Old Testament stories about the vicious Israelite conquest of Canaan have raised ethical and theological questions in Christianity at a time when archaeologists have come to question the historicity of the event. Unearthed cuneiform texts from the Ancient Near East have shown that Israel’s neighbors had the exact same, morally questionable religious ideology that once seemed unique to the Ancient Israelites. By studying these texts (see examples below), it has become clear that the violence of Scripture is a reflection of the values and needs of its authors - human beings whose understanding and experience of God was shaped by their culture, their theological assumptions, and the time in which they lived. In fact, scholars like Adam Hamilton, have suggested that Ancient Israel’s mythical war stories tell us more about the people who wrote them and their context than about God. Moses and Joshua - the Ancient Near Eastern version of today’s warlords - lived in the Middle East at a time when people saw violence as part of God’s way of accomplishing his ‘plan’ for them. The Bible authors attributed words, commands, and deeds to God that they believed He would have authorized or done.
The propaganda that the king was leading his people into battle on the orders of their God, on His behalf, and with His help now seems to have been common in the Ancient Near East. This is how politics worked. It was a common method of rallying a city or tribe behind their ‘divine king’ to go to war against another city and of justifying genocide. It was also a convenient way for the scribal elite to explain to a nation why their divine patron would allow them to be decimated when they fell victim to the same kind of brutality. Also common was the slaughter of the entire city as a sacrifice to the god who instigated the war - as an act of worship and an expression of loyalty and devotion (SEE BIBLE QUOTES). According to Hamilton, “the violence-affirming passages of the Old Testament... serve as a reminder of how easily we might still be led to invoke God’s name as a justification of violence in our world.”
Before we look at some remarkable examples of these texts, let’s briefly consider the historicity of a time when it was Israel who was on the attack.
1. The Archaeological Record
Several scholars (e.g. Dever, Machinist, Finkelstein, Silberman) have concluded that the story of the Israelite conquest of Canaan in the 13th century BCE doesn’t stand up to archaeological inquiry. Let’s look at two important reasons. Firstly, only a few of the Canaanite cities that Joshua is claimed to have conquered, show any signs of war and for those cities that were destroyed, the destruction ranges over a period of a thousand years, starting with Ai as early as 2200 BCE. Even the ruins at Jericho (1500 BCE) predate the time of the conquest as suggested in the Bible. At this time, Jericho was unoccupied and there were no walls that needed tumbling down. In fact, many of the cities mentioned were not inhabited at all at this time. There was nothing there.
Secondly, at the time of the conquest, Canaan was an Egyptian province. Hundreds of 14th century letters from Canaanite kings sent to Egyptian kings prove that all the Canaanite city states were vassals of Egypt from the 15th century to the 12th century. These cuneiform clay tablets describe how the Egyptian rulers and their Canaanite vassal kings burdened the lower classes of Canaan with taxes and even slavery. A theory based on these archaeological discoveries suggests that there is a historical core behind the conquest story.
So what really happened? Archaeology and ancient texts clearly show that a long period of decline and upheaval swept through Mesopotamia, the Aegean and the Egyptian Empire (including the Levant) around 1200 BCE. As a result of this decline, the oppressive social system of the Canaanites broke down. Tribes and families of serfs, slaves and common Canaanites, seized the opportunity to revolt, abandoned the old city states and settled in the hills. And when the dust settles we find a number of new peoples suddenly coming into focus in the void that was created with the dissolution of the great state system. These ‘have-nots’ of Canaanite society eventually emerged in the hill country as the Israelites. The Israelites were themselves originally Canaanites.
The movement of people was a socio-economic revolution and not an invasion of armed hordes from outside. According to archaeology, the rise of early Israel is an outcome of the collapse of Canaanite society not the reason for that collapse. It is possible that a small group of Canaanite runaway slaves, who had migrated from Egypt, settled among these highlanders at some point. As Peter Machinist (Harvard University) speculates, these slaves had spent enough time in Yhw (later called Median in Southern Canaan) to adopt the Shasu god, YHWH, as their new divine patron (translated ‘LORD’ in the Bible).
