Mass Killings Ordered, Committed,
Or Approved By God
The entire population of the earth at the time of Noah, except for eight
survivors, in a flood. "And every living substance was destroyed which was
upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things,
and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah
only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." Gen. 7:23
Every inhabitant of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the surrounding plain, by "brimstone and fire from
the Lord out of heaven." Gen. 19:24 Lot's family fled.
All the first-born of every family in Egypt, including children of those in the dungeons and the
successor to the throne of Egypt's Pharaoh, by God on the first Passover night. Ex. 12:29
All the hosts of Pharaoh, including the captains of 600 chariots, who drown in the Red Sea while
pursuing the Israelites. ". . . and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea."
Ex. 14:27,28
Victims who perish in the conquest of seven nations in Canaan by the Jews under God's guidance so
that the Jews can occupy their lands as God had promised Abraham. "When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the
Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God
shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no
covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them." Deut.
7:1,2
Amalek and his people, by the edge of the sword. "Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will
have war with Amalek from generation to generation." As long as Aaron helped Moses to hold up his
hands, the Israelites prevailed. Ex. 17:11,16 At times of crisis, the Lord often waxed whimsical.
3,000 Israelites, massacred by their Levite tribe at the command of the Lord for worshipping the
golden calf. "Take every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout
the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor."
Ex. 32:27 These were the orders of a God who would brook no disloyalty, a self-styled "jealous" God.
Rulers of Israel, 11 in number, who refused to invade the Promised Land after they had spied on it
for 40 days. God kills them with a plague. Num.
8:37
250 Levite princes of the Jews who challenged the leadership of Moses. God would have killed the
whole congregation, if Moses hadn't pointed out the injustice of such a course of action. Owing to
Moses's plea for sanity, the Lord repented somewhat and re-fashioned the punishment. Letting his
compassion prevail, he proceeded to open up the earth and bury alive "the wives, sons, and little
children" of two of the princes, then sent a fire that consumed the remaining princes. The rest of
the congregation, properly terrified, next made a covering for the altar out of their incense
braziers. Num. 16:1-40 God was finally mollified.
14,700 Jews in a plague, because they rebelled against Moses after the killing of the 250 princes.
At last Aaron makes atonement with incense to stop the plague. Num. 16:41-49
The Canaanites at Hormah, utterly destroyed by the Lord at the request of the Jews. Num. 21:3
The Amorites at Heshbon. Israel "took all these cities." Moses summed up the slaughter: "We . . .
utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones." Num. 21:25 and Deut. 2:34
All the sons and subjects of Og, about whom the Lord said to Moses: "Fear him (the king of Bashan)
not, for I have delivered him into thy hand." None was left alive. Num. 21:34,35
24,000 Israelites who co-habited with Moabite women and worshipped Baal. "And the Lord said unto
Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun . . ."
Num. 25:4,9
All the males and kings of the Midianites, because they worshipped idols, and all their wives and
male children. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites, and smite them. Num.
25:16,17 Num. 31:7,8
The subjects of two kingdoms on the east side of the Jordan, in order that Reuben and Gad might
seize these realms for their own as a gift from God. Num. 32
The Ammonites, decimated by the Lord so that Lot might possess their land. Deut. 2:19-21
The Horims, slain by God in order that Esau might acquire their land. Deut.
9:22
All the citizens of Jericho, except for a prostitute and her family. "And they utterly destroyed all
in the city, man and woman, young and old, and ox
. . . with the edge of the sword." Josh. 6 "They" make a grisly game of it, using the superstitious
number "7" popular in the Bible, trumpet blasts, and marches around the doomed city. Joshua
competes with Moses, the leader he replaced, for title of No. 1 Murderer (God's hit man) of the
Old Testament, as he follows God's orders.
Men of Ai, and the women and children, 12,000 in all (and the city burned), in a treacherous ambush
conceived and directed by God. Joshua and his men smote them with the "edge of the sword." With the
usual biblical hocus-pocus, Joshua held out his spear at arm's length until all the inhabitants were
killed, then built an altar and sacrificed to God to celebrate the victory. (God always has demanded
recognition of his beneficence!) Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree. Josh. 8:1-30 (Jesus was
also to be "hanged on a tree." The precedent builds.)
