1. Joshua 9:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

At which Gilgal did the Gibeonites arrive?

Joshua 9:6 (ESV)

6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.”

There are at least three different Gilgals in the Old Testament: the main one of Joshua 4:1 – 5:15 in the Jordan valley (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 11:14–15; 1 Samuel 13:3–4), the one at a location north of Bethel in the hill country where Elijah and Elisha stayed (2 Kings 2:1), and the town between Jerusalem and Jericho in the boundary of Judah’s territory (Joshua 15:7). Possibly there is also a fourth Gilgal which is mentioned in Deuteronomy 11:29–30 near Shechem.1

There is no indication in the text itself that the Israelite camp was at the Gilgal near Shechem.2 Most likely Israel had returned to their base camp next to the Jordan River.3