Holy war in Mesopotamia and in Israel (1)

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Cuneiform texts from the early second millennium onward show that Mesopotamian kings, according to their public inscriptions, envisaged war as holy action. Before they began to campaign they besought their gods for divine favour; on the march and in battle their gods fought at their side; defeat meant that the gods had withdrawn their approval, and victory was attributed to their support. Likewise in Israel the concept of holy war infuses historical narratives, both before and after the monarchy was established: Yahweh is entreated, he approves the act of aggression, helps his people and delivers the victory, as a comparison between the following passages shows.

“I, Esarhaddon, lifted my hands to the gods Aššur, Sin, Šamaš, Bel, Nabû and Nergal, Ištar of Nineveh and Ištar of Arbela, and they heard my words. With their keen assent they sent me a repeated oracle: ‘Go! Do not hold back! We will go at your side and kill the foe!’ … The fear of the great gods my lords defeated them … Ištar mistress of battle and conflict who loves my priesthood stood at my side and broke their bows and scattered their battle formation.” (Esarhaddon 680-669 BCE)

“David consulted Yahweh, ‘Shall I attack the Philistines?’ he asked. ‘Will you deliver them to my power?’ Yahweh answered David, ‘Attack! I will most surely deliver the Philistines into your power.’ Accordingly David went to Baal-perazim and there he defeated them.” (2 Samuel 5:19-20)

“Yahweh Sabaoth says this: ‘I am going to break the bow of Elam, the source of all his might. I will bring four winds down on Elam … and I will scatter Elamites to the winds.’” (Jeremiah 49:35-36)

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Jeremiah 49:35-36
2 Samuel 5:19-20

Bibliography

Stephanie Dalley

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