2. A Warrior God in the Bible?
Apart from the god Yahweh, it is possible that this group of slaves brought a certain religious ideology with them, but it is unlikely that it was in essence any different from what the Israelites believed in (which shows a great deal of continuation from the Canaanite religion). Ancient cultic and political texts (SEE EXAMPLES BELOW) have shown that there was a definite religious sameness across the entire Ancient Near East, from Hatti (Turkey) in the west to Persia (Iran) in the east, to Egypt in the south (including Canaan). The political and religious ideology of Ancient Israel & Judah is typical of any Ancient Near Eastern cult, which follows the same broad outline:
1. Speaking through an oracle or prophet, the god with whom your ancestors made a covenant, instigates your divinely appointed king (‘anointed one’) to attack the city of your rivals. (SEE BIBLE QUOTES)
2. The people of this city have failed to worship the god and therefore he has chosen a foreign power (you) to attack them and punish them for their wickedness and rebellion (SEE BIBLE QUOTES).
3. Killing two birds with one stone, it just so happens that you will also be claiming their land which the god has decided to ‘give’ you because your king is more righteousness than anyone else on earth (SEE BIBLE QUOTES).
4. You are assured that the god himself will march into battle at the head of your army and drive out ‘your enemies’ before you. Better yet, he will deliver them into your hands without a fight. (SEE BIBLE QUOTES)
5. After a successful campaign, the spoils of war from the temple of the rival god (now destroyed) are taken to the temple of your own god. As for the men, women and children, they are all slaughtered as a sacrifice to him. The Bible uses the word herem - “devoted to destruction” or “put to the ban,” which is the idea that Yahweh grants the Israelites victory, so everything therefore belongs to Yahweh and in order to give it to him, it is destroyed. (SEE BIBLE QUOTES)
6. As reward for your king’s obedience, your god promises to extend his reign to last for all time and to include all nations on earth (SEE BIBLE QUOTES).
Let’s look at some examples of texts that have been found elsewhere in the ANE. They show close parallels with the above religious ideology of the Ancient Israelites, as put forth in the Bible:
The Decree of Cyrus III (Persian king, 539 BCE)
“Nabonidus turned the worship of Marduk - ruler of the divine assembly in Babylon - into an abomination... Marduk... became angry... Marduk... searched all the lands for a righteous ruler... in Babylon. He chose Cyrus, ruler of Anshan. Marduk called his name and made him ruler of all the earth... Because Marduk... was pleased with Cyrus’ good deeds and upright heart, he ordered him to march against Babylon. They walked together like friends, while the vast army of soldiers accompanying Cyrus marched into Babylon without fear of attack. Marduk allowed Cyrus to enter Babylon without a battle... and delivered Nabonidus, the king who would not worship Marduk, into the hands of Cyrus.
Annals of Tiglath-Pileser I (Assyrian king, 1076 BCE)
“After Tiglath-Pileser I, the king, consulted the prophets, he hitched his horses faster than the sunrise. He set out before the sun rose. He marched three days distance before dawn... He slit the throats of warriors... Whoever offended the god Ashur was executed. Sing of the power of Assyria and Ashur, the strong, who goes forth into battle...” [Obv. 21-22; Rev. 1-4, 6-7]
Annals of Jehu (Tell Dan, Northern Israel, 815 BCE)
“Hazael (king of Aram), my patron, invaded Israel when Jehoram (king of Israel) declared his independence from Aram... the god Hadad (Baal), my divine patron, made me king of Israel. With Hadad riding before me I (Jehu) delivered Israel from two ruthless monarchs by killing Jehoram (of the house of Ahab) and Ahaziahu (of the house of David). I destroyed their cities and left their lands barren...”
Mesha Stele (Moabite king, 840 BCE):
“At that time, the god Chemosh said to me, ‘Go! Take Mt. Nebo from Israel.’ So I deployed my soldiers at night and attacked Nebo from dawn until noon. I won a great victory and I sacrificed 7 000 men, boys, women, girls and maid-servants, for I had devoted them to destruction for (the god) Ashtar-Chemosh. I brought sacred vessels from the sanctuary of Yahweh and laid them before Chemosh.”
“Omri, ruler of Israel, invaded Moab year after year because Chemosh, the god of Moab, was angry with his people.”
“The king of Israel was invading Moab from Jahaz, which he had fortified. Chemosh, my god, drove him out before me.”
