War in the Hebrew Bible

The noun which is derived from the verb (ḥērem[12]) is sometimes translated as "the ban" and it denotes the separation, exclusion and dedication of persons or objects to God which may be specially set apart for destruction (Deuteronomy 7:26; Leviticus 27:28-29).

[13]: 319 [14] Historian Susan Niditch says "the root h-r-m links together several biblical non-war and war usages of the term ... under the heading of sacrifice.

[19] Levine says this indicates that Israel was still, as late as Deuteronomy, making ideological adjustments with regard to the importation of the foreign practice of ḥērem from its source in the surrounding Near Eastern nations.

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.

[22] 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.

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.

Excavations at Tell es-Sultan, the biblical Jericho, have failed to substantiate this story,[36] 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.

[37] 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".

The Israelites had been oppressed for twenty years by the Canaanite king Jabin, and by the captain of his army, Sisera, who commanded a force of nine hundred iron chariots.

The prophetess agreed to come, but scolded Barak, telling him that "you shall not gain the glory in the expedition on which you are setting out, for the Lord will have Sisera fall into the power of a woman.

[55] According to scholars, the biblical text describing the battle and the events surrounding it is considerably late in date, originating close to the time of the Deuteronomist's compilation of Judges from its source material, and clearly has several exaggerations of both numbers and modes of warfare.

(...) Like Num 25, the story recounted in Judges 19–21 centers on the danger of apostasy, but its tale of civil war and escalating violence also emphasizes the tragedy that can result from the indiscriminate application of חרם [herem, meaning 'devotion to Yahweh, usually for complete destruction'].

"And it came to pass, when [a messenger] made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy.

The infantry runners, also wearing leather breastplates and armed with swords, spears, and round bronze shields, would have numbered more than 30,000 men in total strength.

(2 Samuel 2:12–17)The remains of Gibeon were excavated in the late 1950s and early 1960s by a team of archeologists led by University of Pennsylvania archaeologist James B. Pritchard.

[70] Absalom, the third son of King David of Israel, had been newly returned from three years in exile in Geshur for the murder of his half-brother, Amnon and received a pardon with some restrictions.

[74] Meanwhile, back in Hebron he continued to sacrifice under the guise that he was only there to worship God while still gathering officials and important people in the empire, growing his numbers and strength, including receiving the support of Ahithophel of Giloh one of the royal councilors.

They crossed leaving behind several spies and double agents to subvert Absalom and his conspirators and infiltrate their court and gather information on the rebel movements.

One of David's servants brought this intelligence to General Joab, who gave the order that Absalom be put to death and the royal troops disengaged immediately thereafter.

[85] Jeroboam's Revolt (Hebrew: יִפְשְׁעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּבֵית דָּוִד, Modern: Yīfš'ū Yīsraʾēl B'vēt Davīd, Tiberian: Yīp̄š'ū Yīsrāʾēl Bəḇēṯ Dāwīḏ, 'Israel's revolt against the House of David') was an armed insurrection against Rehoboam, king of the United Monarchy of Israel, and subsequently the Kingdom of Judah, led by Jeroboam in the late 10th century BCE, according to the First Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles of the Hebrew Bible.

The conflict, referring to the independence of the Kingdom of Samaria and the subsequent civil war during Jeroboam's rule, began shortly after the death of Solomon and lasted until the Battle of Mount Zemaraim.

The conflict began due to discontent under the rule of Solomon's successor, his son Rehoboam, and was waged with the goal of breaking away from the United Monarchy of Israel.

[95] About 500,000 Israelites were said to have lain dead after this single engagement, though most modern commentators consider the numbers to be either wildly exaggerated or symbolic, and some have even questioned its fundamental historicity.

[110] The warriors of Judah were victorious in the battle, utterly defeating the Egyptians and Kushites,[111] which the Chronicler attributes to divine intervention,[112] and Asa's forces collected a large volume of war spoils.

When Zimri realised the city would fall, he set his palace on fire and perished in the flames after a reign of seven days; the narrator claims this happened because he had 'sinned in the eyes of Yahweh', just like his predecessor Jeroboam (1 Kings 16:17–18).

While Necho II gained control of the Kingdom of Judah, the combined Assyrian-Egyptian forces lost to the Babylonians at the Fall of Harran, after which Assyria largely ceased to exist as an independent state.

And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.There is a longer account recorded later in 2 Chronicles 35:20–25 (written c. 350–300 BC).

The failure led to numerous rebellions among the states of the Levant which owed allegiance to Babylon, including Judah, where King Jehoiakim stopped paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar[126] and took a pro-Egyptian position.

The Chronicle states: In the seventh year [of Nebuchadnezzar, 598 BC] in the month Chislev [November/December] the king of Babylon assembled his army, and after he had invaded the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine) he laid siege to the city of Judah.

In Egypt, they settled in Migdol (it is uncertain where the Bible is referring to here, probably somewhere in the Nile Delta), Tahpanhes, Memphis (called Noph), and Pathros in the vicinity of Thebes (Jeremiah 44:1).