But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
The whole paragraph here vividly reflects the restrictions imposed by  Exodus 23:32 and  Deuteronomy 7:12.  Morton stressed this, pointing out that the Gibeonites were careful to pretend that they came from a "far country"; also the Israelites' remark, "peradventure you dwell among us" likewise reflects those same restrictions.[14]  This is very significant, for it shows that not merely all Israel but that the total population of Canaan knew of those restrictions laid down through Moses to the effect that the Israelites were NOT to make a covenant with the Canaanites, NOR intermarry with them, NOR to compromise with them in any manner, but they were to drive them out of Palestine.