GIBEONITES AND NETHINIM

GIBEONITES AND NETHINIM (Heb. ‫ נְ ִּתינִּ ים‬,‫)גִּ בְ עֹ נִּ ים‬. The Gibeonites, residents of
four important cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem, feared that they might share the fate
of Jericho and Ai, which were destroyed by the Israelites, and tricked *Joshua into a
treaty that would spare them (Josh. 9). Had Joshua known that these people were
actually Canaanites whom he was pledged to dispossess, he would not have concluded
a treaty with them, but the Gibeonites had disguised themselves as coming from a
distant land, and had made overtures of devotion to the God of Israel. As they were
returning to their nearby cities, the ruse was discovered, but by that time the Israelites
were bound by the treaty, and could not drive them out or destroy their cities, which
were strategically located to control access to Jerusalem and the roads through the
Judean mountains. As a result of this treaty, five Canaanite rulers immediately formed
a coalition under the king of Jerusalem and attacked Gibeon. Under the terms of the
treaty, the Gibeonites called upon Joshua to come to their aid, and he routed the
Canaanite coalition (Josh. 10; cf. 11:19). Thus deceived by the Gibeonites, the
Israelites adopted an alternative measure, that of forced labor: "On that day Joshua
gave them over to be hewers of wood and drawers of water for the assembly and for
the altar of the Lord until this day, at the place which He will choose" (Josh. 9:27).
The Gibeonites appear again in connection with a famine during the reign
of *David (ii Sam. 21). David learned that the famine was a punishment for an offense
committed by *Saul, who had put a number of Gibeonites to death out of zeal for
Israel and Judah, but in violation of Israel's ancient oath. In expiation, David was
obliged to hang seven of Saul's descendants on a hill at Gibeath-Shaul, where Saul
had resided, and where at least some of his descendants undoubtedly still lived.

The designation Nethinim is derived from the Hebrew verb natan ("to give over"),
which can mean devoting someone to cultic service. The verb is used in this sense
with respect to Joshua's action toward the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:27, where cultic
servitude is involved ("for the altar of the Lord"). The Book of Ezra (8:20) states that
David and his commanders "devoted" (Heb. natan) the Nethinim "to the service of
the *levites" which may reflect the ancient practice of committing captives and
conquered peoples to temple slavery, which was a widespread phenomenon in the
ancient Near East. The Bible itself offers other indications of its operation in ancient
Israel. Many modern scholars consider that such was the status of the Nethinim, and
cite certain data in support of this view. The Nethinim are listed together with "the
sons of the servants of Solomon" in the census of Israelites returning from Babylonia
in about 538 b.c.e. (Ezra 2 = Nehemiah 7), and the latter are generally considered to
have been royal slaves. Furthermore, a large number of foreign names in the list of
Nethinim suggests that they were captives of war.

There are, however, counterindications. It is possible that "servants of Solomon" were

not slaves but royal merchants (see: Servants of *Solomon). The verb natan,
discussed above, need not necessarily imply servitude, but was used to designate other
types of cultic devotion as well. It was applied to the levites, who were hardly temple
slaves, and was used to characterize a relationship to the cultic establishment which
was primarily administrative and religious; one not based on the economic institution
of temple property, under which temple slaves are to be classified.

A later tradition identifies the Gibeonites of Joshua's time with the Nethinim
mentioned in the post-Exilic literature. This tradition probably arose in Palestine
during the late Hellenistic or early Roman period, at a time when the Jews had
become familiar with temple slavery among the pagans, especially in the form of
sacred prostitution. It was probably known to the historian Josephus of the first
Christian century who translates the term Nethinim in Ezra, chapter 2, by the Greek
term hierodoulos (from δούλοι ʿιεροί, "sacred slaves"). On the other hand, it probably
arose after the completion of the Septuagint translation to the Bible which never
renders Nethinim as hierodoulos, but either translates the term literally into Greek
as dedomenoi (so in i Chron. 9:2), or uses Greek transcriptions of the original Hebrew
term. Modern scholarship, though recognizing that identification of the Gibeonites
with the Nethinim represents a later tradition, nevertheless tends to accept the
identification of the Nethinim as "uncircumcised" temple personnel, such as those
referred to by Ezekiel (44:7). Conclusive clarification of the exact social status and
precise cultic functions of the Nethinim must await further evidence, but the
possibility that they represented a guild of free cultic practitioners should not be
disregarded.

i Chronicles 9:1–2 states that in the days of David the Nethinim were among the first
settlers in the land, but they are never actually mentioned in the pre-Exilic books of
Samuel and Kings, nor in any other biblical book presumed to be pre-Exilic. Some
scholars claim that this term occurs in Numbers 3:9 and 8:19, which speaks of the
dedication of the levites; however, this is unlikely, and it is better to take the
repeated netunim netunim ("devoted, yea, devoted") as mere passive participles.
Although Ezra 8:20 associates the Nethinim with the levites, they are left as two
separate groups elsewhere in the Bible (cf. Ezra 2; 7:7; Neh. 10:29; 11:3; i Chron.
9:2). However, there is evidence to support the tradition of i Chronicles 9 concerning
the pre-Exilic existence of the Nethinim. A hoard of Hebrew ostraca dating from the
last days of the kingdom of Judah has been uncovered at the site of ancient *Arad in
the Negev, where an Israelite sanctuary was in use throughout most of the pre-Exilic
period. An official named "the Kerosite" appears in one of the ostraca. The personal
name Keros otherwise occurs only once, and that in the list of Nethinim in Ezra 2:44
(= Neh. 7:47): "the sons of Keros." Therefore it is probable that the Kerosite at Arad
was a member of a group of Nethinim, who would logically be located at a sanctuary.
If true, this would be the first contemporary attestation of the existence of Nethinim in
the pre-Exilic period. Evidence of a comparative nature also suggests that the
Nethinim were a very ancient group. The administrative archives at Ugarit have
yielded a list of ytnm, the Ugaritic form of Hebrew nethinim (C.H. Gordon, Ugaritic
Text-Book, 301:1, 1). They are also mentioned in a poetic ritual text (ibid., 52:3) and it
is reasonable to consider them some sort of cultic personnel, as in Palestine. One of
the families or groups of ytnm at Ugarit had the same name as a group of Nethinim
listed in Ezra (cf. Ugaritic bn ḥgby, ibid., 301:2, 5 with benei Hagab, Hagabah in
Ezra 2:45–46). It is therefore possible that the Nethinim were an international group
of persons skilled in certain cultic arts, who had attached themselves to the Israelites
at an early period. The manner in which they are listed suggests that they were
organized according to family groups, as was customary.

Akkadian sources also throw light on the semantic and institutional background of the
Nethinim. Neo-Babylonian documents refer to members of a religious order dedicated
to the service of different Babylonian deities, called širku, "devotees, oblates" (from
Akk. šarāku, "to give, present"). This word is the semantic equivalent of the Hebrew
Nethinim, and the members of both orders were temple servitors (Speiser). The Bible
provides several more references to the Nethinim which are instructive. About the
middle of the fifth century b.c.e. Ezra recruited Nethinim along with other personnel
preparatory to his return to Judah (Ezra 7:7, 24; 8:1–20). Nehemiah 3 describes the
resettlement of Jerusalem, whose recruited population of skilled persons included
Nethinim. In about 438 b.c.e. the leaders of the people convoked a great assembly in
Jerusalem to ratify a new covenant (Neh. 10:1–40), and the Nethinim were among the
principal signatories (10:29; cf. 11:3). Only bona fide Israelites would have been
admitted to the covenant, especially at a time when there was great concern in rooting
out foreign strains from the community.

[Baruch A. Levine]

Post-Biblical Period
Nothing more is heard of the Nethinim until they appear in the legislation of the
Mishnah which classes them with proselytes, freedmen, mamzerim, waifs, and
foundlings with whom alone they are permitted to intermarry (Kid. 4:1). The Mishnah
(Hor. 3:8), however, classifies the Nethinim as being one level lower
than mamzerim but preceding proselytes and freedmen. They were regarded as the
descendants of the Gibeonites (Yev. 78b–79a) and the prohibition in their marrying
Jews of pure pedigree as having been established by King David (ibid. 78b) and
reconfirmed by Ezra (Num. R. 8:4). It is impossible to explain this loss of status since
the days of Nehemiah. It is possible that, in employing the classification Nethinim, the
talmudic sages did not have the actual biblical group in mind at all, but merely
reapplied an ancient term to contemporary groups of declassed persons who were the
subject of their own legislation, thus stigmatizing them with traditional associations.
An attempt by the rabbis to abolish the inferior status of the Nethinim was rejected
by Judah ha-Nasi on the grounds that when the Temple was rebuilt it would be
deprived of hewers of wood and drawers of water, and the matter was relegated to
"the time to come" (Yev. 79b). Maimonides, too, regards the Nethinim as the
descendants of the Gibeonites (Yad, Issurei Bi'ah 12:23–24).