That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
They feared greatly. The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.
As one of the royal cities. Although itself a republic (Joshua 9:3), it was large and well fortified, like those places in which the chiefs of the country usually established their residence.