Is peace in the Middle East even possible? That’s the question many ask as the conflict continues to frustrate even the world’s greatest deal-makers and diplomats. But did you know that the Bible gives us clear principles and real-life examples of a path to peace, even, and especially, in the Middle East?

Here is a look at examples from the Bible of how peace treaties worked, or not, why they do or don’t, and what is needed for a peace plan that can work right out of antiquity in the annals of biblical history.

To begin, we need to understand that there are two basic kinds of peace treaties in the Bible. One the one hand, there are agreements that are reached between two equal parties, and on the other hand pacts between a dominate or suzerain power and its weaker subject or vassal.

The win-lose option

The Bible describes a treaty made between the Gibeonites and the Israel. The Gibeonites lived in fear of Israel after hearing of Joshua’s military triumphs in the...