In addition to those texts which fall under the headings of one or more of the ideologies discussed above, in which attitudes to war are often implicit, there are a number of interesting passages which overtly grapple with the justness of war and whether or not an occasion calls for one sort or other of martial response.
One such text frequently cited by scholars as a biblical code of war is Deuteronomy 20. Within the Bible’s own chronology, the passage is presented as advice given by Moses before his death concerning the execution of the coming wars of conquest.
This passage is interesting on many levels, for example, the way in which battle duties reflect a particular priestly social hierarchy typical of Deuteronomic priestly ideals and the exemption from battle provided for those who have left certain aspects of their civilian lives unfinished as well as for those who are overcome by fear. What interests us here are rules governing the engagement of the enemy (Deut 20:10-20). The Israelites are to offer the enemy terms of peace and, if they accept, to spare their lives, although they will become “forced laborers” to the conquering Israelites - which does not exactly correspond to the Geneva Convention. If they resist, the victorious Israelites (victory is of course assumed) may kill all males, taking women and children as spoil.
V. 15, however, draws a distinction between towns that are “far away” and those that are nearby. In the latter the ban obtains with wholesale killing of men, women, and children and no opportunity for surrender. As Norman Gottwald (1964) and others have shown, in fact, the traditions of the conquest in Joshua-Judges are not so neat and do not seem to follow this near-far distinction that is based on the Deuteronomic notion that neighboring towns cannot be allowed to survive lest their inhabitants tempt the Israelites into foreign worship and apostasy. Rather, Deuteronomy 20 may reflect two war views, the ban and a somewhat more lenient view that looks like some sort of code. Within this code are rules for the treatment of trees in conquered territory (20:19-20) and captive women (21:10-14), a passage to which we will return. The writers admittedly seem more sympathetic to botanic than to human life (see 20:19, in which Israelites are enjoined to spare fruit-bearing trees) and envision cruelly wrenching enemy women from family and home. Nevertheless some small protections are imagined for the ecosystem and for the captive woman taken as wife.
Equally interesting in the context of passages that verge on codes of war is Judges 11:4-28, in which the Israelite hero Jephthah insists upon the justness of his people’s cause. In a lengthy peroration composed of historiographic traditions preserved also elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, concerning the route from Egypt and claims to certain territories, Jephthah seeks to show that the Ammonites have no right to wage war against Israel. He argues most diplomatically that Israel is in the right in defending itself against unjust Ammonite aggression. Texts such as Deuteronomy 20 and Jud 11:4-28, which suggest concern with proportionality in the fighting or matters of just cause, intertwine with Israelite notions about the power of the divine warrior, the ritualization of battle, and divine promises concerning the land and Israel’s special status.
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