Now, behold, we are in your hand: as it seems good and right to you to do to us, do.
Were the Gibeonites genuine converts to Yahweh who were sympathetic with the Israelites’ cause or enemies who believed the best way to survive was to yield rather than resist? Most commentators have concluded that they were enemies and that their craftiness (Joshua 9:4) extended to their profession of the fear of Yahweh. There are no direct statements in Scripture that indicate that the Gibeonites were converts as Rahab was. Their motivation is simply not clear enough for us to make a dogmatic judgment, though I think the majority of interpreters is correct. [Note: For some parallels between this chapter and others in Deuteronomy and Kings, see Peter J. Kearney, "The Role of the Gibeonites in the Deuteronomic History," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 35:1 (1973):1-19.] 