Ver. 14. And the men took of their victuals— It has been asked in what light they thus took of it? and some pretend it was to taste with them in token of friendship, peace, and alliance, according to the ancient custom in use among almost all nations. Others think it was rather to examine whether their bread was, as they said, dry and mouldy, like a biscuit which has been a long voyage.
And asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord— They did not consult the high-priest, arrayed in the breast-plate with the Urim and Thummim, as they ought to have done, to know from his mouth the will of the Lord. They were determined by views merely political. After a bare inspection of the victuals which the Gibeonites brought with them, they believed their declaration, and received them cordially, without giving themselves the trouble of consulting God, who, in all probability, would have permitted them to make peace with them, on the conditions imposed by Joshua, and secretly prescribed by his divine providence.