Linguistics and Exodus Patterns

How was it possible for the Gibeonites to negotiate their contract with Joshua (Joshua 9:3-17) or for Rahab to work out her deal with Joshua’s spies (Joshua 2.1, 3; 6.17, 23, 25)? If the Jews were newly arrived as a united force, they most probably would have spoken Egyptian and communication with locals would have been difficult. From the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings it appears the incoming tribes of Israel settled most interactions with the edge of a sword, not dialogue and negotiation.

[A note on usage: The term "Hebrew" describes a language. It also was used in ancient times for Israelites or their ancestors living as resident aliens in another jurisdiction and for Israelites in slavery. The people of Judah spoke Judahite or Canaanite. In premodern English it was synonymous with "Jew." (Coogan, p. 86)]
Perhaps most people spoke a similar language. And, perhaps they spoke a common language because the Jews were, in fact, indigenous people tied by a loosely understood oral history that later developed into the kind of united exodus story we read about in Joshua?

The Habiru (or Apiru) were a nomadic or semi-nomadic people living in northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan.[1] The word Habiru and Hebrew are remarkably similar. The Amarna letters (exchanged between Fertile Crescent city states and Egypt) indicate the Habiru lived as far north as Damascus and Bylos, and as far south as Jerusalem. Some researchers conclude the Habiru did not have common linguistic or ethnic affiliations and refer to them as a “loosely defined, inferior social class composed of shifting and shifty population elements without secure ties to settled communities” who are referred to “as outlaws, mercenaries, and slaves.”[2] Perhaps not savory but probably clever and resourceful. 
As for lawlessness, we know from Judges 17.6, “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.”

Gibeon, home of the Gibeonites, was located just north of Jerusalem and Shittim (a.k.a. Abila, Abel-Shittim or Ha-Shittim), where Rahab lived, was located in Moab. The Gibeonites also were a “remnant” of the Amorites, according to 2 Samuel 21:2, and these nomadic people are said to have occupied large parts of Mesopotamia. Economic conditions in Assyria and Baylon also may have contributed to the number of Habiru living in the Promised Land, perhaps contributing to the long-held negative feelings between Israelites, the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

It seems likely the nomadic Habiru could communicate easily with the people of Gibeon and Shittim. Hebrew is part of the Canaanite group of languages, which includes Moabite from the south and Phoenician from the north, and is closely related to Aramaic.

The theory the Habiru were progenitors to the Israelites (a.k.a., the Hebrews) appeals to me and goes a long way toward explaining the incremental occupation of the Promised Land. That said, we also learn from the Amarna letters about Habiru launching successful attacks by sea, in particular on Alalakh, but there is no mention of the Hebrews attacking by boat in the Hebrew Bible.

There is extensive controversy around this subject, with some speculating the Habiru either were  not organized enough at any point in time to form a nation or came along after Saul, David and Solomon pulled Israel together.
This is very rich biblical soil and wild conjecture based loosely on our readings is all space and time currently permit.

I’m wondering whether there are any clear resources on linguistic migrations throughout the Middle East and whether such data would shed any light on this subject.

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[1] McNeil, William H. and Jean W Sedlar. The Ancient Near East. London: Oxford University Press (1991).

[2] Redmount, Carol A. Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt, The Oxford History of the Biblical World, (Michael D. Coogan, ed.). London: Oxford University Press (1999).