9 Bible Verses about Alliances
Most Relevant Verses
And one came that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt among the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.
And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the prince of his host, spoke unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest. Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son; but according to the mercy that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me and to the land in which thou hast sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear.read more.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's slaves had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I know not who has done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither have I heard of it, but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they swore, both of them. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech rose up and Phichol, the prince of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the eternal God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have sent me away from you? And they said, We have seen certainly that the LORD is with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee,read more.
that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee and as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD. And he made them a banquet, and they ate and drank. And they rose up early in the morning and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day that Isaac's slaves came and told him concerning the well which they had opened and said unto him, We have found water. And he called it Shebah, therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee. Then Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap; and they ate there upon the heap.read more.
And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; and Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have raised up between me and thee; let this heap be witness and this pillar be witness that I will not pass over this heap against thee and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar against me, for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their fathers, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount and called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread and slept in the mount.
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to fornicate with the daughters of Moab, who called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they worked with prudence and went and made as if they had been ambassadors and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old and rent and bound up, and old patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.read more.
Thus they came unto Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said unto him and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country; now, therefore, make ye a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us, and how shall we make a covenant with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy slaves. And Joshua said unto them, Who are you and where do you come from? And they said unto him, From very far lands thy slaves are come because of the name of the LORD thy God, for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of the Jordan, and to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore, our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision with you for the journey and go to meet them and say unto them, We are your slaves; therefore, now make ye a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to come unto you, but now, behold, it is dry and mouldy. These bottles of wine, we also filled new, and, behold, they are rent, and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men of Israel took of their provision and did not ask counsel at the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; also the princes of the congregation swore unto them. At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard how they were their neighbours and that they dwelt among them. And the sons of Israel journeyed and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kirjathjearim. And the sons of Israel did not smite them because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel; therefore, now we may not touch them. This we will do to them; we will let them live lest wrath come upon us because of the oath which we swore unto them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had said unto them. And Joshua called for them, and spoke unto them saying, Why have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and ye shall always be slaves and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy slaves how the LORD thy God commanded his slave Moses that he was to give you the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore, we feared greatly of our lives because of you and have done this thing. And now, behold, we are in thy hand; as it seems good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. And so did he unto them; he delivered them out of the hand of the sons of Israel, so that they did not slay them. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which he should choose; which they are even unto this day.
And David arose, and he went over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel. And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, and he sought him no more.read more.
And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let me be given a place in one of the cities of the land that I may dwell there, for why should thy slave dwell in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore, Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah unto this day. And the number of days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was four months and some days. And David and his men went up and invaded the Geshurites and the Gezrites and the Amalekites, for these had inhabited the land for a long time, from as thou goest unto Shur even unto the land of Egypt. And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish. And Achish would say, Where have ye raided today? And David would say, Against the south of Judah and towards the Negev of the Jerahmeelites or towards the Negev of the Kenites. And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David. And this was his manner all the time he dwelt in the land of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He is making himself abominable unto his people of Israel; therefore, he shall be my slave for ever.
From Thematic Bible
Alliances » Evil » Examples of heathen nations uniting in
Therefore, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their hosts and encamped before Gibeon and made war against it.
Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish, and Joshua smote him and his people until none of them were left.
All these kings united, and as they came they gathered together the camps near the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
And he gathered unto him the sons of Ammon and of Amalek and went and smote Israel and took the city of palm trees.
Alliances » Evil » Examples of God's people seeking
After these things, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was given over to wickedness;
Withhold thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst; but thou didst say, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.
There is a covenant between me and thee and between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a bribe of silver and gold; come and break thy covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and married into the family of Ahab.
They leave to descend into Egypt and have not asked for a word from my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to place their hope in the shadow of Egypt.
Alliances » Political » With idolaters forbidden
and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them nor show mercy unto them.
And Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should thou help the ungodly and love those that hate the LORD? Therefore, the wrath of the presence of the LORD shall be upon thee.
They leave to descend into Egypt and have not asked for a word from my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to place their hope in the shadow of Egypt.
