Joshua Chapter 9 verse 8 Holy Bible

ASV Joshua 9:8

And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
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BBE Joshua 9:8

And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. Then Joshua said to them, Who are you and where do you come from?
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DARBY Joshua 9:8

And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
read chapter 9 in DARBY

KJV Joshua 9:8

And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
read chapter 9 in KJV

WBT Joshua 9:8

And they said to Joshua, we are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and whence come ye?
read chapter 9 in WBT

WEB Joshua 9:8

They said to Joshua, We are your servants. Joshua said to them, Who are you? and from whence come you?
read chapter 9 in WEB

YLT Joshua 9:8

and they say unto Joshua, `Thy servants we `are'.' And Joshua saith unto them, `Who `are' ye? and whence come ye?'
read chapter 9 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 8. - We are thy servants. This does not mean altogether, as ver. 9 shows, that the Gibeonites intended by this embassy to reduce themselves to servitude. Their object, as Grotius remarks, was rather to form an alliance on terms of something like equality. The phrase was one common in the East as a token of respect (e.g., Genesis 32:4, 18; Genesis 50:18; 2 Kings 10:5; 2 Kings 16:7). But no doubt the Gibeonites (see ver. 11) expected to have a tribute laid on them. And they would willingly accept such an impost, for, as Ewald remarks ( 'History of Israel,' 4:3), their object was "to secure the peace which a mercantile inland city especially requires" (see also note on Joshua 3:10). From whence come ye? Joshua uses the imperfect, not the perfect, tense here. Commentators are divided about its meaning. Some suppose that the perfect, "from whence have ye come?" is mere direct and abrupt than "from whence may you have come?" or, "from whence were you coming?" and certainly an indirect question is in most languages considered more respectful than a direct one (see Genesis 42:7). But perhaps with Ewald we may regard it simply as implying that their mission was still in progress.

Ellicott's Commentary