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7.9 The most extraordinary contract recorded in the Bible is between
two mothers, who agree to eat each other’s babies during a siege (2
Kings 6:25–31). It was considered sufficiently valid for one of the
parties to petition the king to enforce the contract, although the king
refuses to do so.7.10 Promissory oaths are an important source of unilateral obliga-
tion. Abraham adjures his servant to follow his instructions for finding
a bride for his son (Gen. 24:2–9). Saul takes oaths (1 Sam. 19:6)
and has David swear them (1 Sam. 24:21–22). David spared Mephi-
bosheth because of his oath to Jonathan (2 Sam. 21:7–8).7.10.1 Oaths give rise to strict liability. Once the Israelite spies
took an oath to preserve Rahab and her family from the ̇erem, all
of Israel was obligated to spare them ( Josh. 2:12–14). Likewise, once
Israel had sworn a treaty with the Gibeonites, under the deception
that they had come from far away, they could not break their oath
( Josh. 9:1–21). Saul, however, established the principle that kings
could override promissory oaths (1 Sam. 14).7.10.2 Breach of oath can lead to human as well as divine sanc-
tions. Solomon has Shimei swear an oath to stay in Jerusalem on
pain of death; when he breaks it, Saul has him killed (1 Kings
2:36–46). Retribution can be both human and divine: famine came
because Saul killed Gibeonites despite his oath to them; it ended
when the Gibeonites executed people from Saul’s house (“the house
of bloodguilt”) that David handed over (2 Sam. 21:1–10).- C D
8.1 Overview of Penalties
Penalties included both human sanctions, overseen by the commu-
nity, and divine sanctions, which were left to the hand of God.^688.1.1 Human sanctions could be capital, corporal, talionic, or pecu-
niary. A distinctive feature of biblical law is that property offenses
entail loss of property: the punishment is always pecuniary. Capital(^68) For an overview, see Greenberg, “Crimes and Punishments.”
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