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Drawer of Water

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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• שָׁאַב

A proverbial expression always found in connection with "hewer of wood" (Deuteronomy 29:11; Joshua 9:21,23,27). When the fraud practised by the Gibeonites was discovered, the Israelites, since they had taken an oath to defend them, and therefore could not put them to death (see See COVENANT), made the Gibeonites perform the menial work of drawing the water and cutting and gathering the wood for the Tabernacle and later for the Temple service. The water was drawn from the well, put into goatskins, and so carried. If the man had a donkey, two goatskins could be carried at one time, slung across the animal's back. The drawer of water is still a familiar figure in the Orient. Gibeon; NETHINIM.