biblical narrative book of genesis noah's ark and the deluge. old testament professor jerome f. d. creach writes that genesis 1 and 2 present two claims that "set the stage for understanding violence in the rest of the bible": first is the declaration the god of the hebrews created without violence or combat which runs counter to other near eastern creation stories; second, these opening chapters appoint humans as divine representatives on earth as caretakers, to "establish and maintain the well-being or shalom of the whole creation".: 17, 29 creach says that violence is seen in these verses as an intrusion that disrupts this design.: 30–31 when adam and eve disobey god, he banishes them from the garden of eden, listing the curses that will follow them in (genesis 3). in genesis 4:1–18, the hebrew word for sin (hattā't) appears for the first time when cain, the first born man, murders his brother abel and commits the first recorded act of violence.: 32 god curses cain for this, and also grants him protection from danger.: 41 in the genesis flood narrative (genesis 6–9), god sees that the "wickedness of man was great" and grieves (genesis 6:6).: 34 he decides to exterminate all, restarting creation with noah and those humans and animals with him on the ark.: 34–35 after the flood, god promises to never again destroy all life by a flood.: 34–41 the destruction of sodom and gomorrah by pieter schoubroeck, c.1600 in genesis 18–19 god resolves to destroy the cities sodom and gomorrah, "because their sin is very grievous". god promises abraham that he will spare sodom if as few as 10 righteous people can be found there. the cities are destroyed, but angels save abraham's nephew lot and most of his family from the destruction. god tests abraham by demanding that he sacrifice isaac, his son (genesis 22). as abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, god restrains him, promising him numberless descendants.: 42, 46 isaac's son jacob conspires to gain his elder brother esau's birthright, but the brothers ultimately reconcile (genesis 25–33). in genesis 32:22–32, jacob meets and wrestles with someone, a man, angel or god, who blesses him and gives him the name israel. joseph (genesis 37–50), jacob's favorite son, is sold into slavery in egypt by his jealous brothers. joseph prospers after hardship, with god's guidance, and saves his family from starvation. book of exodus and book of leviticus lamentations over the death of the first-born of egypt by charles sprague pearce (1877) a new pharaoh sees that the israelites in egypt have become many and fears they might aid egypt's enemies (exodus 1:8–10). the egyptians make the israelites "serve with rigour" and their lives become "bitter with hard service". pharaoh orders two hebrew midwives, shiphrah and puah, to kill the newborn sons of hebrew women, but they disobey him. pharaoh then orders his people to drown these children. moses, a hebrew raised by pharaoh's daughter, one day encounters an egyptian beating a hebrew. he slays the egyptian and flees egypt. god hears the plight of the israelites and sends moses back to egypt to bring them out of that land to canaan. at one point during the journey back, god intends to kill moses, but he is saved by his wife zipporah (exodus 2–4). moses asks pharaoh to release the israelites, but pharaoh responds by demanding more work from them. moses repeats his request several times as the plagues of egypt afflict the egyptians, but pharaoh refuses until the tenth plague, when god kills all firstborn people and cattle in egypt, apart from those of the israelites, who are protected. the biblical author writes that god hardened pharaoh's heart (exodus 7:3–4; 9:12), and that pharaoh hardened his own heart (exodus 8:15, 32: 9:34), and that his heart hardened in response to the demands with no attribution (exodus 7:13,22). the israelites are allowed to leave, but god again hardens pharaoh's heart, and pharaoh changes his mind, and sends an army after them. god saves them from the army by drowning it in the red sea. at mount sinai, god gives the israelites the ten commandments and the covenant code (exodus 20–23). these laws include thou shalt not kill, eye for an eye and laws about slavery and other things. capital punishment is prescribed for some crimes. animal sacrifice in the form of burnt offerings is mentioned, and it is prescribed that an ox that kills a person is to be stoned. the code states that "and a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of egypt." and "ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child." the israelites promise to follow these laws (exodus 24:3). the israelites break their promise by worshiping the golden calf. god is angered by this and intends to "consume them", but moses persuades him not to do so. moses is also angered, and he breaks two stone tablets with god's writing. on moses' command, the levites kill about three thousand people (exodus 32). god has moses make new stone tablets, and gives moses the ritual decalogue, which states in part "take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest they be for a snare in the midst of thee. but ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their asherim" (exodus 34). the book of leviticus sets out detailed rules for animal sacrifice. the holiness code, leviticus 17–26, sets out a list of prohibitions, and the punishments for breaking them. punishments include execution, sometimes by stoning or burning. book of numbers the sabbath-breaker stoned james tissot c.1900 the women of midian led captive by the hebrews james tissot c.1900 god orders moses to count "all that are able to go forth to war in israel" (numbers 1). god hears