain range from east to
west - thus isolating the North from the South.  As we noted
above, it was for this reason that they now decide to join
together (see 9:1).  But let's consider what they would assume
is going to be the next step of Yehoshua's campaign.
  
  Bnei Yisrael had set up their camp in the Gilgal (in the
Jordan Valley), and then successfully defeated ha-Ai - a city
located on the eastern slopes of the central mountain range,
in a key position along the east-west highway.  Now, it would
only be logical for Yehoshua to continue eastward along this
highway, continuing on to Bet El and Giv'on (near today’s
Ramallah), and then descend into the "shefeila" area (the
lowlands near Latrun and Lod) thru the narrow Bet Choron pass
on the western slopes of the mountain range [more or less
along Highway #443].  From there, he would be able to attack
and secure the southern coastal plain.
  Therefore, the Giv'onim most probably concluded that their
geographic area would be Yehoshua's next target.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM
  As the Giv'onim (and their surrounding area) must have
realized they didn’t stand a chance against Yehoshua's army,
they devised a plan to save themselves by tricking Yehoshua
into 'signing a peace treaty'.  They also probably figured
that the new coalition of nations that was now forming would
not be organized in sufficient time to save their city.
  But why didn't they just surrender without resorting to
trickery?  Surely, they must have realized that sooner or
later, their true identity would be discovered!
  One of the most interesting aspects of this story is what we
can infer regarding the assumptions that the Giv'onim must
have had concerning Am Yisrael and their laws.  Let's explain:

UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS
     Even though the Giv'onim realized that Yehoshua would
ultimately uncover their true identity (that they actually
lived in Eretz Canaan, and did not come from 'a faraway
land'); nonetheless, they must have assumed that if they could
secure a treaty in God's Name, even if signed under false
pretenses, Bnei Yisrael would certainly keep to it!
  To support this, note how the Giv'onim were very careful to
secure a treaty that included an 'oath' in God's Name with a
clause stipulating that they would not be killed:
  "And Yehoshua made peace with them, and he made a covenant
  to LEAVE THEM ALIVE, and the princes of Israel made them an
  OATH" (9:15).

     How did they reach this conclusion?  How did they know
(or why did they think) that Bnei Yisrael would not break any
type of oath made in God's Name?
     To answer this question, let's take special note of how
they presented their case to Yehoshua:
  "And they answered Yehoshua saying: We, your servants, have
  come from a land very far away for the sake of the NAME of
  GOD your God, for we heard His reputation and everything He
  had done to Egypt... now make with us a covenant" (9:9-11).

     Note how the Giv'onim explained to Yehoshua WHY they had
allegedly made this long journey: for the sake of God's Name.
Had they not offered this reason for their journey, Bnei
Yisrael may have been more suspicious concerning the
authenticity of their story.  But what led the Giv'onim to
assume that Bnei Yisrael would be impressed by this reason of
'for the sake of God's Name'?

FOR THE SAKE OF GOD'S NAME
  It appears that the Giv'onim were not only aware that Bnei
Yisrael had been commanded to conquer the seven nations of
Canaan (that is why they thought that they couldn’t make
peace), but they may have also heard that their ultimate goal
was to set up a nation that would represent God to other
nations.
  [If some two million people traveling through the desert for
  forty years knew this, then 'rumors' easily could have
  spread to the nations living in Canaan.]
  
  Because respect for God's Name was so important to the
Jewish people (see the Third Commandment), the Giv'onim
assumed that Bnei Yisrael would not go back on this oath, for
doing so would be a desecration of His Name.
  [See Yehoshua 7:9, as well as Bamidbar 14:15-16 and Devarim
  9:28-29.]
  
     The Giv'onim may have also assumed that Bnei Yisrael
would be eager to accept their story, for upon hearing that
these people had come from so far away for the sake of God's
Name, their leaders would become quite excited to hear that
God's ultimate goal was already being reached!  [See parallel
concept in Yeshayahu 2:2-4 and Zecharya 8:20-22.]

     And that is exactly what happened.  Bnei Yisrael actually
accepted their story so quickly that they didn't even bother
to consult with God (see 9:14), and then ratified a treaty
with an oath (see 9:15)!  It was only three days later when
they finally realized that they had been duped (see 9:16-17).
Nonetheless, they kept their oath not to kill them, for they
had entered into a treaty in God's Name (see 9:18-19)!
  Finally, when questioned by Yehoshua why they had lied, they
answered quite frankly:
  "For we have been told that God had commanded that you
  should conquer this land, and to destroy all the inhabitants
  of this land, and we feared greatly for our lives!" (9:24).

A NEW DEAL
     Even though Bnei Yisrael kept their oath not to kill the
Giv'onim, the treaty [i.e. the "brit"] itself was nullified,
for it had been made under false pretenses.  Instead, Yehoshua
reached a new agreement - this time instead of a "brit"
between two sovereign nations, Yehoshua now submitted the
Giv'onim to servitude, so that they could provide services as
water carriers and woodcutters for the needs of God's House
(see 9:23, 26-27).
     What the Giv'onim apparently did not realize was that
they could have reached the very same agreement without all of
this  deception.  As Rambam in Hilchot Melachim 6:5 explains
(based on Devarim 20:10), any nation of Canaan had the option
to make peace with Yehoshua, as long as they accepted
conditions of servitude (i.e. by giving up their political
sovereignty), and if they agreed to live according to the
Torah’s rules for Gentile nations.
  [It is highly recommend that you read that entire chapter of
  the Rambam [Hilchot Melachim Chapter six.]

