SEV Biblia, Chapter 9:23
Vosotros pues ahora sois malditos, y no faltará de vosotros siervo, y quien corte la leña y saque el agua para la casa de mi Dios.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Joshua 9:23
Verse 23. Now therefore ye are cursed] Does not this refer to what was pronounced by Noah, Gen. ix. 26, against Ham and his posterity? Did not the curse of Ham imply slavery, and nothing else? Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be; and does it not sufficiently appear that nothing else than perpetual slavery is implied in the curse of the Gibeonites? They were brought, no doubt, under tribute; performed the meanest offices for the Israelites, being in the same circumstances with the servile class of Hindoos called the Chetrees; had their national importance annihilated, and yet were never permitted to incorporate themselves with the Israelites. And we may reasonably suppose that this was the purpose of God relative to all the Canaanitish nations: those who would not renounce their idolatry, &c., were to be extirpated; those who did were to be preserved alive, on condition of becoming tributary, and serving as slaves. See the note on Deut. xx. 17. Hewers of wood and drawers of water] The disgrace of this state lay not in the labouriousness of it, but in its being the common employment of the females; if the ancient customs among the same people were such as prevail now. The most intelligent travelers in those countries represent collecting wood for fuel, and carrying water, as the peculiar employment of the females. The Arab women of Barbary do so, according to Dr. Shaw.
The daughters of the Turcomans in Palestine are employed, according to D'Arvieux, in fetching wood and water for the accommodation of their respective families. From these circumstances Mr. Harmer reasons thus: "The bitterness of the doom of the Gibeonites does not seem to have consisted in the labouriousness of the service enjoined them, for it was usual for women and children to perform what was required of them; but its degrading them from the characteristic employment of men, that of bearing arms; and condemning them and their posterity for ever to the employment of females. The not receiving them as allies was bitter; the disarming them who had been warriors, and condemning them to the employment of females, was worse; but the extending this degradation to their posterity, was bitterest of all. It is no wonder that in these circumstances they are said to have been cursed." - Obs., vol. iv., p. 297.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 23. Now therefore ye [are] cursed , etc.] Appear to be the posterity of cursed Canaan, and, notwithstanding the artifice used, should not be exempted from the curse denounced on Canaan: “a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren”, ( Genesis 9:25); as these Gibeonites were; they became the servants of the Levites, who were servants to the priests; and they seemed to be spared in Providence, that that part of the curse on Canaan might be fulfilled: “and Canaan shall be his servant”; the servant of Shem, from whom the Israelites sprang, ( Genesis 9:25,26); though the curse was turned into a blessing to the Gibeonites, since though their post and office was mean, yet they had a place in the sanctuary of the Lord, and opportunity of learning the law of God, and understanding the true religion, worship, and knowledge of God, and were an emblem and pledge of the reception of the Gentiles into the church of God: and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen ; which the oath taken did not oblige Joshua, and the princes, to exempt them from, only to let them live, ( Joshua 9:15); and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God ; which explains what is meant by the “congregation”, and who might purposely choose that phrase, to make the people more easy; but their work, as assigned them by Joshua, was not to hew wood and draw water for every one’s private use, only for the service of the sanctuary, which in some sense was the service of the congregation; and a great deal of work there was to be done of this kind, much wood to hew for keeping the fire of the altar continually burning, and for boiling the flesh of the peace offerings, and the like, and much water to draw for various uses, for the washing of the priests and the sacrifices, and various other things.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 22-27 - The Gibeonites do not justify their lie, but plead that they did it to save their lives. And the fear was not merely of the power of man; on might flee from that to the Divine protection; but of the power of God himself, which they saw engaged against them. Joshua sentences them to perpetual bondage. They must be servants, but any work become honourable, when it is done for the house of the Lord, and the office thereof. Let us, in like manner, submit to our Lord Jesus, saying, We are in thy hand, do unto us as seemeth good and right unto thee, onl save our souls; and we shall not repent it. If He appoints us to bea his cross, and serve him, that shall be neither shame nor grief to us while the meanest office in God's service will entitle us to a dwellin in the house of the Lord all the days of our life. And in coming to the Saviour, we do not proceed upon a peradventure. We are invited to dra nigh, and are assured that him that cometh to Him, he will in nowis cast out. Even those things which sound harsh, and are humbling, an form sharp trials of our sincerity, will prove of real advantage __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ועתה 6258 ארורים 779 אתם 859 ולא 3808 יכרת 3772 מכם 4480 עבד 5650 וחטבי 2404 עצים 6086 ושׁאבי 7579 מים 4325 לבית 1004 אלהי׃ 430
