But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
"Who are ye? and from whence come ye? ..."  (Joshua 9:8).  Here the Gibeonites were confronted with the crucial question regarding their actual identity.  The artful manner of their skillful deception in the answers they gave are truly a marvel.  They felt themselves obliged to give a detailed answer, and they did it very artfully with a mixture, of truth, falsehood, and hypocrisy."[15]