Regardless of whether or not it is believed to be the word of God, The Bible, especially the Old Testament, contains a remarkable ammount of death, torture and immoral sex. This makes the scripture a highly entertaining and sometimes horrifying read.

Violence in The Bible

Most of the characters in the Old Testament were highly involved with violence. Genocide was commonplace. The books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel include the most powerful descriptions of these acts. Some examples include:

• Judges Chapters 7 and 8, in which Gideon and three hundred men massacre the Midianite people, beheading their leaders and routing the rest.
• Joshua Chapter 11, in which Joshua and the Israelite army destroy the armies of "The Northern Kings" of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Hivites, burning their chariots and hamstringing their horses.
• The destruction of an Amorite kingdom is described in Deuteronomy Chapter 2. The Amorites' army is entirely destroyed, after which the Israelites perform an orgy of bloodletting and violence¹.

There are countless other examples of this throughout the Old Testament; after all, several millenia of warfare and genocide are catalogued within its pages.

Personal acts of Violence

There are more colourful descriptions of individual acts of murder.

For example, in Judges 4, a woman named Jael kills an enemy ruler called Sisera by driving a tent peg through his head while he sleeps

In another episode, in 2 Samuel 18, Joab kills King David's son, Absolom, by driving three javelins into his heart as he hangs, still alive, from an oak tree.

Violence appears with such regular occurence because the Old Testament, as well as having religious significance, is a historical document, relating the conquest of the promised land by God's chosen people, the Israelites, and their subsequent wars, victories, defeats and exiles².

Death and genocide in the Old Testament is considered by Christians and Jews to be the work of God. His hand is seen working through war, desolation and suffering. This is acceptable essentially because God created the world and its peoples, so he is free to do with it as he will to bring about his plan.