The Gibeonites Cursed Like the Serpent in Eden

Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 19:3

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And now you are cursed" (Joshua 9:23). Rabbi Eleazar said: he cursed them like the serpent, as it says, "And now you are cursed," and it is written, "And now you are cursed" (Genesis 3:14, of the serpent). And it is written, "And the men of Israel said to the Hivite" - and were they Hivites? Were they not Gibeonites? Rather, they acted as the serpent acted. The serpent said: I know that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "On the day you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). But I will go and deceive them, and they will go and act, and I will inherit the earth for myself. So too these said: we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "You shall utterly destroy them" (Deuteronomy 20:17), and it is written, "You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods" (Deuteronomy 7:2). We will go, and they will cut a covenant with us. Whichever way you turn it: if they kill us, they will have transgressed the oath; if they let us live, they will have transgressed the decree. Either way they are punished, and they do not inherit the land.

Themes

DeceptionSerpentDivine Punishment

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