Reference: Alliance
Easton
a treaty between nations, or between individuals, for their mutual advantage.
Abraham formed an alliance with some of the Canaanitish princes (Ge 14:13), also with Abimelech (Ge 21:22-32). Joshua and the elders of Israel entered into an alliance with the Gibeonites (Jos 9:3-27). When the Israelites entered Palestine they were forbidden to enter into alliances with the inhabitants of the country (Le 18:3-4; 20:22-23).
Solomon formed a league with Hiram (1Ki 5:12). This "brotherly covenant" is referred to 250 years afterwards (Am 1:9). He also appears to have entered into an alliance with Pharaoh (1Ki 10:28-29).
In the subsequent history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel various alliances were formed between them and also with neighbouring nations at different times.
From patriarchal times a covenant of alliance was sealed by the blood of some sacrificial victim. The animal sacrificed was cut in two (except birds), and between these two parts the persons contracting the alliance passed (Ge 15:10). There are frequent allusions to this practice (Jer 34:18). Such alliances were called "covenants of salt" (Nu 18:19; 2Ch 13:5), salt being the symbol of perpetuity. A pillar was set up as a memorial of the alliance between Laban and Jacob (Ge 31:52). The Jews throughout their whole history attached great importance to fidelity to their engagements. Divine wrath fell upon the violators of them (Jos 9:18; 2Sa 21:1-2; Eze 17:16).
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A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty with Abram.)
So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.
At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do. Now swear to me right here in God's name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you." read more. Abraham said, "I swear to do this." But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech's servants had seized. "I do not know who has done this thing," Abimelech replied. "Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today." Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?" He replied, "You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well." That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines.
"This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me.
You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes. You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God.
"'You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, so that the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. You must not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.
All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you."
When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, they did something clever. They collected some provisions and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched. read more. They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread was dry and hard. They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us." The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live near us. So how can we make a treaty with you?" But they said to Joshua, "We are willing to be your subjects." So Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?" They told him, "Your subjects have come from a very distant land because of the reputation of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan -- King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth. Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, 'Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, "We are willing to be your subjects. Make a treaty with us."' This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you, but now it is dry and hard. These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey." The men examined some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord's advice. Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community sealed it with an oath. Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby. So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities -- Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. The whole community criticized the leaders,
The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. The whole community criticized the leaders, but all the leaders told the whole community, "We swore an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. So now we can't hurt them! read more. We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them." The leaders then added, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, "Why did you trick us by saying, 'We live far away from you,' when you really live nearby? Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." They said to Joshua, "It was carefully reported to your subjects how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified we would lose our lives, so we did this thing. So now we are in your power. Do to us what you think is good and appropriate. Joshua did as they said; he kept the Israelites from killing them and that day made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the divinely chosen site. (They continue in that capacity to this very day.)
So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty.
Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt and from Que; the king's traders purchased them from Que. They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.
I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence.
"'As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke -- in the middle of Babylon he will die!
This is what the Lord says: "Because Tyre has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold a whole community to Edom; they failed to observe a treaty of brotherhood.
Hastings
In the patriarchal age alliances between the Chosen People and foreign nations were frequent. Many of the agreements between individuals recorded in Genesis implied, or really were, treaties between the tribes or clans represented (Ge 21:22 ff; Ge 31:44 ff.). 'During the period of the Judges confederations between the more or less isolated units of which the nation was composed were often made under the pressure of a common danger (Jg 4:10; 6:35). When Israel became consolidated under the monarchy, alliances with foreigners were of a more formal character, e.g. Solomon's treaty with Hiram (1Ki 5; 9). His marriage with Pharaoh's daughter probably had a political significance (1Ki 3:1; 9:16). The policy of alliance between Israel and Ph
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At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.
So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."
Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.
Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; Deborah went up with him as well.
He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
(Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.)
"I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land."
As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal.
At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him.
Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your dependent. March up and rescue me from the power of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked me."
Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him.
Certainly you will not refuse one of my master's minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.
What good will it do you then to go down to Egypt to seek help from the Egyptians? What good will it do you to go over to Assyria to seek help from the Assyrians?
Why do you constantly go about changing your political allegiances? You will get no help from Egypt just as you got no help from Assyria.
They have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey that wanders off. Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.
This is what the Lord says: "Because Tyre has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold a whole community to Edom; they failed to observe a treaty of brotherhood.
Now Herod was having an angry quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they joined together and presented themselves before him. And after convincing Blastus, the king's personal assistant, to help them, they asked for peace, because their country's food supply was provided by the king's country.
Morish
On the Israelites entering into Canaan they were forbidden to make any league with the people of the land, they were not to show them any mercy, nor to make any marriages with them, De 7:2-3; and later, when Joshua was about to die, he said to them, that with the nations that were still left they were to make no marriages, nor to go in unto them. If they did, God would drive out no more of the nations, and they would be snares and traps unto them, and scourges in their sides and thorns in their eyes. Jos 23:12-13. Joshua and the princes of Israel were, alas, deceived by the Gibeonites, and without seeking counsel of God they made a covenant with them. Jos 9:3-21. The failure of the Israelites in this particular (cf. Ezr 9:1; 10:1 ; Neh. 13.) is typical of the church making alliances with the world which have so sadly dimmed and destroyed the testimony which should have been borne by a heavenly people.
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and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy! You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,
When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, they did something clever. They collected some provisions and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched. read more. They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread was dry and hard. They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us." The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live near us. So how can we make a treaty with you?" But they said to Joshua, "We are willing to be your subjects." So Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?" They told him, "Your subjects have come from a very distant land because of the reputation of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan -- King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth. Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, 'Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, "We are willing to be your subjects. Make a treaty with us."' This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you, but now it is dry and hard. These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey." The men examined some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord's advice. Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community sealed it with an oath. Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby. So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities -- Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. The whole community criticized the leaders, but all the leaders told the whole community, "We swore an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. So now we can't hurt them! We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them." The leaders then added, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided.
But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites -- men, women, and children alike -- gathered around him. The people wept loudly.