And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
The men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua. Their appeal was urgent, and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (Joshua 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind (Joshua 10:8) with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle for life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God, and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.