War in the Hebrew Bible concerns any military engagement narrated or discussed in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh or Old Testament of the Bible. Texts about war in the Hebrew Bible are part of the broader topic of The Bible and violence. They cover a wide range of topics from detailed battle reports including weapons and tactics used, numbers of combatants involved, and casualties experienced, to discussions of motives and justifications for war, the sacred and secular aspects of war (with divinely commanded wars known as "Milkhemet Mitzvah"), descriptions and considerations of what in the modern era would be considered war crimes, such as genocide or wartime sexual violence (see also Rape in the Hebrew Bible), and reflections on wars that have happened, or predictions, visions or imaginations of wars that are yet to come.
Overview.
In modern times, biblical scholars have questioned the historicity of the Bible, including military events narrated in it. They have noted some discrepancies and contradictions between various descriptions of wars and battles. For example, with the exception of the first verse, scholars have long recognised and studied the parallels between chapter 1 of Judges and chapters 13 to 19 in the preceding Book of Joshua. Both provide similar accounts of the purported conquest of Canaan by the ancient Israelites. Judges 1 and Joshua 15–19 present two accounts of a slow, gradual, and only partial conquest by individual Israelite tribes, marred by defeats, in stark contrast with the 10th and 11th chapters of the Book of Joshua, which portray a swift and complete victory of a united Israelite army under the command of Joshua.
In cases such as the War against the Midianites found in Numbers 31, the scholarly consensus is that the war did not take place, certainly not as narrated. Rather than describing what really happened in the past, the author(s) of Numbers 31 most likely wished to convey a certain theological message about who Yahweh, Moses, Eleazar and Phinehas were, and how powerful the Israelites would be if Yahweh was on their side.
Sometimes, the Hebrew Bible contains the only known sources of a battle, such as in the case of the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) (primarily the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and 2 Kings). In other cases, there are extrabiblical sources that attest to a military event having happened, such as the Fall of Nineveh (612 BCE); it is not only the main topic of the books of Nahum and Jonah, but also described in the "Persica" of the Greek writer Ctesias, and the Babylonian "Fall of Nineveh" chronicle found on a clay tablet. There are also some wars involving the ancient Israelites/Jews that have not been recorded in the Hebrew Bible, but that have been attested in other biblical writings (as well as extrabiblical sources), such as the Maccabean Revolt in the Greek Deuterocanonical books of the Maccabees, or the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) that is referenced in the Greek New Testament. Sometimes archaeology can provide some additional evidence in favour or against a purported biblical battle having happened or not.
War in the Pentateuch.
Battle of Siddim.
In , the Battle of the Vale of Siddim is narrated, also often called the War of Nine Kings or the Slaughter of Chedorlaomer. It occurs in the days of Abram and Lot. The Vale of Siddim was the battleground for the cities of the Jordan River plain revolting against Mesopotamian rule. In the Book of Genesis, during the days of Lot, the vale of Siddim was a river valley where the Battle of Siddim occurred between four Mesopotamian armies and five cities of the Jordan plain. According to the biblical account, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Elamite King Chedorlaomer had subdued the tribes and cities surrounding the Jordan River plain. After 13 years, four kings of the cities of the Jordan plain revolted against Chedorlaomer's rule. In response, Chedorlaomer and three other kings started a campaign against King Bera of Sodom and four other allied kings.
The Northern forces overwhelmed the Southern kings of the Jordan plain, driving some of them into the asphalt or tar pits that littered the valley. Those who escaped fled to the mountains, including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities were then spoiled of their goods and provisions and some of their citizens were captured. Among the captives was Abraham's nephew, Lot. Abraham, staying in Elonei Mamrei with Aner and Eshcol, immediately mounted a rescue operation, arming 318 of his trained servants, who went in pursuit of the enemy armies that were returning to their homelands. They caught up with them in the city of Dan, flanking the enemy on multiple sides during a night raid. The attack ran its course as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, where he defeated Chedorlaomer and his forces. Abram recovered all the goods and the captives (including Lot). After the battle, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham, who gave him a tenth of the plunder as tithes. Then Bera, king of Sodom, came to Abraham and thanked him, requesting that he keep the plunder but return his people. Abraham declined, saying, "I swore I would never take anything from you, so you can never say 'I have made Abraham rich.'" What Abraham accepted from Bera instead was food for his 318 men and his Amorite neighbours.
Whether this event occurred in history has been disputed by scholars. According to Ronald Hendel, "The current consensus is that there is little or no historical memory of pre-Israelite events in Genesis."
Battle of Refidim.
The Battle of Refidim (or Rephidim), as described in , was a battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites, which occurred in Rephidim while the former were moving towards the Promised Land.
According to , following the Israelites' escape from Egypt they camped in Rephidim. The battle began with the Amalekites' unprovoked attack against the Israelites (Exodus 17:8). Afterwards, Yahweh announced the extermination of the Amalekites and called on Israel to defeat them, stating that Israel would experience peace with their enemies (, ). This was the first of several conflicts over several hundred years between the Amalekites and Israelites.