the people "speaking evil" and punishes them with fire. moses prays, and the fire abates.: 200–202 god is again angered and sends "a great plague" (numbers 11). god hears miriam and aaron speak against moses, and punishes miriam with leprosy.: 227 moses asks god to heal her which he does (numbers 12). the israelites reach the border of canaan, but due to reports from spies they refuse to enter, and wish to return to egypt. god is angered, and tells moses "i will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they." moses persuades him not to, but god declares that the israelites will now wander the wilderness for forty years before they can enter canaan. they are attacked by amalekites and canaanites (numbers 13–14). in numbers 15, a man is found working on the sabbath. god orders him to be killed and he is stoned. korah and a group of men rebel against moses and aaron. god destroys them (numbers 16). the isralites "murmur" about this, and god punishes them with a plague (numbers 16). at hormah, a canaanite king fights the israelites, and the israelites promise god that if he gives them victory over this people, they will destroy their cities. he does and they do. the israelites speak against god and moses, and god sends venomous snakes that kill many of them. moses prays for the people, and god helps them (numbers 21). the israelites conquer the cities of sihon, king of the amorites, and they "smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him remaining; and they possessed his land." (numbers 21). when the diviner balaam beats his donkey, it speaks. balaam later prophesies on the future of the israelite's enemies (numbers 22–24).: 244 some israelites commit harlotry with women in moab, and sacrifice to their gods. god is angered, orders executions and sends a plague, but "the main guilt is midian's and on midian fell the vengeance" (numbers 25 and 31). god orders moses to "harass the midianites, and smite them", and to again count "all that are able to go forth to war in israel" (numbers 25–26).: 100 the israelites war against midian, and "slew every male". they take captive the women and children, and take all cattle, flocks and goods as loot, and burn all cities and camps. when they return to moses, he is angered, and commands "now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. but all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves" (numbers 31). god tells moses "speak unto the children of israel, and say unto them: when ye pass over the jordan into the land of canaan, then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. and ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have i given the land to possess it." and "but if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein ye dwell. and it shall come to pass, that as i thought to do unto them, so will i do unto you" (numbers 33). book of deuteronomy deuteronomy begins with a review of previous stories, including a battle between the israelites and the amorites (deuteronomy 1:41–44), and the destruction of rephaim by the ammonites with yahweh's help (2:21), along with similar other displacements. deuteronomy 2:31–37 records the complete extermination of the people ruled by sihon king of heshbon. similar treatment, at yahweh's command, was given to the people under og king of bashan.: 122 moses also recounts how god destroyed the followers of baal-peor, and threatens to destroy the israelites if they return to idolatry. similar threats of destruction for disobedience, or idolatry more specifically, can be found in deuteronomy 6, 8, 11. on the other hand, god promises that if his people obey him, he will protect them from the diseases the surrounding nations suffer from and give them victory in fighting their enemies in deuteronomy 6, 7 and 11.: 327 deuteronomy provides legislation to protect perpetrators of unintentional homicide from revenge killings (4, 19). the ten commandments prohibit murder (5:17). scholars do not agree on the theme of deuteronomy 7, but part of that theme includes the command the canaanites must be cleared from the land for israel to maintain her purity. the nations listed were all larger and stronger than israel.: 149–150, 152 chapter 9:3 says god will destroy israel's enemies.: 175 chapter 9 reminds the israelites of their rebellious nature using exodus 32:11–14 when yahweh became angry at israelite disobedience and intended to destroy them, but was dissuaded by moses.: 183 deuteronomy 12 opens with commands to destroy the canaanite religion. verses 4 and 31 explain why: "pagan worship involved practices that were detestable to god and incompatible with his character" such as the practice of burning sons and daughters as offerings.: 221 deuteronomy 13 presents the dangers of idolatry and foreign relations, insisting that those who advocate the worship of canaanite deities must be killed, and that a town that worships them must be entirely exterminated, including its livestock.: 221 deuteronomy 14 forbids self-mutilation. deuteronomy 17 punishes anyone who worships a deity besides yahweh, or a feature of the natural world as divine, with stoning to death, and likewise imposes the death penalty on anyone who disobeys the judicial decision of a priest. deuteronomy 19 imposes the death penalty for premeditated murder, establishes cities of refuge, and also imposes the lex talionis: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" thereby limiting vengeance (verse 21, nrsv).: 297–299 deuteronomy 20 regulates warfare, allowing for various exemptions from military service, and mandating that the first act of fighting any city that is far away must be an offer of peace. if peace is refused, it must be sieged