Woe to those that go down to Egypt for help; and trust in horses and place their hope in chariots because they are many and in horsemen, because they are valiant, but they did not look unto the Holy One of Israel, neither did they seek the LORD!
Ephraim feeds on wind and follows after the east wind; he daily increases lies and desolation because they made a covenant with the Assyrians, and the oil is carried into Egypt.
Alliances » Ratification of » By oaths
Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son; but according to the mercy that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me and to the land in which thou hast sojourned.
And they said, We have seen certainly that the LORD is with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee and as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD. And he made them a banquet, and they ate and drank. read more.
And they rose up early in the morning and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; also the princes of the congregation swore unto them. At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard how they were their neighbours and that they dwelt among them. And the sons of Israel journeyed and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kirjathjearim. read more.
And the sons of Israel did not smite them because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel; therefore, now we may not touch them. This we will do to them; we will let them live lest wrath come upon us because of the oath which we swore unto them.
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. And Jonathan swore unto David again because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Alliances » Instances of » Zedekiah and pharaoh
And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he nor his slaves nor the people of the land hearkened unto the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us. read more.
(Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison. And as Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.) Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus hath the LORD, the God of Israel said; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which had come forth to help you, has returned to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city and take it and burn it with fire.
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors unto Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he be prospered, shall he that does such things escape? And shall he who broke the covenant be able to flee? As I live, said the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells that made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon, he shall die. And not with a mighty army, nor with a great company shall Pharaoh do anything for him in the battle when they cast up mounts, and build forts to cut off many lives:
Alliances » Instances of » Ahaz and tiglath
For even though Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the house of the king and of the princes and gave it unto the king of Assyria, he did not help him.
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am thy slave and thy son; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasury of the king's house and sent it for a bribe to the king of Assyria.
Alliances » Instances of » Asa and benhadad
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house and delivered them into the hand of his slaves, and King Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a covenant between me and thee and between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a bribe of silver and gold; come and break thy covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
There is a covenant between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
Alliances » Instances of » Jehoshaphat and ahab
Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and married into the family of Ahab.
Alliances » Instances of » Solomon and hiram
And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two made a covenant together.
Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Tyre and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and did not remember the brotherly covenant;
Alliances » Instances of » Isaac and abimelech
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have sent me away from you? And they said, We have seen certainly that the LORD is with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee, read more.
that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee and as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD. And he made them a banquet, and they ate and drank. And they rose up early in the morning and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Alliances » Instances of » Abraham and abimelech
And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the prince of his host, spoke unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest. Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son; but according to the mercy that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me and to the land in which thou hast sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear. read more.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's slaves had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I know not who has done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither have I heard of it, but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they swore, both of them. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech rose up and Phichol, the prince of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
Alliances » Instances of » Moabites, amalekites, and ammonites
And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered unto him the sons of Ammon and of Amalek and went and smote Israel and took the city of palm trees.
Alliances » Instances of » Canaanitish nations against israel
And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the mountains and in the valleys and in all the coast of the great sea over against Lebanon, heard these things, the Hittites and the Amorites the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
Alliances » Instances of » Jehoshaphat and ahaziah
After these things, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was given over to wickedness;
Alliances » Instances of » Between abraham and mamre, eshcol, and aner
And one came that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt among the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.
Alliances » Instances of » Rezin and pekah
Then Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
Alliances » Ratification of » By giving the hand
We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread.
Alliances » Instances of » Joshua and the gibeonites
Evil » Alliances » Examples of heathen nations uniting in
Therefore, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their hosts and encamped before Gibeon and made war against it.
Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish, and Joshua smote him and his people until none of them were left.
All these kings united, and as they came they gathered together the camps near the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
And he gathered unto him the sons of Ammon and of Amalek and went and smote Israel and took the city of palm trees.
Evil » Alliances » Examples of God's people seeking
After these things, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was given over to wickedness;
Withhold thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst; but thou didst say, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.
There is a covenant between me and thee and between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a bribe of silver and gold; come and break thy covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and married into the family of Ahab.
They leave to descend into Egypt and have not asked for a word from my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to place their hope in the shadow of Egypt.
Topics on Alliances
Political Alliances, By Oaths
1 Samuel 20:16-17So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David.
