Joshua 9:4

acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator describes Gibeonite envoys approaching Joshua’s camp immediately after the fall of Jericho and Ai, attempting to secure a treaty through staged travel weariness.

The words — The Hebrew בְּעָרְמָה (be.'a.re.Mah) literally means "with cunning," and וַיִּצְטַיָּרוּ (va.yi.tzai.ya.ru) denotes they assumed the role of envoys.

The thread — This deception motif intersects with Jesus’ instruction to be shrewd as snakes in Matthew 10:16, while the cracked wineskins parallel the warning against mixing new wine with old vessels in Mark 2:22 and Luke 5:37.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize how physical props of decay can mask strategic intent, demanding careful verification of claims before binding commitments are made.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיַּעֲשׂ֤וּva/i.ya.'a.Suand/ they acted גַם־gam-also הֵ֙מָּה֙he.mahthey בְּעָרְמָ֔הbe./'a.re.Mahwith/ cunning וַיֵּלְכ֖וּva/i.ye.le.Khuand/ they went וַיִּצְטַיָּ֑רוּva/i.yitz.tai.Ya.ruand/ they acted as ambassadors וַיִּקְח֞וּva/i.yik.Chuand/ they took שַׂקִּ֤יםsa.Kimsacks בָּלִים֙ba.Limworn out לַחֲמ֣וֹרֵיהֶ֔םla./cha.Mo.rei./Hemfor/ donkeys/ their וְנֹאד֥וֹתve./no.Dotand/ skin-bottles of יַ֙יִן֙ya.yinwine בָּלִ֔יםba.Limworn out וּמְבֻקָּעִ֖יםu./me.vu.ka.'Imand/ split וּמְצֹרָרִֽים׃u./me.tzo.ra.Rimand/ tied up

King James Version

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;

Cross-references

Matthew 10:16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Mark 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
Luke 5:37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
Luke 16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.
Genesis 34:13 But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully.
1 Kings 20:31 Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
Psalms 119:83 Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
Matthew 9:17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”