Who Else?

And they also acted with wile, and they went, and disguised as ambassadors, and they took worn sacks for their donkeys, and wine bottles, rotten, split, and tied together.  Joshua 9:4  Chabad

Also –  The first thing to notice about this verse is that most popular English Bible translations leave out the word “also.”  Only the NASB 1977 and 1995 include it.  The typical English translation is something like this:

“. . . they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation . . .” (NIV), completely ignoring the Hebrew word gam.

Why does this matter?  It matters because the Hebrew text definitely includes the concept that the Gibeonites were not the only ones who acted deceptively.  Here’s the opening of the Hebrew text with the crucial word highlighted:

וַיַּֽעֲשֹ֚וּ גַם־הֵ֙מָּה֙ בְּעָרְמָ֔ה וַיֵּֽלְכ֖וּ וַיִּצְטַיָּ֑רוּ

The highlighted word is gam, “again, alike, as, likewise, in like manner, also.”  Once we realize that this word is in the Hebrew text, we must ask, “Why does it say ‘also’?  Who else acted in this way?”  The answer is illuminating.

In the story of the conquest of Canaan, Joshua employs trickery to conquer the city of Ai.  You will recall the deception of making the men of Ai think the Israelites were running away when, in fact, a separate army was waiting in ambush.  Perhaps the Gibeonites heard about this ploy.  What they knew for certain is that Israel conquered Ai with military strategy.  But that wasn’t all.  Israel also conquered Jericho through divine intervention—a miracle of city destruction. Perhaps the Gibeonites reasoned that they were doomed.  They might be able to prepare for typical warfare, as the other kings of the region did, but if miracles are also in the arsenal, no one stands a chance.  Deception seems the only route to survival.

But, again, this isn’t the end of the story.  Do you remember Shechem (Genesis 34)?  Simeon and Levi deceived the men of Shechem, exacting retribution upon them through a lie about circumcision.  The Gibeonites were from Hivite, the same region as Shechem.  They knew the history.  The Israelites couldn’t be trusted.  Deception was the only available option.  And who better to deceive than the ones who used the same tactic.  Gam might refer to the Israelites themselves.  midda keneged midda, “measure for measure.”

It’s unfortunate that many English Bibles ignore this adverb.  It has important historical and military connections.  Like many verses in the Tanakh, similar ideas are linked together with common vocabulary.  This disappears in English, and in this case, we aren’t even aware that the Gibeonites were acting just like their enemy.

Topical Index: gam, also, deception, Genesis 34, Joshua 9:4