9:3 Gibeon. The action of the people of Gibeon (eight miles north of Jerusalem) is in contrast to the general pattern throughout Canaan (vv. 1, 2).

heard. The effect of the news of God’s powerful faithfulness to His promises is an important theme in the account of the conquest (2:10, 11; 5:1; 9:1, 9; 10:1; 11:1; cf. 7:9). For the Canaanites this news was terrifying, for it meant that the God of heaven and earth (2:11) would destroy them (5:13–12:24 note).