Laws of War

The Laws of War prescribe a framework for Israelite warfare that combines confidence in divine support with rules for recruitment, diplomacy, siege, and the treatment of conquered populations. The regulations distinguish cities far from the land of inheritance from the peoples whose land Israel is to possess, and make that distinction central to the permitted outcomes of war.

Mobilization and Exemptions

When Israel goes to battle against a larger force equipped with horses and chariots, the people are told not to fear: The LORD, who brought them out of Egypt, accompanies them. As battle approaches, a priest addresses the troops, assuring them that The LORD goes with them to fight and save them.

Officers then release men whose new house remains undedicated, whose vineyard has not yet yielded its fruit to them, or whose betrothed wife they have not taken. A further exemption allows a fearful man to return home so that his fear does not spread among his fellow soldiers. Once these announcements are complete, commanders are appointed over the force.

Terms for Approaching Cities

An approaching army must first offer peace to a city. If its inhabitants accept and open the city, they become tributary and serve Israel. If they refuse peace and choose war, Israel is to besiege the city; after its capture, the male population is killed, while the women, children, livestock, and other spoils are taken.

The text limits this procedure to cities far from the peoples designated for dispossession in the land of inheritance. For the cities of those peoples, it commands that no breathing thing be left alive and names the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The stated rationale is to prevent Israel from learning the practices associated with their worship and thereby sinning against The LORD.

Limits During a Siege

Even in a prolonged siege, the rules distinguish food-bearing trees from other resources. Trees known to bear food are not to be cut down with an axe, since their produce can sustain the besieging force; trees that do not provide food may be cut for building siege works against a resisting city.

Narrative Examples and Aftermath

The later account of Israel’s campaigns against Sihon and Og depicts the destruction of their cities and populations, the taking of livestock and other spoil, and the transfer of conquered territory to Israelite tribes. These narrated campaigns echo the rules’ distinction between conquest and the division of material gains.

The campaign against Midian is explicitly ordered as vengeance: Moses is told to send one thousand men from each tribe, and twelve thousand go to war with Phinehas, who carries the holy vessels and alarm trumpets. The returning force brings captives and spoil to the camp in the plains of Moab. Moses rebukes its officers for sparing the women, linking the campaign to the earlier breach of faith at Peor; he orders further killing and a period of purification for the soldiers and captives. The spoil is then divided between the warriors and the congregation, with portions set apart for The LORD and for the Levites who maintain the sanctuary.

The laws thus present warfare not only as combat but as an ordered process of recruitment, religious framing, conquest, population treatment, purification, and allocation. Their differentiation among enemy populations and their stated fear of religious assimilation reveal how military policy is made to serve both territorial possession and communal loyalty.