Joshua 9:4

they went to work craftily. They took provisions in old sacks on their donkeys, and old mended wineskins,

Open English Bible (US)

In The 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;

In Context

3When the citizens of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

5with old patched sandals on their feet and old clothes on their bodies. The bread they took was all dry and crumbling.

Read all of Joshua 9

Cross References

Genesis 34:13Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, declaring, (because he had defiled their sister Dinah),

Matthew 9:17Nor do people put new wine into old wine-skins; for, if they do, the skins burst, and the wine runs out, and the skins are lost; but they put new wine into fresh skins, and so both are preserved.”

Mark 2:22And no one ever puts new wine into old wine-skins; if they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are lost. But new wine is put into fresh skins.”

Luke 16:8His master complimented this dishonest steward on the shrewdness of his action. And indeed men of the world are shrewder in dealing with their fellow men than those who have the light.

Matthew Henry on Joshua 9:4-15

The Artifice of the Gibeonites. ( b. c. 1450.) 3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 4 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; 5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. 6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel,… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Joshua 9:4