Moses urged the faithful to fight and placed his people under the leadership of Joshua. The words, "that will hold up the rod of God," could be an expression of his beliefs about impending victory in the coming battle, since they fought under the banner of God. Moses watched from above. When he held his hands up, Israel gained the military advantage. Whenever he put his hands down, according to the Biblical account, they began to lose. The Bible describes how when Moses became tired, his closest relatives, Hur and Aaron, held up his hands for support (). The battle lasted until the evening, ending in victory for the Israelites.
The Book of Exodus mentions the curse-punishment thrown at enemies of the chosen people, the children of Israel. The Amalekites were to be erased from history. Curses with similar overtones are also recorded in the Book of Jeremiah (Jer 2:3). After the success of the Israeli military, it erected an altar – Yahweh-Nissi (Heb. יְהוָה נִסִּי) – denoting "The Lord is my banner." The name refers to the sticks held by Moses.
Golden calf massacre.
In Exodus 32:26–28, it is narrated that Moses ordered the Levites to carry out a massacre amongst the Israelites as a punishment for making and worshipping the golden calf in his absence.
Conquest of Bashan.
Numbers 21:33–35 and Deuteronomy 3:1–7 narrate that Moses and the Israelites conquer Bashan after destroying the entire army of king Og. Deuteronomy adds that they also exterminate the entire population, comprising 60 cities.
War in the historical books.
The historical books of the Hebrew Bible include Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel (split in two in Christian Bibles: I Samuel and II Samuel), Kings (split in two in Christian Bibles: I Kings and II Kings), Chronicles (split in two in Christian Bibles: I Chronicles and II Chronicles), and Ezra (1 Esdras) and Nehemiah (2 Esdras) (sometimes jointly called Ezra–Nehemiah by scholars).
Conquest of Canaan.
Narratives of the purported conquest of Canaan by the Israelites can be primarily found in Joshua chapters 2–19, and Judges 1. The Book of Joshua contains the most elaborate account. Judges 1 and Joshua 15–19 present two accounts of a slow, gradual, and only partial conquest by individual Israelite tribes, marred by defeats, in stark contrast with the 10th and 11th chapters of the Book of Joshua, which portray a swift and complete victory of a united Israelite army under the command of Joshua.
Battle of Jericho.
Joshua 5:13–6:27 narrates the Battle of Jericho. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, sent two spies to Jericho, the first city of Canaan that they decided to conquer, and discovered that the land was in fear of them and their God. According to Joshua 6, the Israelites marched around the walls once every day for six days with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day they marched seven times around the walls, then the priests blew their ram's horns, the Israelites raised a great shout, and the walls of the city fell. Following God's law they killed every man and woman of every age, as well as the oxen, sheep, and donkeys. Only Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who had sheltered the spies, her parents, brothers and all "those who belonged to her" were spared. Joshua then cursed anybody who rebuilt the foundations and gates, with the deaths of their firstborn and youngest child respectively. This was eventually fulfilled by Hiel the Bethelite under King Ahab's reign.
The Battle is described as the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. Excavations at Tell es-Sultan, the biblical Jericho, have failed to substantiate this story, which has its origins in the nationalist propaganda of much later kings of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel. The lack of archaeological evidence and the composition, history and theological purposes of the Book of Joshua have led archaeologists like William G. Dever to characterise the story of the fall of Jericho as "invented out of whole cloth".
Judges 1 does not mention Jericho, although some Bible translations identify the "City of Palms" mentioned in Judges 1:16 with Jericho. Even so, the verse does not indicate the city was taken by military force, nor is it the first city the Israelites conquered according to Judges 1, which starts with the defeat of king Adoni-Bezek of the unidentified place "Bezek" (), after which Jerusalem was supposedly taken and sacked ().
Battle of Ai.
In Joshua chapters 7 and 8, the Israelites attempt to conquer Ai on two occasions. The first, in Joshua 7, fails. The biblical account portrays the failure as being due to a prior sin of Achan, for which he is stoned to death by the Israelites. On the second attempt, in Joshua 8, Joshua, who is identified by the narrative as the leader of the Israelites, receives instruction from God. God tells them to set up an ambush and Joshua does what God says. An ambush is arranged at the rear of the city on the western side. Joshua is with a group of soldiers that approach the city from the front so the men of Ai, thinking they will have another easy victory, chase Joshua and the fighting men from the entrance of the city to lead the men of Ai away from the city. Then the fighting men to the rear enter the city and set it on fire. When the city is captured, 12,000 men and women are killed, and it is razed to the ground. The king is captured and hanged on a tree until the evening. His body is then placed at the city gates and stones are placed on top of his body. The Israelites then burn Ai completely and "made it a permanent heap of ruins". God told them they could take the livestock as plunder and they did so.
Battle of the Waters of Merom.
According to Joshua 11, the Battle of the Waters of Merom was a battle between the Israelites and a coalition of Canaanite city-states near the Waters of Merom. Archaeologist Nadav Na'aman has suggested that this battle may never have taken place, and that its narrative