Joshua 9:3-5

Gibeon stood seven miles south of Bethel. It was "one of the largest towns in the central part of Canaan," [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 95.] larger than Ai (Joshua 10:2), and possibly the Hivite capital. [Note: Bush, p. 99.] It later became a Levitical town (Joshua 18:25; Joshua 21:17). The Israelites eventually pitched the tabernacle there, and it remained at that site until Solomon built his temple (1 Kings 3:4-5; 1 Chronicles 16:39; 1 Chronicles 21:29). Hivites inhabited Gibeon at the time of the conquest (Joshua 9:7).

When the leaders of Gibeon learned of the crafty methods the Israelites had used at Jericho and Ai, they determined to use deception too.