Confederacies

A confederacy in scripture is a pact between kings, peoples, or nations to act with one purpose. The UPDV records confederacies of two kinds: hostile coalitions that gather against Yahweh's people or against Yahweh's anointed, and entangling alliances by which Israel and Judah seek security in foreign strength rather than in Yahweh. Both come under judgment. Wisdom literature carries the same warning to private life — not to bind oneself to the wicked or to the proud.

Coalitions of Kings

The earliest confederacy in the record is a four-king alliance from the east. "And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar)" (Gen 14:1-2). Five Jordan-plain kings answer the four eastern kings — coalition against coalition.

In the conquest, the Canaanite kings respond to Joshua by gathering "to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord" (Jos 9:2). Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem then forms the southern Amorite league: "Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, Come up to me, and help me, and let us strike Gibeon" (Jos 10:3-4). The five kings march and besiege Gibeon (Jos 10:5), and a sixth, Horam king of Gezer, joins late in support of Lachish (Jos 10:33).

The northern coalition is broader still. Jabin king of Hazor sends to Jobab king of Maron, the king of Shimeon, the king of Achshaph, and "to the kings who were on the north, in the hill-country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill-country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah" (Jos 11:1-3). They muster "as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many" (Jos 11:4), and "all these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel" (Jos 11:5).

The pattern recurs in Judges, when Eglon of Moab "gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees" (Jg 3:13). Centuries later, Ben-hadad of Syria assembles a confederation on a still larger scale: "And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it" (1Ki 20:1).

Entangling Alliances with Foreign Powers

A second class of confederacy involves Israel or Judah binding itself to a foreign power for protection or political advantage. Asa of Judah sends silver and gold to Ben-hadad of Syria with the request, "[There is] a league between me and you, between my father and your father: look, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold; go, break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me" (1Ki 15:19) — a treaty engineered by bribery and aimed at breaking another treaty.

Jehoshaphat is the recurring example of a king who entangles Judah with the apostate northern dynasty. "Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab" (2Ch 18:1). And again with Ahab's son: "And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly" (2Ch 20:35).

Hosea condemns the same diplomacy in the northern kingdom. "Ephraim feeds on wind, and follows after the east wind: he continually multiplies lies and violence; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt" (Ho 12:1).

Going Down to Egypt

Isaiah and Jeremiah single out the Egyptian alliance as a particular form of unfaithfulness — seeking refuge in Pharaoh's strength instead of in Yahweh. Of those who go down to Egypt: "who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!" (Is 30:2). The reproach sharpens: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but don't rely on the [Speech] of the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Yahweh!" (Is 31:1).

Jeremiah catches the same posture in a different image — the foot worn out chasing foreign lovers. "Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them" (Je 2:25).

Hellenistic-Era Confederacies

The pattern continues into the Maccabean era. The first betrayal in 1 Maccabees is exactly the project Hosea condemns — making common cause with the surrounding nations: "In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let's go, and make a covenant with the nations that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us" (1Ma 1:11). Refuge with apostates is recorded in the same idiom: "Only in Beth-zur there remained some of them, who had forsaken the law and the commandments: for this was a place of refuge for them" (1Ma 10:14).

Hostile confederacies still feature. Israel's enemies "have hired the Arabians to help them, and they have pitched their tents beyond the torrent, ready to come to fight against you" (1Ma 5:39). And among the Hellenistic powers, alliances are formed and broken by marriage and treaty: "And King Ptolemy got the dominion of the cities by the seaside, even to Seleucia, and he devised evil designs against Alexander. And he sent ambassadors to Demetrius, saying: Come, let's make a covenant between us, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander has, and you will reign in the kingdom of your father" (1Ma 11:8-9).

Wisdom and the Private Confederacy

Sirach extends the warning from the political level to the personal. The principle is the same — do not bind yourself to those who oppose Yahweh. "Do not stick to the wicked or he will overthrow you; And he will turn you out of your house" (Sir 11:34). "Do not give him weapons of war. Why should he turn them against you?" (Sir 12:5). "So is he who joins with a man of pride And wallows in his iniquities" (Sir 12:14).

The Nations Gathered against Yahweh

The Psalms and prophets gather the whole pattern under one frame: confederacies of the wicked are ultimately not against Israel only but against Yahweh and his anointed. "The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Yahweh, and against his anointed, [saying,]" (Ps 2:2). Of the psalmist's enemies: "They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, They mark my steps, Even as they have waited for my soul" (Ps 56:6). And of the surrounding nations: "For they have consulted together with one consent; Against you they make a covenant" (Ps 83:5).

Micah closes with the same image at Zion's gate: "And now many nations are assembled against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see [our desire] on Zion" (Mi 4:11). The hostile confederacy's purpose is exposed; the verses that follow (in their context) declare its undoing. The umbrella's two strands meet here — the foreign coalition and the faithless treaty are both, in the end, set against Yahweh.