6 Bible Verses about Diplomacy

Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army. When they called for the King, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder went out to them. Rab-shakeh told them, "Tell Hezekiah right now, "This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: read more.
""Why are you so confident? You're saying but they're only empty words "I have enough advice and resources to conduct warfare!' ""Now who are you relying on, that you have rebelled against me? Look, you're trusting on Egypt to lean on like a staff, but it's a crushed reed, and if you lean on it, it will collapse and pierce your hand. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who relies on him! ""Of course, you might tell me, "We rely on the LORD our God!" But isn't it he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has demolished, all the while telling Jerusalem, "You're to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem?"' ""Come now, and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria, and I'll give you 2,000 horses, if you can furnish them with riders. How can you refuse even one official from the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? "Now then, haven't I come up apart from the LORD to attack and destroy this place? The LORD told me, "Go up against this land and destroy it!'"'" At this, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah asked Rab-shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it, but don't speak the language of Judah to us within the hearing of the people who are on the wall." But Rab-shakeh spoke to them, "Has my master sent me to talk about this just to your master and to you, and not also to the men who are sitting on the wall, who will soon be eating their own feces and drinking their own urine along with you?" Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, "Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say. This is what the king says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, because he will prove to be unable to deliver you from my control. And don't let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by telling you, "The LORD will certainly deliver us and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make peace with me and come out to me! Each of you will eat from his own vine. Each will eat from his own fig tree. And each of you will drink water from his own cistern until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, one overflowing with grain and new wine, a land filled with bread and vineyards, with olive trees and honey, so you may live and not die." "But don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us!" Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my control? Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my control, so that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from me?'" But the people remained silent and did not answer with even so much as a word, because the king's order was, "Don't answer him." But Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder came back to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what Rab-shakeh had said.

When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim's report, he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the LORD's Temple, and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests all of them covered in sackcloth to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. They announced to him: read more.
"This is what Hezekiah says: "Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. Perhaps the LORD your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.'" That is how the King Hezekiah's servants approached Isaiah. In reply, Isaiah responded to them, "Here's how you're to report to your master: "This is what the LORD says: "Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Look! I'm going to cause an attitude to grow within him so that he'll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I'll make him die by the sword in his own land!"'" So Rab-shakeh returned and found the king of Assyria at war with Libnah, because Rab-shakeh had heard that the king had left Lachish. When he heard that it was being said about King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "Look! He has come out to attack you!" he again sent messengers to Hezekiah. The messengers were told, "This is what you are to say to King Hezekiah of Judah: "Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by telling you "Jerusalem won't be turned over to the control of Assyria's king." "Look! you've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands they completely destroyed them! Will you be spared? Did the gods of those nations whom my ancestors destroyed deliver them, including Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden's descendants in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'"

Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, "Please speak with your servants with us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear." But the field commander asked, "Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn't it also to the men sitting on the wall who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?" Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud in Hebrew: read more.
"Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king of Assyria says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you for he cannot save you! Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, "The LORD will really deliver us!" and "This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!" Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land to a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.' Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me? Who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from me?'" But the people remained silent and didn't respond to him with so much as a single word, because the king had commanded, "Don't answer him." Then Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, approached Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and let him know what the field commander had said.

Hiram's ships that brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir lots of algum wood and precious stones.

King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Reed Sea in the land of Edom. Hiram sent his servants to sail with the fleet, since they were expert seamen, and so they accompanied Solomon's servants.

King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he learned that Solomon had been anointed king to replace his father, because Hiram had been David's lifelong friend. Solomon sent this message to Hiram: "You know that my father David was unable to build a temple dedicated to the LORD his God because he was busy fighting wars all around him until the LORD defeated his enemies. read more.
But now the LORD has given me rest all around, since I have neither foreign adversaries nor domestic crises. So now I'm planning to build a temple dedicated to the LORD my God, just as the LORD told my father when he said, "Your son, whom I will set on your throne to replace you, will build the Temple dedicated to me.' Now therefore please order that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, because you know there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians do." As soon as Hiram received the message from Solomon, he became so ecstatic that he exclaimed, "Blessed be the LORD today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people!" Then he sent this message to Solomon: "I have read the letter that you sent me. I'll do what you've asked about the cedar and cypress timber. My servants will transport them from Lebanon to the sea, where we'll make them into rafts and float them by sea to the port that you tell me to send them. We'll have them prepared for transport there and then you can carry them from there. You can meet my needs by providing provisions for my household." That's how Hiram came to provide Solomon as much cedar and cypress timber as he needed. In return, Solomon paid Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of beaten oil. Solomon provided this amount every year during the construction. The LORD continued giving Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised, and Hiram and Solomon entered into a peace treaty between themselves.

