They answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told your servants, how that Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
The people gathered at the mountains Gerizim and Ebal, on either side of Shechem, to collectively declare their loyalty to the covenant. The six tribes who gathered at Mt Gerizim answered ‘Amen’ as the blessings of the law were read. The six tribes who gathered at Mt Ebal answered ‘Amen’ as the curses for disobedience were read (33-35; cf. Deuteronomy 27:11-14).