What Does Joshua 9:20 Mean in the King James?
This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The oath turns a pledge spoken under deception into a boundary that now keeps the Gibeonites alive.
THE MEANING
A spoken commitment reaches beyond the moment it is made and limits what the speaker can do. Here, the leaders keep the Gibeonites alive because they have sworn, and their fear of wrath makes the pledge’s cost visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If an agreement was secured by deception, breaking it is automatically consequence-free.
THE ROOT
נִשְׁבַּעְנוּ
nishbaʿnu
GROWS FROM
שבע
to swear, to bind oneself by an oath
“sware / oath” in this verse is nishbaʿnu. English makes “swore” and “oath” look like separate ideas, while Hebrew carries both through the root שבע. The leaders’ spoken act becomes a binding limit on their next decision, preserving the lives of the people they had reason to destroy.
ALSO GROWS
shavaʿ: to swear
שָׁבַע
This verb names the act the leaders have already completed; their decision now follows from it.
shevuʿah: oath, sworn pledge
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun names the bond created by the act of swearing, the reason they cannot treat their words as disposable.
הַחֲיֵה
haḥayeh
GROWS FROM
חיה
to live, be alive; in this form, to keep alive
“let them live” in this verse is haḥayeh. The Hebrew form points toward keeping them alive, tying the leaders’ decision to active preservation. The same root names life itself, so the pledge’s consequence is concrete: these people continue living.
ALSO GROWS
ḥay: living, alive
חַי
The root describes the state the Gibeonites are to remain in.
ḥayyim: life
חַיִּים
This familiar branch makes the outcome plain: the leaders’ oath protects life.
THE PATTERN
A sworn or spoken commitment limits the speaker’s later choices, even when keeping it carries a cost.
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.When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.THE THREAD
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.Psalm 15 uses נִשְׁבַּע (nishbaʿ, “swears”), from the same Hebrew root שבע as Joshua’s “we sware.” The shared root makes the pledge’s force visible: even when keeping it is costly, the sworn word can hold a speaker’s power in check.
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