It took 20 years for Solomon to finish working on the two houses the LORD's Temple and the royal palace after which King Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee, because King Hiram of Tyre had provided Solomon with as much cedar, cypress timber, and gold that he wanted. Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but he wasn't happy with them, read more.
so he asked him, "What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?" That's why these cities were named "the land of Cabal" to this day. Then Hiram paid the king 120 talents of gold.

"I'll catch him while he is still tired and weak. I'll frighten him so all his people with him desert him. But I'll only kill the king. Then I'll bring everybody else back to you. When the man you're looking for is dead, all the rest of the people will return quietly." Even though this plan seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all of the elders of Israel, read more.
Absalom replied, "Call in Hushai the Archite so I can hear what he has to say, too!" When Hushai approached Absalom, Absalom asked him, "Here's what Ahithophel had to advise. Should we do what he says? Or if not, say so!" "Ahithophel's advice is not best at this time," Hushai suggested to Absalom. "You know how strong your father and his men are. They're as mad as a bear robbed of her cubs! Furthermore, your father is a skilled warrior. He won't stay with his army at night. Look! He's probably already hiding in a cave or someplace like that. If the first attack fails, people will hear about it and think, "Absalom's army is losing!' Then even men who would otherwise be as brave as lions will be scared, because every Israeli knows your father is a mighty man, and they know his men are valiant! So here's my advice: Muster everybody from one end of the country to the other! You'll have an army in number like the sand on the seashore! Then you'll go into battle! We'll go find David wherever he's hiding. We'll fall on him like dew on the ground! We'll kill him and all of his men, and we won't leave even one man alive! If he escapes into a city, we'll bring ropes to that city and tear it down! We won't leave a single stone left in the valley!" Absalom and all of the Israelis replied, "The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel's!"

Right about then, Absalom and his entourage from the people of Israel entered Jerusalem, accompanied by Ahithophel. When David's friend Hushai the Archite approached Absalom, Hushai greeted Absalom, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" But Absalom asked Hushai, "So this is how you demonstrate your loyalty to your closest friends? Why didn't you leave with your friend?" read more.
Hushai replied, "No! On the contrary, whomever the LORD, this group, and all the men of Israel choose is where I'll be, and I'll remain with him! Besides, who else should I be serving? Why not the son? The same way I served your father, I'll serve you."

Just as David was coming to the top of the Mount of Olives where God was being worshipped, there was Hushai the Archite to meet him, with his coat ripped and dust all over his head! David greeted him, "If you come along with me, you'll be a burden to me. So go back to the city and tell Absalom, "I'll be your servant, your majesty! Just as I served your father in the past, I can be your servant now.' That way you can manipulate Ahithophel's advice to my benefit. read more.
Won't Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? So whatever you hear from the king's palace, you're to report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Their two sons Zadok's son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan are with them there. You'll be sending me everything that you hear through them." So David's friend Hushai went back to the city just as Absalom was arriving in Jerusalem.

When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law. But they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. What is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. read more.
So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law. As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality."

These people who want to impress others by their external appearance are trying to force you to be circumcised, simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of the Messiah.

Later, Abimelech traveled from Gerar to visit Isaac. He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army. "Why have you come to see me," Isaac asked them, "since you hate me so much that you sent me away from you?" "We've seen that the LORD is with you," they responded, "so we're proposing an agreement between us between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you read more.
by which you'll agree not to do us any harm, just as we haven't harmed you, since we've done nothing but good for you after we sent you away in peace. As a result, you've been tremendously blessed by the LORD." So Isaac held a festival for them, and they ate and drank. They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty. After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms.

About that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, told Abraham, "God is with you in everything that you're doing. Therefore swear an oath here by God that you won't deal falsely with me, my sons, or my descendants. Just as I've dealt graciously with you, won't you do so with me and with the land in which you live as a foreigner?"

