Joshua 9:4

Joshua 9:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
• New International Version (NIV)they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
• English Standard Version (ESV)they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,
• New King James Version (NKJV)they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended,

Context of Joshua 9:4

2They joined together to fight against Joshua and the Israelites. 3Some Hivite people who lived in Gibeon heard how Joshua had won against Jericho and Ai. So they had a clever idea. Some men took old bags of food and broken bags of wine that had holes in them. They put these things on their donkeys. 5They wore old shoes on their feet, and they dressed themselves in old clothes. They took some bread that was old and dry. 6They arrived at the tents of the Israelites in Gilgal. They said to Joshua and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a land that is very far away. Please let us make an agreement that we will not fight each other.’

Joshua 9:4 word by word

וַיַּעֲשׂ֤וּ גַם־הֵ֙מָּה֙ בְּעָרְמָ֔ה וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ וַיִּצְטַיָּ֑רוּ וַיִּקְח֞וּ שַׂקִּ֤ים בָּלִים֙ לַחֲמ֣וֹרֵיהֶ֔ם וְנֹאד֥וֹת יַ֙יִן֙ בָּלִ֔ים וּמְבֻקָּעִ֖ים וּמְצֹרָרִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They did workעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• wililyעׇרְמָה‛ormâh · craftinessH6195
• and wentיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• and made as if they had been ambassadorsצָיַרtsâyar · to take provisionH6737
• and tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• oldבָּלֶהbâleh · oldH1087
• sacksשַׂקώaq · sackclothH8242
• upon their assesחֲמוֹרchămôr chămôr · donkeyH2543
• and wineיַ֫יִןyayin · wineH3196
• bottlesנֹאדnô'd nô'd nô'dâh · wineskinH4997
• and rentבָּקַעbâqa‛ · to break up/openH1234
• and bound upצָרַרtsârar · to constrainH6887

Cross-references for Joshua 9:4

• Genesis 34:13Because of the bad thing that Shechem had done to Dinah, Jacob's sons decided to deceive him. And they deceived his father Hamor too.
• 1 Kings 20:31Some of Ben-Hadad's officers said to him, ‘We have heard that the family of kings who rule Israel are kind men. We should show that we are sorry. We will tie sackcloth around our bodies. We will put ropes around our heads. Then maybe King Ahab will let you live.’
• Matthew 10:16Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.
• Luke 16:8Jesus then said, ‘The servant in the story was not honest. But his master spoke well about what he had done. It would help the servant later in his life. People that do not obey God think carefully. They know how to do well with people who are like themselves. But people who live in God's light often think less carefully.
• Psalms 119:83I am like an old wineskin that has become useless. But I have not forgotten your rules.
• Matthew 9:17Nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will spoil. Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins. Then there will be nothing to spoil the wine or the wineskins.’
• Mark 2:22And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will spoil. Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins.’
• Luke 5:37And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will also spoil.

Commentaries on Joshua 9:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They did work wilily - Finesse of this kind is allowed by the conduct of all nations; and stratagems in war are all considered as legal. Nine tenths of the victories gained are attributable to stratagem; all sides practice them, and therefore none can condemn them. Much time and labor have been lost in the inquiry, "Did not the Gibeonites tell lies?" Certainly they did, and what is that to us? Does the word of God commend them for it? It does not. Are…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They did work wilily - literally, “they also,” or “they too, did work, etc.” The “also” serves, apparently, to connect the stratagem of the Gibeonites with that employed by the Israelites before Ai. It hints that the Gibeonites resolved to meet craft with craft. Rent and bound up - i. e. the wine skins were torn and roughly repaired by tying up the edges of the tear. The more thorough and careful way, hardly feasible in a hasty journey, would have been to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-13Verses 3-13 Other people heard these tidings, and were driven thereby to make war upon Israel; but the Gibeonites were led to make peace with them. Thus the discovery of the glory and the grace of God in the gospel, is to some a savour of life unto life, but to others a savour of death unto death, 2Co 2:16. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. The falsehood of the Gibeonites cannot be justified. We must not do evil that good may themselves to the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-6At that time, traveling long distances was difficult, dirty, and dangerous. To succeed in their trick, the Gibeonites needed their supplies, clothes, and food to appear convincing.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-153-15. when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard--This town, as its name imports, was situated on a rocky eminence, about six miles northwest from Jerusalem, where the modern village of El Jib now stands. It was the capital of the Hivites, and a large important city (Jos 10:2). It seems to have formed, in union with a few other towns in the neighborhood, a free independent state (Jos 9:17) and to have enjoyed a republican government (Jos 9:11).Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 9:4

• Ambassadors
• Bottle
• Confidence
• Contracts
• Craftiness
• Deception
• Diplomacy
• Joshua
• Kirjath-Jearim
• Magnanimity
• Oath
• Treaty
• Wine

In the dictionaries

• Alliance
• Ambassador
• Bottle
• Gibeon
• Wilily
• Chephirah
• Exodus, the Book of
• Joshua, Book of
• Make, Maker
• Palestine

Commentaries on Joshua 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings