On Conspiracies in the Bible

May 12, 2020

Using either the verb conspire or the noun conspirator or conspiracy, Scripture speaks explicitly of people conspiring sinfully in at least thirty verses:

Gen. 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

1 Sam. 22:8  That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

1 Sam. 22:13  And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

2 Sam. 15:12  And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

2 Sam. 15:31  And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

1 Ki. 15:27  And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.

1 Ki. 16:9  And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.

1 Ki. 16:16  And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.

2 Ki. 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.

2 Ki. 10:9  And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

2 Ki. 12:20  And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.

2 Ki. 14:19  Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

2 Ki. 15:10  And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

2 Ki. 15:15  And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

2 Ki. 15:25  But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

2 Ki. 15:30  And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

2 Ki. 17:4  And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

2 Ki. 21:23  And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.

2 Ki. 21:24  And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

2 Chr. 24:21  And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

2 Chr. 24:25  And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

2 Chr. 24:26  And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

2 Chr. 25:27  Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

2 Chr. 33:24  And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.

2 Chr. 33:25  But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Neh. 4:8  And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

Jer. 11:9  And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Ezek. 22:25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Amos 7:10  Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

Acts 23:13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

These passages attest profoundly to the emphasis that God places on providing revelation about humans conspiring to sin.

Remarkably, 25 of the 30 have to do with conspiracies involving high-level governmental authorities in one or more nations. Scripture thereby certainly instructs us that such conspiracies are a widely prevalent reality in the realm of politics/government.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.