"Look, now," his advisors suggested, "we've heard that the Israeli kings are merciful. So let's clothe ourselves with sackcloth, tie our hair back with ropes, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he'll spare your life." So they put on some sackcloth, tied their hair back with ropes, and approached the king of Israel. "Your servant Ben-hadad says this," they said. "Please let me live." "Is he still alive?" Ahab asked. "He's my brother." Ben-hadad's advisors, quickly analyzing the signs in what Ahab was saying, responded, "Yes, your brother Ben-hadad." "Go get him," Ahab responded. So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab took him up into his personal chariot. read more.
Ben-hadad made this promise to Ahab: "I will restore the cities that my ancestors took from your ancestors. You'll be able to build streets named after yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." "With this promise I will release you," Ahab replied. So Ahab made a treaty with Ben-hadad and let him go.

Just then a wise woman called out from the city. "Attention!" she said, "Go tell Joab "Come here! I want to talk to you!'" Joab came over and the woman asked him, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he answered. So she told him, "Listen to what your servant has to say!" "I'm listening," he replied. So she said, "In days past, people used to settle a dispute by saying "Let's ask for advice at Abel!' read more.
I'm one of the peaceful and faithful citizens of Israel. You're trying to destroy a city that's a mother in Israel. Why are you devouring the heritage of the LORD?" But Joab replied, "No way! No way! I'm not here to devour or destroy! That's a lie! But there is a man from the Ephraim hill country he's known as Bichri's son Sheba who has rebelled against King David. Turn him over and I'll withdraw from the city!" So the woman replied, "Watch this! His head will be thrown to you over the city wall." Then the woman wisely went back to her people. They cut off the head of Bichri's son Sheba and threw it out to Joab, so Joab sounded his battle trumpet and they withdrew from the city. Everybody went back home and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from the donkey and fell on her face before David, prostrating herself on the ground. She fell at his feet and pleaded, "Your majesty, let the guilt be on me alone, and please let your servant speak to you. Listen to the words of your servant. Please, your majesty, don't pay attention to this worthless man Nabal, for he's just like his name. Nabal is his name and folly is his constant companion. But I, your servant, didn't see your majesty's young men whom you sent. read more.
Now, your majesty, as the LORD lives and as you live, the LORD has kept you from shedding blood and from delivering yourself by your own actions. Now, may your enemies and those seeking to do evil to your majesty be like Nabal. Now let this present that your servant has brought to your majesty be given to the young men who follow your majesty. Please forgive the offense of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make a strong dynasty for your majesty, for your majesty is fighting the LORD's battles. May evil not be found in you for all of your life. If anyone should arise to pursue you and seek your life, may the life of your majesty be bound up with the LORD your God in a bundle of the living, and may he sling out the lives of your enemies from the pocket of a sling. When the LORD does for your majesty all the good that he promised concerning you and appoints you Commander-in-Chief over Israel, this shouldn't be an obstacle or stumbling block for your majesty's conscience, that he poured out blood without cause or that your majesty delivered himself. When the LORD does good things for your majesty, remember your servant."

Now Herod had been in a violent quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him as a group. After they had won over Blastus, who oversaw security for the king's sleeping quarters, they asked for a peace agreement because their country depended on the king's country for food. Therefore, at a set time Herod put on his royal robes, sat down on the royal seat, and made a speech to them. The people kept shouting, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man!"

Afterwards, Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to ask him, "What's your dispute between us that prompted you to come and attack my land?" The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "We're here because Israel took away my land from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and as far as the Jordan River when they came up from Egypt! So restore it as a gesture of good will." But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites read more.
and they informed him, "This is Jephthah's response: "Israel didn't seize the land of Moab nor the land of the Ammonites. Here's what happened: When Israel came up from Egypt, passed through the desert to the Red Sea, and arrived at Kadesh, Israel sent a delegation to the king of Edom and asked him, "Please let us pass through your territory." "But the king of Edom wouldn't listen. So they also sent word to the king of Moab, but he wouldn't consent, either. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. Then they went through the desert, circumventing the territory belonging to Edom and Moab. They encamped on the other side of the Arnon River, but never entered the territory of Moab because the Arnon River is the border of Moab. "Then Israel sent a delegation to Sihon, king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon. Israel requested of him, "Please let us pass through your territory to our place." But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his territory, so he assembled his entire army, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. The LORD God of Israel handed Sihon and his entire army into the control of Israel, and defeated them. As a result, Israel took control over the entire land of the Amorites, who were living in that country. They took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites from the Arnon River as far as the Jabbok River and from the desert as far as the Jordan River. "Now then, since the LORD God of Israel expelled the Amorites right in front of his people Israel, are you going to control their territory? Don't you control what your god Chemosh gives you? In the same way, we'll take control of whomever the LORD our God has driven out in front of us. Also ask yourselves: do you have a better case than Zippor's son Balak, king of Moab? Did he ever have a quarrel with Israel or ever win a fight against them? When Israel was living in Heshbon and its surrounding villages, in Aroer and its surrounding villages, and in all the cities that line the banks of the Arnon River these past three hundred years, why didn't you retake them during that time? I haven't sinned against you, but you are acting wrongly against me by declaring war on me. May the LORD, the Judge, sit in judgment today between the Israelis and the Ammonites.'" But the king of the Ammonites wouldn't heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.

When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I'm a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I'm on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected." After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided, because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things. read more.
There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins, worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold. read more.
Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, "We've arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now." But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so, how can we make a treaty with you?" So they responded to Joshua, "We are your servants." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? And where did you come from?" They answered, "Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we've heard a report about all that he did in Egypt, along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, "Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, "We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us."' Look at our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it's dry and moldy. And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look now they're cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey." So the leaders of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not ask the LORD about it. They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them. But three days after they had made the treaty with them, they learned that they were their neighbors and were living in their midst.

So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, "I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me." Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria, so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin.

Then he would get up early, stand near the passageway to the palace gate, and when anyone arrived to file a legal complaint for a hearing before the king, Absalom would call to him and ask, "You're from what city?" If he replied, "Your servant is from one of Israel's tribes," Absalom would respond, "Look, your claims are valid and defensible, but nobody will listen to you on behalf of the king. Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!" read more.
Furthermore, if a man approached him to bow down in front of him, he would put out his hand, grab him, and embrace him. By doing all of this to anyone who came to the king for a hearing, Absalom stole the loyalty of the men of Israel.

Because of this, the administrators and regional authorities tried to bring allegations of dereliction of duty in government affairs against Daniel, but they were unable to find any charges of corruption. Daniel was trustworthy, and no evidence of negligence or corruption could be found against him. So these men said, "We'll never find any basis for complaint against Daniel unless we build it on the requirements of his God." Then these administrators and regional authorities went as a group to the king and said this, "Your majesty, live forever! read more.
All of the royal administrators, prefects, regional authorities, scribes, and governors have concluded that the king should establish and enforce an edict that anyone who prays to any god or man for the next 30 days (except to you, your majesty) is to be thrown into the lions' pit. Therefore, your majesty, establish the decree and sign the written document so it can't be changed, in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians that can't be repealed." So King Darius signed the edict contained in the written document. When Daniel learned that the written document had been signed, he went to an upstairs room in his house that had windows opened facing Jerusalem. Three times a day he would kneel down, pray, and give thanks to his God, just as he had previously done. The conspirators then went as a group and found Daniel praying and seeking help before his God. So they approached the king and asked, "Didn't you sign an edict that for the next 30 days if anyone prays to any god or man, except to you, your majesty, he would be thrown into the lions' pit?" The king responded, "The decree has been established, in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians that can't be repealed." Then they told the king, "Daniel, who is one of the Judean exiles, pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the written decree, since he is still praying three times a day." When the king heard this, he was greatly upset, because he was determined to make every effort to save Daniel before the sun set. But the men who had gone as a group to the king told him, "Remember, your majesty, that according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, any decree or edict that the king establishes cannot be repealed."

When David had grown very old, they covered him with blankets, but he could not keep warm, so his servants suggested to him, "Let's look for a young virgin woman to take care of you, your majesty. She will be of use to you if you have her lie down near you so that your majesty may keep warm." So they conducted a search throughout the territory of Israel for a beautiful young woman, and Abishag the Shunammite was located and brought to the king. read more.
The young woman was absolutely beautiful. She served the king and was very useful to him. The king was not sexually involved with her. Meanwhile, about this time Haggith's son Adonijah began to seek a reputation for himself and decided, "I'm going to be king!" So he prepared chariots, cavalry, and 50 soldiers to serve as a security detail to guard him.

So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the LORD's Temple and in the king's palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael left Jerusalem.

Later, King Hiram of Tyre sent a delegation to David, accompanied by cedar logs, carpenters, and stone masons. They built a palace for David.

Tou sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer, because he had been at war with Tou. Joram brought articles of silver, gold, and bronze with him,

Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.