Thematic Bible: Magnanimity

And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes are on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, 'Thy servant Ben-Hadad hath said, Let me live, I pray thee;' and he saith, 'Is he yet alive? he is my brother.' And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, 'Thy brother Ben-Hadad;' and he saith, 'Go ye in, bring him;' and Ben-Hadad cometh out unto him, and he causeth him to come up on the chariot. And he saith unto him, 'The cities that my father took from thy father, I give back, and streets thou dost make for thee in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria;' -- 'and I, with a covenant, send thee away;' and he maketh with him a covenant, and sendeth him away.

and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there is a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding. And the men of David say unto him, 'Lo, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Lo, I am giving thine enemy into thy hand, and thou hast done to him as it is good in thine eyes;' and David riseth and cutteth off the skirt of the upper robe which is on Saul -- gently. And it cometh to pass afterwards that the heart of David smiteth him, because that he hath cut off the skirt which is on Saul, read more.
and he saith to his men, 'Far be it from me, by Jehovah; I do not do this thing to my lord -- to the anointed of Jehovah -- to put forth my hand against him, for the anointed of Jehovah he is.' And David subdueth his men by words, and hath not permitted them to rise against Saul; and Saul hath risen from the cave, and goeth on the way; and David riseth afterwards, and goeth out from the cave, and calleth after Saul, saying, 'My lord, O king!' And Saul looketh attentively behind him, and David boweth -- face to the earth -- and doth obeisance. And David saith to Saul, 'Why dost thou hear the words of man, saying, Lo, David is seeking thine evil? Lo, this day have thine eyes seen how that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and one said to slay thee, and mine eye hath pity on thee, and I say, I do not put forth my hand against my lord, for the anointed of Jehovah he is. 'And, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thine upper robe in my hand; for by cutting off the skirt of thy upper robe, and I have not slain thee, know and see that there is not in my hand evil and transgression, and I have not sinned against thee, and thou art hunting my soul to take it!

And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai, and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry -- it was crumbs. read more.
And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, 'From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;' and the men of Israel say unto the Hivite, 'It may be in our midst ye are dwelling, and how do we make with thee a covenant?' and they say unto Joshua, 'Thy servants we are.' And Joshua saith unto them, 'Who are ye? and whence come ye?' And they say unto him, 'From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt, and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who are beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who is in Ashtaroth. 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; this our bread -- hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs; and these are the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.' And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked; and Joshua maketh with them peace, and maketh with them a covenant, to keep them alive; and swear to them do the princes of the company. And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days after that they have made with them a covenant, that they hear that they are their neighbours -- that in their midst they are dwelling. And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day -- and their cities are Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim -- and the sons of Israel have not smitten them, for sworn to them have the princes of the company by Jehovah God of Israel, and all the company murmur against the princes. And all the princes say unto all the company, 'We -- we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them; this we do to them, and have kept them alive, and wrath is not upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them.' And the princes say unto them, 'They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the company, as the princes spake to them.' And Joshua calleth for them, and speaketh unto them, saying, 'Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, and ye in our midst dwelling? and now, cursed are ye, and none of you is cut off from being a servant, even hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.' And they answer Joshua and say, 'Because it was certainly declared to thy servants, that Jehovah thy God commanded Moses His servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we fear greatly for ourselves because of you, and we do this thing; and now, lo, we are in thy hand, as it is good, and as it is right in thine eyes to do to us -- do.' And he doth to them so, and delivereth them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they have not slain them; and Joshua maketh them on that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the company, and for the altar of Jehovah, unto this day, at the place which He doth choose.