633 - The Gibeonite Oath
The Gibeonite Oath Three days after making the treaty (with the strangers who had come to them) , the Israelites learned that these people actually lived nearby! The Israelites set out at once,to investigate …and they reached their towns, in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them, in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders, because of the treaty. But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath, in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them. This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us, if we broke our oath. Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers, for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed. They made them servants,...