Spying in the Bible 20 - 970 BC to 775 BC

Solomon and the Oracle

When David was an old man and very sick, his oldest living son, Adonijah received the support of Joab, David’s head General, and Abiathar the priest, and named himself King. However, the prophet Nathan, supported the younger son, Solomon as the new king and David named Solomon as his successor. When Jonathan, Abiathar’s son, heard what David had done, he went and told Adonijah, who pretended to capitulate to Solomon, only to attempt to get the throne again later through deceit. He did so by asking to marry king David’s latest wife, and therefore, gain legitimacy. Solomon refused and had both Adonijah and Joab killed for treason, but spared Abiathar, since he had carried the Ark of the Covenant for David.

Thus, Solomon became the last king of the united kingdom of Israel. He reigned between c. 970 BC and c. 931 BC, during which time he built a permanent temple to replace the tabernacle and put the Ark of the Covenant in it. While the Bible does not specifically list any cases of espionage related to Solomon, he no doubt had many. Solomon’s writings make it clear that he was familiar with tradecraft and employed spies to his advantage. Solomon was known to be a very wise king and wrote many proverbs, which were compiled in the book of Proverbs. Some of the proverbs discuss the tradecraft and the importance of having good spies.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)

Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison. (Proverbs 26:6)

Those two verses in the larger context explain that messengers of the king are also often intelligence gatherers, and must be ever vigilant and observant during their missions. They must be capable of delivering a message, but also more than that, they must be smart and capable of bringing the answer back in a proper manner, which involves some analysis of what was said, who said it, and reading in between the lines, or intelligence analysis. They must know what to look for and what to report back. The messengers, then, must be intelligent and trained to use judgment, not just deliver messages verbatim.

Most scholars say Solomon also wrote Ecclesiastes, but it could have possibly been someone else. It is known that the author was a king descended of David, who was also a preacher. Whoever the author, they explained that kings spied not only on their enemies in other kingdoms, but also extensively in their own kingdoms to find internal enemies before they could commit treason. In fact, the internal spy surveillance networks were so extensive that in Israel that he recommends not to even think about treason lest they be reported. Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people and often in a secret manner (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

During Solomon’s reign as king of Israel, Psusennes II was the Pharaoh of Egypt and was also the last of the weak kings of the twenty-first (Tanite) dynasty. Psusennes II gave his daughter to Solomon to marry to form an alliance between the kingdoms. At the end of Solomon’s reign, in c. 931 BC, the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel, rejected Solomon’s son Rehoboam as king and formed their own nation of Israel and moved the capital to Samaria. These people later became known as the Lost Tribes after the diaspora. Jeroboam was their first king of the northern nation of Israel and his descendants continued to rule after him. The southern part of the original kingdom of Israel was renamed Judah and consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, plus the priestly tribe of Levi. They kept their capital in Jerusalem and the descendants of David and Solomon continued to reign. The people from this nation later became known as the Jews and their religion became known as Judaism.

The successor in Egypt of Psusennes II was Shoshenq I, who had been Psusennes’ II Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian army and father-in-law to one of Psusennes II other daughters. Shoshenq I founded the twenty-second dynasty and was well known for his aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East, including his invasion and conquest of Israel in c. 926 BC, four years after its split with Judah. About seventy five years after that, in the middle of the ninth century BC, when Joram was king and Elisha was prophet, Israel was at war on and off with the Arameans. During this time the commander of the Aramean army, Naaman, developed leprosy. One of Naaman’s wife’s servants was a Israelite girl whom he had captured in battle. She told Namaan that Elisha could heal him, so he traveled to Samaria and was healed and also converted. Later, when the Arameans went to war with Israel again, God told Elisha where their army was and he reported it to the king. The king thought one of his inner circle was a spy for Israel, but Namaan new that Elisha received this tactical military intelligence through direct revelation from God (2 Kings 6:8-11).

Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

Interestingly, this was directly in the middle of the period of time when Greek mythology was documented in the Greek literature that is known today. This Greek mythical literature is filled with stories about tactical military intelligence from supernatural sources, such as the oracles at Delphi and the Fates. About fifty years after the incident with Namaan, around the time when the Etruscan city-states emerged in Italy and just before the first Olympic games, God sent Jonah to Nineveh.