The armies of five kings of the Amorites, who beseiged Gibeon. "And the Lord
. . . slew them with a great slaughter." He then chased the survivors and killed more of them with
hailstones. Josh. 10:10,11 (The rest of the world apparently had to muddle along the best it
could, while the Supreme Being was pre-occupied with the war games of some Semitic tribes. "You
only have I known . . ." Amos 3:2)
The five kings of the Amorites after being shut up in a cave and then brought before the
congregation. Joshua exhorted his fellow Israelites to: "Come near: put your feet upon the necks of
these kings. Thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies." He then slew all five and hanged their
bodies. Josh. 10:16-26 The Bible specializes in such horror tales and yet is considered a proper
book for children, in full confidence of its not being read.
All the people of Makkedah, and their king hanged, by Joshua. Josh. 10:28
All the people of Libnah. Not a soul remained; all were delivered to Joshua by the Lord. Josh.
10:29,30 Joshua and God were agreed upon capital punishment.
All the people of Lachish, by Joshua. Josh. 10:32
All the people of Gezer. "And Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none
remaining." Josh. 10:33 Joshua continues to display the sterling qualities that win favor
with the Boss.
All the people of Eglon. "They left none remaining." Josh. 10:34,35 (The Old Testament is a mixture
of brutal history, poetry, narratives, and philosophy.)
All the people of Hebron. "All the cities and souls that were therein." Josh. 10:36,37
All the inhabitants of "the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the
springs and all their kings; he left none remaining but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the
Lord God of Israel commanded." Josh. 10:40 God's communications with Joshua usually took the form of
military communiques, and Joshua was nothing if not a "clean sweeper."
All 31 kings and inhabitants of their countries, of the hills and south country and land of Goshen
and the valley and the plain and the mountain of Israel and the valley of the same from Mt. Halak to
Mt. Hermon. "As God commanded Moses." Josh. 11:12,16,17 and 12:24 Joshua was happy to do Moses'
dirty work, but the logistics must have been mind-boggling.
The inhabitants of Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron, killed by Judah and Caleb. "And the Lord was with
Judah." Judges 1:18,19
10,000 Moabites, by the Israelites. ". . . and there escaped not a man." Judges 3:29
10,000 Perizzites and Canaanites, conquered by Judah and Simeon. Judges 1:4 (Whoever did the body-
counting always came out with a nice round figure.)
600 Philistines, slain with an ox goad by Shamgar. Judges 3:31
All the hosts of Sisera. "And all the hosts of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword." Judges 4:16
(Old Testament swords all had edges, no points.)
120,000 Midianites by Gideon and his 300 men. Judges 8:10
All but one, who managed to escape, of his 70 step-brothers by Abimelech, the son of one of God's
favorite torturers, Gideon, in order to gain for himself the throne of Israel. Judges 9:5 Like
father, like son.
30 young Philistines by Samson, furious after they guess his riddle. "The spirit of the Lord came
upon him." Judges 14:19
Many Philistines with a "great slaughter" by Samson, because they burned his former wife and her
father to death to avenge Samson, mistakenly thinking to win his approval. Judges 15
All the lords of the Philistines and a houseful of men and women, including 3,000 on the roof, who
perished when Samson pulled down the pillars, after calling upon God to restore his strength. "So
the dead that he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." Samson's bloody
score included 1,000 Philistines slain with the jawbone of an ass when "the spirit of the Lord was
upon him." Judges 15:14 and 16:27,30 (Is this the Holy Spirit that enchants the clergy?)
25,100 Benjamites, who, with God on their side, fought against their fellow Jews. Judges 20:35
50,070 people of Bethshemesh, struck dead by God, because a few of them who were working a field
happened to glance into the Ark carrying the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. "And the people
lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter." I Sam. 6:19 God
kept grave-diggers of the Old Testament working overtime burying innocents.
Philistines killed under Samuel. "And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines." I Sam. 7:13
(Does God really like anybody?)
Philistines killed by Saul and Jonathan. "For the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel."
I Sam. 14:12,13,20
The Ammonites who threaten Jabesh, slain by Saul and the children of Israel "so that two of them
were not left together." I Sam. 11:11
All the Amalekites killed by Saul upon God's orders. "Slay both man and woman, infant and suckling.
. ." I Sam. 15:3,7 (Bottle feeding was definitely recommended.)
Thousands of Philistines slain by David's armies. "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands." I Sam. 18:5,6,7 and 23:5; II Sam.
5:25 and 8:1
200 Philistine men, killed by David to obtain their foreskins with which to purchase Saul's daughter
to be his wife. I Sam. 18:27 (But that's minor surgery!)
The Geshurites and the Gezrites and the Amalekites slain by David, "leaving neither man nor woman
alive." I Sam. 27:8,9 (What about the infants and sucklings?)
