Charles Synyard (@CharlesSynyard)

10/59 Best of the OT: Want a war bride? Rules, rules! This was initially going to have just Deuteronomy 21:10-14, but I accidentally read 20:10-14 first, and that was so apropos that I am posting both together. Nowadays, it is common to hear it said that the Bible contains many immoral passages. This is, of course, a ‘carriage before the horse’ argument one already has to have rejected Christianity to accept, but among the parts cited are the Lord’s instructions on how to wage war. Genocide is famously commanded against the Canaanites—that is what verse 15ff in Chapter 20 enjoin; though note well, the Lord says the reason for this is “Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God” in verse 18. Nationalist critics of the Israelite religion and modern Judaism often present these actions as racially motivated. Some Israelites may have imbibed it that way, but Scripture clarifies again and again that the destruction of the Canaanites is a punishment for their sins. These passages, though, give the ethics for wars with foreign powers. The terms: offer peace with submission, but destroy all the menfolk, taking women and children as spoils, reminds me of the similar terms on which the empire of Genghis Khan was built, as I read about in Savitri Devi’s The Lightning and the Sun (Genghis Khan is the ‘lightning’). 10-14 from the next chapter also reminds me of Genghis Khan’s life: his mother, Hoelun, was herself a bridenapping victim; first pic is an illustration of her and her brood. Conan the Barbarian (1982) borrows many details from Genghis Khan’s life, so that felt like a good pick for the second pic. These OT times were little less rough and bloody. It is nice and compassionate that the woman is to be allowed a month to mourn, has her hair shorn to mark her clean start, and has protections given against future exploitation should the man set her aside. No doubt, this was an improvement on the standards of the day. So… how Christians should wage war now? Imagine if suddenly, either Russia or Ukraine broke the deadlock and surged forward, only for it to come out that it was because war brides are now promised for participating soldiers! Checking Wikipedia, I read that under the current dispensation, the Church sees bridenapping as an impediment to marriage: but only as long as the war bride is under the man’s power! Could she just be held until she developed affections for the captor, only then be left free to go? Should incels look forward to just such a promise in wars to come? #BestoftheOT #OldTestament #OT #Bible #Deuteronomy #Israel #bridekidnapping #bridenapping #warbrides #brides #marriage #GenghisKhan #SavitriDevi #TheLightningAndTheSun #ConanTheBarbarian #war #books