Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits

For many, the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible [aka the Old Testament for Christians] and the New Testament) is a moral touchstone and a guide to a peaceful life. Yet such a use of the Bible relies on a rather selective reading of its stories, since the Bible also contains numerous disturbingly violent tales. These violent stories are often passed over altogether or explained away as cultural remnants of the time when the stories were transmitted and written down. Yet it is worth knowing that these unseemly accounts still exist in the Bible, because some tend to treat this book as a homogeneous document that has a consistently nonviolent message. In fact, the Bible is far from a non-violent book. Here are the Top Ten most violent stories from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament:

 1. The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34)

 2. Genocide in Joshua (Joshua 1-12)

 3. The Dismembered Concubine (Judges 19)

 4. The Murder of John the Baptist (Mark 6)

 5. The Killing of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)

 6. Wilderness Slaughter (Exodus 32)

 7. The Parable of the Unfaithful Slave (Luke 12

 8. Revelation’s Bowls of Wrath (Revelation 16)

 9. Jephthah’s Human Sacrifice (Judges 11)

 10. Sexual Violence Against Jacob’s Wives’ Slaves (Genesis 30)

And some also ran;

1. Cain Kills Abel (Genesis 4)

2. Jesus Crucified (Mark 16 and parallels)

3. Judas’ Deaths (Matthew 27; Acts 1

4. Drowning Pharaoh’s Army (Exodus 14)

5. Paul Wishes Castration on his Opponents (Galatians 5)

The above, along with a description of the list item can be found at:Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits | HuffPost

 And what would be Biblical violence without some mass killings?

1. The Flood (Genesis 6-8)
2. The cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19)
3. The Egyptian firstborn sons during the Passover (Exodus 11-12)
4. The Canaanites under Moses and Joshua (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21)
5. The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)

See also; How Many Has God Killed?