New International Version
Joshua 9:4
4they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
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;
- 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,
- New Living Translation (NLT)they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins.
Context of Joshua 9:4
2they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel. 3However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
Read all of Joshua 9Joshua 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 their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
- 1 Kings 20:31His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
- Matthew 10:16“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Luke 16:8“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
- Psalms 119:83Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
- Matthew 9:17Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
- Mark 2:22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
- Luke 5:37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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