Genocide in the Hebrew Bible

Several passages in the Hebrew Bible are interpreted as referring to genocide that God commanded the Israelites commit, notably the case of Amalek, and the Canaanites. Various interpretations have been given of these passages throughout history, with some interpretations holding the commandments as necessary or allegorical. Critics of Christianity and Judaism have often cited the passages to prove that the biblical god was a malevolent being. Still others have invoked the passage to incite genocide or ethnic cleansing against religious or ethnic minorities, such as was done during the Rwandan genocide. A reference to the commandment by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israel–Hamas war was cited as proof of genocide in the Gaza strip in South Africa's genocide case against Israel. In mainstream scholarship, the passages are not seen as entirely historically accurate.

Biblical text

Many scholars interpret the book of Joshua as referring to what would now be considered genocide.^[1] When the Israelites arrive in the Promised Land, they are commanded to annihilate "the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites" who already lived there, to avoid being tempted into idolatry.^[2] Deuteronomy 20:16–17 reads "From the cities of these peoples which YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not let anything that breathes remain alive. You shall surely annihilate them (haḥărēm taḥărîmēm) ... just as YHWH your God has commanded you so that they may not teach you to do any of the abominations that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against YHWH your God".^[3] Joshua is depicted as carrying out these commands.^[4] T. M. Lemos argues that the genocides commanded by God resemble some modern genocides in that they are committed as part of a struggle for land and other resources.^[5]

In Exodus 17, Amalek is introduced as a partially nomadic group that attacked the Israelites following their departure from Egypt. Moses defeats Amalek by a miraculous victory.^[6] In 1 Samuel 15:3, Israelite king Saul is told by God via the prophet Samuel: “Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe [kill and dedicate to YHWH] all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!”^[7] Saul's failure to be sufficiently harsh with Amalek is portrayed as leading to his downfall.^[8]

Mainstream biblical scholarship does not regard this part of the Bible to be faithfully depicting historical events. However, it could still be concluded that God commanded genocide.^[8]

Jewish interpretations

Some Jewish scholars including Maimonides argued that the commandment to destroy Amalek was still active. Rashi wrote that "the throne of God is incomplete as long as one of Amalek’s descendants is alive", endorsing the persecution of Amalek across many generations.^[6]

Christian interpretations

Defense of a divine call for genocide is fairly common in contemporary academia, especially among evangelicals.^[9]^[6] Christian Hofreiter writes that for Christians, the plain meaning of the Bible and modern ethical beliefs give rise to five contradictory premises: "(1) God is good. (2) The Bible is true. (3) Genocide is atrocious. (4) According to the Bible, God commanded and commended genocide. (5) A good being, let alone the supremely good Being, would never command or commend an atrocity."^[10] Of early Christians, Marcion was most bothered by this dilemma, but his proposed resolution—denying that the God of the Old Testament was the same as the Christian God—was soon condemned as heretical by the Great Church.^[11] Origen argued both that the texts were metaphorical and that they represented a different stage of development than the modern Christian church which was not an earthly kingdom.^[12] Augustine suggested resolving the perceived contradiction through divine command theory—whatever God wills is good, thus (3) is false.^[13] Some more modern interpretations reject the historicity of the biblical accounts without rejecting any of Hofreiter's five propositions.^[14]

Criticism of Judaism and Christianity

Although these verses were not a major feature of ancient pagan criticisms of Judaism and Christianity, some pagans highlighted these verses and they also argued, in Hofreiter's words, "if (2) is true, then (4) is also true; however, if (4) is true, then (1) is false because (3) and (5) are true; if, however, (1) is false, then Christianity is false". Christians at the time believed in biblical inerrancy and therefore (2) being false would have also invalidated their interpretation of Christianity.^[11] The genocide in the Hebrew Bible has been cited by some contemporary atheists as a reason for rejecting Christianity, leading to apologetic defenses of the ancient Israelites.^[15]

Justification of violence

"Pope Urban II (d. 1099) portrayed the Crusaders as Israel fighting the Amalekites; Martin Luther pointed to the Jews who persecuted Jesus as Amalek; Calvinists used the title in the defamation of Catholics, and White Settlers used it against Native American Indians."^[6] Some perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide also identified Tutsi as Amalek.^[16]

Anyone who is perceived as being an enemy of the Jewish people by religious Jews may be branded as Amalek.^[6] The biblical story was cited by Israeli leaders to justify their actions in the Nakba^[17] and the Israel-Hamas war that many have characterized as genocide.^[18] Netanyahu's reference to Palestinians as Amalek was cited in South Africa's genocide case against Israel.^[19]

References

^ Lemos 2016, pp. 27–28.
^ Kelley 2016, p. 30.
^ Lemos 2016, p. 27.
^ Kelley 2016, pp. 30–31.
^ Lemos 2016, p. 46.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kugler 2021.
^ Brettler, Marc Zvi (25 March 2024). "Destroying Amalek". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 24 September 2024. Text also available here at Duke University Center of Jewish Studies
^ ^a ^b Kelley 2016, p. 31.
^ Hofreiter 2018, p. 251.
^ Hofreiter 2018, p. 247.
^ ^a ^b Hofreiter 2018, p. 248.
^ Hofreiter 2018, pp. 248–249.
^ Hofreiter 2018, p. 249.
^ Hofreiter 2018, pp. 249–250.
^ Kelley 2016, p. 35.
^ van ’t Spijker, Gerard (2017). "Focused on Reconciliation: Rwandan Protestant Theology After the Genocide". Transformation. 34 (1): 66–74. ISSN 0265-3788.
^ Rabinovich, Silvana (2022). "Victims and Victimizers 2: Amalek, the Canaanites, and the Nakbah". Biblical Figures in Israel's Colonial Political Theology. Springer International Publishing: 87–113. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-03822-8_6.
^ El-Affendi, Abdelwahab (18 January 2024). "The Futility of Genocide Studies After Gaza". Journal of Genocide Research: 1–7. doi:10.1080/14623528.2024.2305525.
^ "Why a biblical story is central to South Africa's ICJ case against Israel". ABC News. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.

Sources

Flannery, Frances (2021). ""I will be an enemy to your enemies": the genocidal ideal in the Hebrew Bible and its legacy". Religion and Violence in Western Traditions: Selected Studies. Routledge Studies in Religion. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-40908-6.
Hofreiter, Christian (2018). Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-881090-2.
Jacobs, Steven Leonard (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Mass Atrocity, and Genocide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-47190-8.
Kelley, Shawn (2016). "Genocide, the Bible, and Biblical Scholarship". Brill Research Perspectives in Biblical Interpretation. 1 (3). Brill: 1–71. doi:10.1163/24057657-12340003. ISSN 2405-7649.
Kugler, Gili (2021). "Metaphysical Hatred and Sacred Genocide: The Questionable Role of Amalek in Biblical Literature". Journal of Genocide Research. 23 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1080/14623528.2020.1827781.
Lemos, T. M. (2016). "Dispossessing Nations: Population Growth, Scarcity, and Genocide in Ancient Israel and Twentieth-Century Rwanda". Ritual Violence in the Hebrew Bible. Oxford University Press. pp. 27–66. ISBN 978-0-19-024958-8.