And they answered them: We have sworn to them in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, and therefore we may not touch them.

And all the princes said to all the assembly, We have sworn unto them by Jehovah the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.

And all the princes say unto all the company, 'We, we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them;

But all the chiefs said to the people, We have taken an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and so we may not put our hands on them.

But all the leaders said to all the congregation, 'We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel; and now therefore we may not touch them.

And they responded to them: "We have sworn to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, and for that reason, we are not able to touch them.

Tunc dixerunt omnes principes ad totam congregationem, Nos juravimus eis per Jehovam Deum Israel, ideo mine non possumus attingere eos.

We have sworn unto them - Although the Israelites were deceived in this business, and the covenant was made on a certain supposition which was afterwards proved to have had no foundation in truth, and consequently the whole engagement on the part of the deceived was hereby vitiated and rendered null and void; yet, because the elders had eaten with them, offered a covenant sacrifice, and sworn by Jehovah, they did not consider themselves at liberty to break the terms of the agreement, as far as the lives of the Gibeonites were concerned. That their conduct in this respect was highly pleasing to God is evident from this, that Joshua is nowhere reprehended for making this covenant, and sparing the Gibeonites; and that Saul, who four hundred years after this thought himself and the Israelites loosed from this obligation, and in consequence oppressed and destroyed the Gibeonites, was punished for the breach of this treaty, being considered as the violator of a most solemn oath and covenant engagement. See 2-Samuel 21:2-9, and Ezekiel 17:18, Ezekiel 17:19. All these circumstances laid together, prove that the command to destroy the Canaanites was not so absolute as is generally supposed: and should be understood as rather referring to the destruction of the political existence of the Canaanitish nations, than to the destruction of their lives. See the notes on Deuteronomy 20:10, Deuteronomy 20:17.

But all the princes said to all the congregation,.... That is, all the princes that went to Gibeon addressed all the Israelites that were there:
we have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel; by the Word of the Lord God, as the Targum; an oath is a solemn sacred thing, and not to be broken, and a good man will make conscience of it, and keep it, though he has sworn to his own hurt: and
now therefore we may not touch them; neither take away their lives nor their substance.