“Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua
had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done to Jericho and her
king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had
made peace with Israel, and were among them; that they feared greatly,
because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was
greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.”
Without a tad of hyperbole, Joshua 10 records one of the Bible’s most mind-bending miracles: the day
God stopped the sun in its tracks. That episode takes place midway through the chapter. Of course, it
dominates the vast majority of Abravanel’s lengthy commentary on Joshua 10, as he fully analyzes the
subject of a suspended sun.
For our purposes here, however, we will share Abravanel’s thoughts on what precipitated the stilling of
the sun? “Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard…” Abravanel enters the king
of Jerusalem’s headspace, as it were. What had he heard, or better extrapolated, that so terribly frazzled
him, unnerving him?
In Joshua 9, we discussed Joshua’s agreement with the people of Gibeon. To say that the news didn’t go
down well with all the kings, but particularly with Adoni-zedek, would be quite the understatement; it
mortified them.
Gibeon’s move did more. It electrified an entire region of Israel. “Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of
Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of
Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying: Come up unto me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon;
for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Children of Israel.”
Abravanel scrutinizes Gibeon’s perfidy, according to Jerusalem’s King Adoni-zedek, who spearheaded
the operation to punish Gibeon and served as the de facto ruler in that part of Israel. Why all the
indignation? Four aspects of Gibeon’s conduct turned his majesty’s – and his allies’ – royal stomach(s).
- King Adoni-zedek “heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done
to Jericho.” Common decency, he bellowed, dictated that any self-respecting Canaanite show
loyalty to their fallen brethren. Comradery should have mobilized Gibeon (and others) to seek
revenge. Yet, “Gibeon had made peace with Israel.” Making peace, seen from that prism,
represented more than a moral shortcoming; it was unconscionable. How could Gibeon stoop so
low, the king seethed? - Next, Adoni-zedek resolved to punish Gibeon. He heard, what Joshua “had done to Jericho and
her king, so he had done to Ai and her king.” The king of Gibeon, recall from Joshua 9, was in the
midst of drawing up battle plans to fight the Jews. How, the five kings’ alliance shuddered to
think, could the Gibeonites betray their own king. Going behind their sovereign’s back cannot be
condoned, let alone tolerated. Conspirators! cried the kings. The king of Jerusalem, the architect
of the plan to wipe out Gibeon, had more on his mind. Perhaps, he wondered, his own people
sought a side deal with Joshua. - King Adoni-zedek further assessed that the Hebrews faced a logistics nightmare. That is, an
invading force of that magnitude, together with their wives and children would soon run out of
food and pasture land for their livestock, if war dragged on. Moreover, the Jews stared at an
acute housing crisis. That is because Jericho had been permanently set off limits by Joshua. As
for Ai, it had been burned to the ground. Gibeon’s peace accord, essentially, tossed a lifeline to
Joshua. In military terms, Gibeon’s volte face enabled the Jews to keep fighting. Our chapter
describes Gibeon as “a great city, as one of the royal cities.” They would offer Jews some
logistical relief, by selling Hebrews much needed food and supplies. - Jerusalem’s monarch dreaded to think that Gibeon could do the unthinkable, as our chapter
puts forth: “That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city…and because it was
greater than Ai.” Outrageous, the king huffed. How could Gibeon just roll over, without armed
resistance?
Here, then, is Abravanel’s close reading of the verses. It helps Bible students better understand just how
despicable and cowardly were Gibeonites, in Adoni-zedek’s eyes. They were nothing more than driveling
yellow bellies. “Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto
Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying: Come up
unto me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Children
of Israel.” In sum, the king of Jerusalem together with his allies would march on Gibeon, thereby
showing zero-tolerance toward all turncoats. That’s when Joshua stepped up on the side of the
Gibeonites. Joshua 10 proceeds to record the Jew’s route of the five kings, assisted by God Who paused
the sun from setting, allowing Joshua to complete the military victory.