Destroy

(Hebrew, hrm)

Cultural practices mentioned in the Bible can be quaint, amusing, interesting, and in rare cases repulsive. The notion of total destruction discussed here will likely cause us to take a step back in horror. In Hebrew, the total destruction of places, people, animals, and personal possessions during warfare is called hrm. The verb is translated in a number of different ways, including “devote to the Lord,” “completely destroy,” “destroy totally,” and “set apart for destruction.” The practice itself is known in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, including those of Moab, Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt,[61] but here our focus will be on the distinct nature of this practice in Israel and its rhetorical use in the Bible.

Among the Israelites, this extreme warfare was to be practiced only when the Lord specifically called for it and only to the degree he authorized. In its most extreme form, this destruction was directed against a location, its residents regardless of age or gender, its animals, and all personal possessions (Deut. 13:15–17; Josh. 6:18, 21; 1 Sam. 15:3). The only things spared in such extreme cases were the fruit trees (Deut. 20:19–20). Alternatively, the city and its citizens were sometimes destroyed while the livestock and personal possessions were taken as plunder by the conquering Israelites (Deut. 2:34–35; 3:6–7; Josh. 8:25–27).

Extreme acts of violence, including impaling, were used outside a besieged city in order to encourage the city’s early surrender.

As distasteful as this form of warfare sounds to modern ears, the application of hrm served a couple of grisly purposes within the larger strategy of military conquerors. First, in a location where natural resources including water were scarce, it eliminated competition for those resources by reducing the population. Second, as a military strategy, the horrific nature of this destruction could be used against future cities as leverage to shorten otherwise lengthy sieges. Sennacherib attempted to induce Hezekiah, king of Judah, into an early surrender by reminding him of all the cities that had fallen victim to the Assyrian form of this total destruction, which they would also experience if they did not surrender (2 Kings 19:11).

When the Lord put this military technique into operation, it served a very different purpose. To understand it, we must enter the mind-set of the biblical authors, who invite us to see that all the people, places, animals, and things in this world belong to the Lord. They were created to serve him, honor him, and glorify his name. But when people, places, animals, and possessions were put into service to other gods, they became a violation of the most basic divine command. Egregious cases that literally threatened the maturing of God’s plan to redeem the world from sin and death were treated with an equally aggressive form of warfare: hrm (Deut. 7:1–6).

We now consider the rhetorical role of this destruction in Bible history as God commanded that hrm be executed during the time of Moses, Joshua, and the judges. There is frequent mention of this principle in Deuteronomy and Joshua, where obedience to the command demonstrates the trust and faithfulness of Israel and its leaders. Note that there is no attempt by any of the biblical authors to soften the notion or make us comfortable with this form of warfare. When God called for the total destruction of a city and all living things within it, including men, women, children, infants, and animals, that command was as shocking and as distasteful then as it is now. We suspect that even the most hardened soldiers would have paused at the notion. Consequently, this extreme warfare called for an extreme act of trust and obedience. We see it in the days of Moses (Num. 21:2–3; Deut. 2:34; 3:6; Josh. 2:10). We also see it in the days of Joshua (Josh. 6:17–18; 10:1, 28–40; 11:11–12, 20–21), with the exception of Achan’s violation of this command in Joshua 7.

Repeatedly the mention of hrm is associated explicitly or implicitly with obedience. “He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded” (Josh. 10:40; see also 11:20). That makes what follows in Judges so striking. There as the Israelites were supposed to be consolidating their hold on Canaan using the same method of warfare, the practice of hrm is conspicuous by its absence. It is mentioned only twice: once in the first and once in the last chapter (Judg. 1:17; 21:11). It is a subtle but powerful way of contrasting the rebellious period of the judges with the more honorable period of Moses and Joshua.

Pomegranates. At times, the only living things allowed to survive a divinely directed attack against a city were its fruit trees.

The next time we find frequent mention of hrm is in 1 Samuel 15, where another leader was asked to do the uncomfortable. King Saul was told to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Sam. 15:3). Saul had the chance to lead and obey as Moses and Joshua had, but instead his obedience was only partial in the face of this faith-demanding directive (1 Sam. 15:8–9, 18–21). Because Saul failed to obey this difficult divine command, the Lord withdrew Saul’s right to lead.

Mention of this divine form of extreme warfare is less frequent in the books of the prophets. But its presence recalls that there is a much bigger war going on: the war against those who oppose the coming of God’s kingdom. The Lord told the rebellious children of Israel that he was bringing the Babylonians to wage this kind of war against them because the Israelites had become opponents rather than allies in establishing an eternal kingdom (Jer. 25:8–10; see also Deut. 13:12–16). Babylon not only would dish out hrm but it would also be on the receiving end when it failed to honor the Lord as the true King of this world (Jer. 50:21, 25–26; 51:1–3). Finally, as the world moves to its close, all nations that take the wrong side in this eschatological fight will experience hrm delivered by a divine hand (Isa. 34:2; Dan. 11:44; Mic. 4:13).