יהושע, פרק ט׳, פסוק א׳

Following the initial Israelite victories in the land, the local leaders recognized the immense threat and fundamentally changed their strategy. The kings situated on the western side of the Jordan River, an area described geographically from the perspective of the Israelites arriving from the east [ביאור שטיינזלץ], ruled over diverse terrains. Their territories spanned the mountains, the valleys, and the coast of the Great Sea [מצודת ציון]. Realizing the danger, these leaders reorganized for a comprehensive campaign rather than waiting to be attacked individually.

What prompted these kings to suddenly join forces? The primary approach among commentators is that news of the conquest of Ai had reached them. Learning that the Israelites used a massive army and sophisticated military tactics, the kings realized that standing alone, as Jericho and Ai had done, guaranteed defeat. Consequently, they formed a unified military alliance [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג]. Conversely, another perspective suggests that the catalyst was not the battles themselves, but rather Joshua building an altar on Mount Ebal and writing the words of the Torah upon it. To the local kings, this public act was an undeniable declaration of sovereignty, signaling Joshua's intent to conquer the entire land and prompting their hasty unification [אברבנאל].

Behind this massive coalition lay a deeper divine strategy. Unlike the miraculous fall of Jericho's walls, the victory at Ai was achieved through natural military means and an ambush. God specifically commanded this natural approach to deceive the Canaanite kings. By making the war appear conventional, the kings were tricked into believing that their combined numerical superiority could secure a victory. In reality, this was divine cunning designed to gather all thirty-one kings into one place. This allowed Joshua to defeat them swiftly in a few decisive battles, sparing the Israelites from prolonged, exhausting conflicts against each individual city [אלשיך, חומת אנך].

This widespread unification stood in sharp contrast to the actions of the Gibeonites. Recognizing that the natural tactics at Ai were a trap meant to draw the kings into mutual destruction, the Gibeonites opted to use their own cunning to survive [חומת אנך]. However, their decision to rely on deception was born out of a misunderstanding. Before crossing the Jordan River, Joshua had sent letters to all the inhabitants, offering a general peace agreement if they accepted taxation, servitude, and the seven Noahide laws. Because Joshua did not issue a new, local peace offer immediately before destroying Jericho and Ai, relying instead on his prior general warning, the Gibeonites mistakenly concluded that the Israelites were entirely unwilling to accept a surrender. Driven by this fear, they disguised themselves as foreigners from a distant land rather than simply suing for peace through standard channels [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל].