Joshua 9:11

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Joshua 9:11 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
Download image
Cite this verse

Joshua 9:11 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/joshua/9/11.

Show BibTeX & RIS
BibTeX
RIS
English Translation
Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us.
World English Bible · Public Domain
Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer
Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And our elders and all the dwellers of our land spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the road and go to meet them. And you shall say to them, “We are your servants. And now, cut a covenant for us.”’

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: and now make ye a covenant with us.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: and now make ye a covenant with us.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our countrey spake to vs, saying, Take vitailes with you for the iourney, and go to meete them, and say vnto them, Wee are your seruants: now therefore make ye a league with vs.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    And our ancients, and all the inhabitants of our country said to us: Take with you victuals for a long way, and go meet them, and say: We are your servants, make ye a league with us.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    `And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we `are', and now, make with us a covenant;
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    And our elderly, and all the inhabitants of our land speak to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the way, and go to meet them, and you have said to them: We [are] your servants, and now, make a covenant with us;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey. Go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Make a treaty with us.”
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And our elders and all the dwellers of our land spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the road and go to meet them. And you shall say to them, “We are your servants. And now, cut a covenant for us.”’
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take victuals in your hand for the way, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take supplies in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them. Tell them, “We are your servants. Now make a covenant with us.”’
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us:
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    So our leaders and everyone who lives in our land told us: Take what you need with you for the journey. Go and meet with them, and tell them, ‘We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    So the responsible men and all the people of our country said to us, Take food with you for the journey and go to them, and say to them, We are your servants: so now make an agreement with us.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying: Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them: We are your servants; and now make ye a covenant with us.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

צֵידָה֙
tsêydâh
H6720
“provision”
Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Both
Number
Singular
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H6718

TWOT: 1886b

provision, food
  1. וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  2. אֵלֵ֡ינוּ ʼêl H413 “to · us” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  3. זְֽקֵינֵינוּ֩ zâqên H2205 “old · our” Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  4. וְכָל kôl H3605 “and · all of” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  5. יֹשְׁבֵ֨י yâshab H3427 “dwelling” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  6. אַרְצֵ֜נוּ ʼerets H776 “land · our” Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  7. לֵאמֹ֗ר ʼâmar H559 “to say” Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct
  8. קְח֨וּ lâqach H3947 “take” Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  9. בְיֶדְכֶ֤ם yâd H3027 “in/at · hand · your” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  10. לַדֶּ֔רֶךְ derek H1870 “to/for the · way” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute
  11. וּלְכ֖וּ yâlak H3212 “and · walk” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  12. לִקְרָאתָ֑ם qirʼâh H7125 “to meet · them” Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  13. וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֤ם ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  14. אֲלֵיהֶם֙ ʼêl H413 “to · them” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  15. עַבְדֵיכֶ֣ם ʻebed H5650 “servants · your” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  16. אֲנַ֔חְנוּ ʼănachnûw H587 “we” Pronoun, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  17. וְעַתָּ֖ה ʻattâh H6258 “and · now” Conjunction + Adverb
  18. כִּרְתוּ kârath H3772 “cut” Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  19. בְרִֽית bᵉrîyth H1285 “covenant” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21
words
17
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is צֵידָה֙ provision H6720 — appearing just 12 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

צֵידָה֙ provision H6720 occurs in 11 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 8 verbs
  • 7 nouns
  • 1 adjective
  • 1 pronoun
  • 3 prepositions
  • 1 adverb

Verb forms

  • וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • יֹשְׁבֵ֨י Qal · Participle Active
  • לֵאמֹ֗ר Qal · Infinitive Construct
  • קְח֨וּ Qal · Imperative
  • וּלְכ֖וּ Qal · Imperative
  • לִקְרָאתָ֑ם Qal · Infinitive Construct
  • וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֤ם Qal · Sequential Perfect
  • כִּרְתוּ Qal · Imperative

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ to say H559 ×3
  • אֵלֵ֡ינוּ to H413 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 41 words from the Hebrew and 45 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 21 Hebrew tokens and 39 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

6

Topical passages linked to Joshua 9:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Joshua 9:8 They said to Joshua, We are your servants. Joshua said to them, Who are you? and from whence come you?
  • Esther 8:17 In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
  • Genesis 43:12 and take double money in your hand, with the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand. Perhaps it was an oversight.
  • Joshua 1:11 Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.
  • Matthew 10:9–10 Don't take any gold, nor silver, nor brass in your money belts.
  • Luke 9:3 He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey--neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats apiece.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Joshua 9:11 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלֵ֡ינוּ זְֽקֵינֵינוּ֩ וְכָל יֹשְׁבֵ֨י אַרְצֵ֜נוּ לֵאמֹ֗ר קְח֨וּ בְיֶדְכֶ֤ם צֵידָה֙ לַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּלְכ֖וּ לִקְרָאתָ֑ם וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֤ם אֲלֵיהֶם֙ עַבְדֵיכֶ֣ם אֲנַ֔חְנוּ וְעַתָּ֖ה כִּרְתוּ לָ֥נוּ בְרִֽית

Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Joshua 9:11 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἀκούω εἶπον πρός ἐγώ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἐγώ καί πᾶς ὁ καταοἰκέω ὁ γῆ ἐγώ λέγω λαμβάνω ἑαυτοῦ ἐπισιτισμός εἰς ὁ ὁδός καί πορεύομαι εἰς συνάντησις αὐτός καί εἶπον πρός αὐτός οἰκέτης σύ εἰμί καί νῦν διατίθημι ἐγώ διαθήκη

And our elders and all that inhabit our land when they heard spoke to us, saying, Take to yourselves provision for the way, and go to meet them; and you⌃ shall say to them, We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וַאֲמַרוּ לָנָא סָבָנָא וְכָל יַתְבֵי אַרְעָנָא לְמֵימַר סָבוּ בְּיָדְכוֹן זְוָדִין לְאוֹרְחָא וֶאֱזִילוּ לִקֳדָמוּתְהוֹן וְתֵימְרוּן לְהוֹן עַבְדֵיכוֹן אֲנַחְנָא וּכְעַן גְזוּרוּ לָנָא קְיָם:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Joshua 9:11 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jos 9:11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We [are] your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.

Ver. 11. And go to meet them, and say.] Seeing we are not able to match them, it is good policy to meet them with entreaties of peace. Let us do the like by Almighty God. {Amo 4:12} Mittamus preces et lachrymas cordis legatos, saith Cyprian; Currat paenitentia ne praecurrat sententia, saith Chrysologus.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

9:11-13 Distracted by the flattering words about God and the notion that a foreign people wanted to make a treaty with them, none of Israel’s leaders noticed that the Gibeonites had failed to answer Joshua’s questions. • If the Israelites spared their lives, the Gibeonites were willing to be Israel’s servants and swear to a treaty with Israel. This request should have raised suspicions among Israel’s leaders: Why would people from a distant land be concerned about a treaty of protection?

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Hebrew, in your hand.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 11. Wherefore our elders, c.] All this, and what follows to the end of verse 13, was false, contrived merely for the purpose of deceiving the Israelites, and this they did to save their own lives as they expected all the inhabitants of Canaan to be put to the sword.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country,

spake unto us,.... They suggest, that their senate, or the states of their country, their principal men were convened, and that it was the unanimous voice of them, and of the people, that they should go on this embassy:

saying, take victuals with you for the journey; sufficient for so long a journey; for, in those times and countries, inns on the road were not frequent as now:

and go to meet them; to prevent their coming in an hostile manner unto them, and make peace, and enter into an alliance with them:

and say unto them, we are your servants; ready to come into any terms with them, just and reasonable:

therefore now make ye a league with us; that we may live in friendship, and mutually assist each other, as occasion should require.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

11. Our elders — The popular character of their government, with a senate of elders at its head, appears quite distinctly in this verse.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Our elders. Gibeon and its allied cities did not possess a regal government (see note on ver. 3).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

When these tidings reached them, they were sent off by the elders (the leaders of the republic) and the inhabitants of the land to meet the Israelites, that they might offer them their service, and form an alliance with them. In confirmation of this, they point to their dried provisions, and their torn and mended skins and clothes.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

in your hand

This phrase means "take with you." Here the word "hand" represents the possession by the Gibeonites of the provisions. (See: Synecdoche)

meet them and say to them

The word "them" refers to the people of Israel.

translationWords

elder

servant

bread

house

wine

sandal

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Joshua, in the Historical, opens this verse with 21 words (17 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tsêydâh (“provision”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. The word tsêydâh carries the sense “provision.” How does it shape the verse?
  2. How does Genesis 27:3, which shares the word «provision», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “to say” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  5. «וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.