     In other words, had the Giv'onim simply come to Yehoshua
as Giv'onim, and suggested a peace agreement where they would
accept Israel's sovereignty, while keeping their own autonomy;
Yehoshua would have accepted such an arrangement.  The
Giv'onim resorted to trickery because they were not aware of
that possibility, but in the end result, they arrived at the
same 'deal' that they could have achieved through regular
means.
     However, as far as Am Yisrael is concerned, this treaty
with the Giv'onim -as we shall now explain - becomes the
crucial event which leads to their conquest of the entire
south.

THE FIVE KINGS ATTACK GIV'ON
     As a result of this treaty, Yehoshua had secured an ally
living in a very strategic location - for the cities of the
Giv'onim were located very close to the crossroads between the
east-west highway (from Jericho to Lod) and the north-south
highway (from Hebron to Shechem – see map of Israel :Highways
60 & 443).
  However, this treaty posed a direct threat to the nations of
Canaan who had already joined forces to plan an attack against
Yehoshua (see 9:1-2) for two reasons.  First of all, if Giv'on
surrendered, possibly other nations would follow; but more
important, Giv'on was located in a very strategic area, and
the new coalition needed control of these crossroads.
Therefore, the Five Kings of the southern mountain range and
lowlands immediately reacted by attacking the Giv'onim, in
order to regain control of this strategic area (see 10:1-5).
     Outnumbered, the Giv'onim asked Yehoshua for immediate
military assistance (see 10:6-7).  We must now ask: why did
Yehoshua agree to help them?  After all, if the only reason
why Bnei Yisrael had not been able to kill the Giv'onim was
because of a 'technical loophole' (i.e. the oath that they had
mistakenly taken), then this would have been a perfect
opportunity for Bnei Yisrael to allow someone else to 'do the
dirty work'!  In other words, Yehoshua should have just
remained passive, thus allowing the Five Kings to kill the
Giv'onim.
  Instead, Yehoshua rushes to their aid, bringing with him a
very large army (see 10:7).  Why is he so eager to assist
them?

KEEPING PROMISES
     Before we discuss the military considerations, we should
first note how Yehoshua's actions support the Rambam's
contention that it was permitted to make peace with the seven
nations of Canaan (see above).  As this treaty was actually
permitted, Yehoshua now had a moral obligation to help his
ally.
  However, Yehoshua also had very much to gain from a military
perspective.  As one of his major problems was attacking
walled cities, the current situation provided Yehoshua with a
fantastic opportunity to engage these five armies outside the
walls of their cities (similar to his strategy in the second
battle against ha-Ai - see 8:1-3).  As these Five Kings had no
idea (nor expectation) that Yehoshua would engage them at this
time, they were caught totally by surprise, and immediately
retreated as soon as they saw Yehoshua's army (see 10:8-9).

BUYING TIME
  As the armies of the Five Kings immediately retreated (in an
attempt to flee back towards their walled cities /see 10:10-
11) - Yehoshua had to chase them as quickly as possible to
catch them BEFORE they reached their walled cities.  However,
he had limited time to do so, for as soon as night would fall,
his opportunity would be lost – under the cover of night, the
armies would be able to sneak back into their cities.
Yehoshua needed to 'buy some time'!
     This military setting provides us with a perfect
explanation for why Yehoshua asked God to intervene with a
miracle.  His famous request of "shemesh be-Giv'on dom...." -
for the sun to hold its position in Giv'on, and the moon in
the Ayalon valley (see 10:12) - was simply a request that
would allow him additional time to pursue his enemy before
they returned to their walled cities.

  Not only did God answer this request, He also provides
Yehoshua with 'artillery support' by sending large stones from
heaven to slow the enemy's retreat as they descended the Mevo
Choron pass (see 10:11).
  [For those of you familiar with modern Israel, this Mevo
  Choron pass is located in the middle of the 'alternate'
  Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway [#443] that begins in the area of
  Giv'on (near Ramot & GIvat Zeev /Nebi Samuel), and then
  continues westward down the mountain range via the pass of
  Bet Choron until it reaches the Sha'alvim/Modi'in area in
  Emek Ayalon.]

     With this extra time and divine assistance, Yehoshua is
able to rout the retreating armies of the five kings in the
field, and catches the kings themselves hiding in a cave near
Makedah (see 10:15-27).  Afterward, he continued with his
conquest from Makedah, marching from city to city, most of
them now left defenseless (see 10:29-39).

  In a related event, the King of Gezer (not one of the
original Five Kings) takes his army to assist Lachish against
Yehoshua.  Here again, this works to Bnei Yisrael's advantage,
for once again an entire army leaves their walled city, and
Yehoshua is able to defeat them in the open field (see 10:33-
35).  In this manner, Bnei Yisrael secured control of the
southern mountain area and "shefeila" lowlands, as well as the
Negev and parts of the coastal plain near Gaza (see 10:28-43).

A 'LUCKY MISTAKE'
     In a rather ironic manner, Yehoshua's 'mistaken treaty'
with the Giv'onim led to a series of events that created a
military opportunity allowing him to conquer the entire
southern half of the country quite easily; despite their
walled cities and attempted unity.  In hindsight, Yehoshua and
the tribal leaders made a very 'good mistake' by believing the
Giv'onim!
     Once again, Sefer Yehoshua explains how God assisted the
people of Israel in their battles - in many various ways,
whenever they themselves took the initiative.