“I reigned in peace over hundreds of villages which I had conquered... and Chemosh dwelt there in my time.”
Letters to Zimri-Lim (King of Mari, 1792 BCE)
To: Zimri-Lim (king of Mari). From: Shibtu (queen of Mari)
“The apilu prophet of Diritum came to the palace gate at Mari and spoke as follows: ‘No enemy will assail the throne of Mari. Zimri-Lim has sole title to the upper country. The ruler of Elam will be defeated...!’ The divine assembly swore: ‘We will not harm the walls of Mari, nor the god Dagan, its divine patron.’” [Letter A.2233:]
To: Zimri-Lin. From: an official of Mari stationed at Tuttul
“After I offered the sacrifice to the god Dagan for the king’s health, an apilu prophet of Dagan in Tuttul stood up and spoke: ‘Babylon, what do you think you are doing? I will bring you down like a bird with a net. I will give you to Zimri-Lin, along with your 7 covenant partners and all their land.’” [Letter ARM 13.23:1-15:]
To: Zimri-Lim. From: an official of Mari stationed at Kallassu.
“Repeatedly I have written to the king about the gift of livestock that he promised to the sanctuary of the god Addu, his divine patron. Addu... is still waiting for this livestock... An apilu prophet of Addu... spoke: ‘I am Addu, your god... who helped you regain your father’s throne and your father’s house. What I gave, I can also take away! If Zimri-Lim fulfills my request, I will give him greater power, more holdings, and command of lands and cities from the east to the west.’” [Letter A.2731: 1-44:]
Anals of Sargon II (Assyrian king, 722 BCE)
“At the command of the god Ashur, my divine patron, I - Sargon II - mustered an army and laid siege to Qarqar, the city of Yau-bi’di. After I burned Qarqar to the ground and skinned Yau-bi’di alive, I executed the rebels in these cities to restore peace and harmony once again.” [Khorsabad, 33-36]
Laments for Ur (Nippur, 2004 BCE)
Ur, occupied by Sumerians, was destroyed by the Elamites and Amorites between 2026-2004 BCE
“The divine assembly condemned my city; the god Enlil commanded the total destruction of my city and its people... I uttered prayers of supplication before Enlil. I repeatedly cried, ‘Spare the city and its people!’ But the god Anu and Enlil did not relent... Their command remained to destroy my city. Their decree was to kill my people...” [Fourth Lament, 137-70]
Anals of Shalmaneser III (Assyrian king, 859 BCE)
“With the help of the god Ashur, my divine patron, whose divine standard goes before me, I routed all these rulers, killing and wounding 14 000 soldiers. Like Adad (Baal), god of the thunderstorm, I rained destruction upon them.” [Kurkh Stela (ii 78-102)]
Merneptah Stele (Egyptian king, 1207 BCE)
The stele of Merneptah describes a military campaign led by Pharaoh Merneptah against Canaan:
“Plundered is Canaan, with every evil: carried off is Ashkelon, seized upon is Gezer, Israel is destroyed and its seed is no more. Every rebel is now prostrate before Merneptah, pharaoh of Upper & Lower Egypt, the divine presence of Amun-Re, beloved of the divine assembly.”
Hymn To Aten (Tomb of Akhenaten, 1335 BCE)
“O Re, you reach to the ends of the earth; You bestow these lands on Akhenaten, your beloved son.” [Verse 2-4]
Annals of Hatshepsut (Egyptian queen, 1508 BCE)
“I, Khnum (god), say to Hatshepsut... to the child of Amun-Re: ‘I have made you a divine child. I have given you life... You will reign over every land and all peoples.’” [Temple at Deir el-Bahari, north colonnade]
3. Conclusion
“This book (the Bible) was written by human beings with agendas... I think the God of Joshua is a monster.” - Prof. Barbara Taylor
"Perhaps the most important reason for reading Joshua is to remind us of how easy it is for people of faith to invoke God’s name in pursuit of violence, bloodshed, and war. The violence-affirming passages of the Old Testament serve as a reminder of how easily we might still be led to invoke God’s name as a justification of violence in our world. But violence is an equal-opportunity illness in the human condition. Atheist regimes have sought to impose their view of utopia by slaughtering millions of people." - Prof. Adam Hamilton