The Jebusites, killed by David when he captured Jerusalem from them. ". . . and smiteth the
Jebusites, and the lame and the blind . . ." II Sam. 5:6,7,8
The Moabites and 22,000 Syrians by David. "And the Lord preserved David." II Sam. 8:2,5,6,14
40,000 horsemen of the Syrians, killed by David. II Sam. 10:18 (The horses, too?)
The children of Ammon, by David's men. II Sam. 11:1
The Ammonites of Rabbah and other cities, tortured to death by David. "He put them under saws and
under harrows of iron and made them pass through the brick kiln." II Sam. 12:31 (David, today the
patriarch most revered by the Jews, was a man who lived by the values and customs of his age.)
Every man in Edom, killed by Joab and David. I Kings 11:15
The murderers of one of Saul's sons, sentenced to death by David. "And David commanded his young
men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool .
. ." II Sam. 4:7,12 Such deeds are typical of the behavior of God's favorites in the Bible. Even
though it was customary behavior at the time, surely Almighty God's standards of morality should not
fluctuate.
70,000 victims of a pestilence sent by the Lord, because David chose it as his punishment for taking
a census. II Sam. 24:15
450 prophets of Baal, killed by Elijah. "And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah." I Kings 18:40,46
(God's motto was "better dead than mis-led."😉
100,000 Syrian footmen, slaughtered in one day by the children of Israel. "Thus saith the Lord,
Because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys;
therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand . . ." A wall falls on the 27,000
who are left. I Kings 20:28,29,30 (That certainly got God the valley vote!)
100 Moabite troops, consumed by fire from heaven called down by Elijah when they question whether he
is a man of God. II Kings 1 Wholesale murder is proof of Godliness in the Bible.
42 children eaten by two bears, after Elisha curses them in the name of the Lord for making fun of
his bald head. II Kings 2:23,24 (Similar nightmarish tragedies happen in fairy tales, but there they
aren't perpetrated by God.)
All who died in a 7-year famine sent by the Lord on Samaria. II Kings 8:1
70 children of King Ahab of Israel, and all the rest of Ahab's "house," after God decreed they
should all be destroyed. The heads of the children are put into baskets at the gates of the city. II
Kings 9:8 and 10:1-11 (Baskets full of heads!) All of this was engineered by Jehu, whom God had
chosen to succeed Ahab to the throne.
42 children of the king of Judah, by their uncles, at Jehu's command. Elisha is the medium through
which God communicates his inhuman demands for the annihilation of these entire families, and Jehu
is all too eager to comply: "Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord." For all his savagery he
wins the praise of the Lord: "Thou hast done that which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the
house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart." II Kings 10:12-17,30 The God of the
Christian Bible has little regard for the family as such.
All worshippers of Baal in Samaria and Israel by 80 guards at the direction of Jehu. The victims
were tricked into attending a Baal-worship service where they were all butchered. "And they smote
them with the edge of the sword." II Kings 10:18-25
185,000 Assyrians slain by one angel overnight. Thus the Lord defended Jerusalem. II Kings 19:35 The
Christian conception of an angel puts a halo (much-needed) on the Old Testament variety.
All the priests of heathen gods in Judah, slain by King Josiah. II Kings
6:20
500,000 men of Israel by King Abijah of Judah and his men. "God smote . . . all Israel before
Abijah and Judah." II Chron. 13:16,17,18 This atrocity was the result of civil war between Israel
and Judah.
10,000 Edomites killed by Amaziah's men, who then carried away 10,000 more and "brought them to the
top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they were all broken in pieces."
II Chron. 25:11,12 Amaziah accepted the Lord's advice on this campaign.
120,000 Judeans, massacred in one day by King Pekah of Israel, "because they had forsaken the Lord
God." He also took 200,000 women and children captive as bondmen and bondwomen. These are all fellow
Jews. II Chron. 28
500 subjects of a Persian king and the ten sons of Haman who meet death as the result of the
machinations of Queen Esther on behalf of her Jewish countrymen. Haman suffers the same fate.
Esther's uncle Mordecai and the other Jews throughout the kingdom had refused to abandon their
Mosaic law. Esther 3:5,8 and 7:10 and 9:1-14
75,000 Persian subjects of King Ahasuerus by the Jews, urged on by Esther and Mordecai. Esther 9:16
Esther's part in this is celebrated by a festive Jewish holiday, in which she is honored for saving
her fellow Jews. It is called Purim.
Job's children and servants by God in a contest with Satan over Job's loyalty to God. Job 1:13-19