Women: Treated With Cruelty in War
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Throughout the biblical narrative, the treatment of women during times of war is a somber reflection of the fallen nature of humanity and the brutal realities of ancient warfare. The Scriptures provide several accounts where women, often the most vulnerable members of society, suffered greatly during military conflicts. These accounts serve as a stark reminder of the consequences of sin and the need for divine justice and mercy.

Deuteronomy 20:10-14
In the Mosaic Law, specific instructions were given regarding the treatment of cities that were conquered. While the Israelites were commanded to offer terms of peace, if a city refused and was subsequently captured, the men were to be put to the sword. However, the women, children, livestock, and everything else in the city could be taken as plunder. This directive highlights the harsh realities of war, where women were often seen as part of the spoils.

Judges 5:30
The Song of Deborah, a victory hymn, provides insight into the expectations of warriors regarding the treatment of women. In this passage, the mother of Sisera, a Canaanite commander defeated by the Israelites, imagines her son dividing the spoils of war, including "a girl or two for each man." This reflects the common practice of taking women as captives and concubines, a fate that awaited many women in defeated cities.

2 Samuel 12:11-12
The prophet Nathan, in his rebuke of King David for his sin with Bathsheba, foretells that David's own wives would be given to his neighbor, who would lie with them in broad daylight. This prophecy, fulfilled during Absalom's rebellion, underscores the vulnerability of women in times of political upheaval and the personal consequences of David's actions.

Lamentations 5:11
The Book of Lamentations mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of its people. In this context, it is noted that women in Zion were violated, and virgins in the towns of Judah were abused. This lamentation captures the deep sorrow and trauma experienced by women during the Babylonian conquest, highlighting their suffering as part of the broader devastation.

Isaiah 13:16
In the prophetic declaration against Babylon, Isaiah foretells the brutal treatment that would befall the city, stating, "Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished." This prophecy illustrates the severe cruelty that characterized ancient warfare and the particular vulnerability of women during such times.

Zechariah 14:2
The prophet Zechariah speaks of a future siege of Jerusalem, where the city will be captured, houses ransacked, and women ravished. This prophecy, while pointing to a specific event, also serves as a broader symbol of the trials and tribulations that God's people would face, with women often bearing the brunt of the suffering.

Historical Context and Theological Reflection
The treatment of women in war, as depicted in the Bible, reflects the harsh realities of ancient Near Eastern warfare. Women were often seen as property and were subjected to the whims of the victors. These accounts, while difficult to read, are part of the larger biblical narrative that reveals the brokenness of humanity and the need for redemption.

From a theological perspective, these passages underscore the consequences of sin and the pervasive nature of human depravity. They also highlight the importance of God's justice and the hope for a future where such injustices will be no more. The biblical narrative ultimately points to the coming of Christ, who brings healing and restoration, offering a kingdom where peace and righteousness reign.
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Deuteronomy 32:25
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
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Lamentations 2:21
The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; you have slain them in the day of your anger; you have killed, and not pitied.
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Lamentations 5:11
They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
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Library

Women who Witnessed the Fall of Rome
... mixture of vice and virtue, barbarous cruelty and Christian ... It is on record that
many Christian women, in order to ... in a barbarian camp, was treated with great ...
/.../brittain/women of early christianity/vii women who witnessed the.htm

The Last Siege of the Jews under Adrian.
... destroyed indiscriminately thousands of men and women and children ... reign of Trajan
only increased the cruelty of the ... his rebellion, were very cruelly treated (cf ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter vi the last siege of.htm

Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
... substantiate their claim to the men, women, or children ... daughters-in-law, and when
not treated as such ... of that master whose oppression and cruelty has driven ...
/.../an appeal to the christian women of the south/appeal to the christian women.htm

The Burning of Athens.
... The inhabitants, too, were treated with the utmost cruelty. ... Many of the women, both
mothers and maidens, died in consequence of the brutal violence with ...
//christianbookshelf.org/abbott/xerxes/chapter x the burning of.htm

The Holy War,
... treason, contention, discord, tyranny, and cruelty; with spoiling ... he uses in this
war, describing accurately ... sickness, eleven thousand"men, women, and children ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the holy war.htm

The Subsequent Wickedness of Licinius, and his Death.
... by them, and the many married women and virgins ... other cities of Pontus surpassed
every excess of cruelty. ... remained Licinius' friends, and were treated as such ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter viii the subsequent wickedness of.htm

The Puritan Conflict.
... into Two Parts) against theatres, masquerades, dancing, and women actors, with ... rector
of a church in London, were treated with similar cruelty for abusing ...
/.../ 92 the puritan conflict.htm

The First Crusade (Ad 1095-1099)
... the tyranny with which the Mahometans there treated both the ... are even told that two
old women, who were ... loose into some frightful acts of cruelty and plunder ...
/.../chapter ix the first crusade.htm

St. Athanasius,
... banishment, and it is said that even the women laboured at ... his brother Valens, who
was a furious Arian, and treated the Catholics with great cruelty. ...
/.../chapter xii st athanasius.htm

The Conversion of Paul.
... way, whether they were men or women, he might ... followers he had, on all occasions,
treated with the ... the spirit of pride, dissimulation, injustice, and cruelty. ...
/.../dick/lectures on the acts of the apostles/lecture xii the conversion of.htm

Resources
What does the Bible have to say about women missionaries? | GotQuestions.org

What can we learn from what the Bible says about Jesus and women? | GotQuestions.org

Since women preachers can be just as good as men, doesn't that mean they are called to preach? | GotQuestions.org

Women: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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Subtopics

Women

Women are Affectionate

Women are Courteous to Strangers

Women are Mirthsome

Women are Tender to Her offspring

Women are Timid

Women As Pastors

Women Baptizing

Women Cutting Their Hair

Women in Business

Women in Chorus

Women in Ministry

Women Long Hair

Women of Backsliding

Women of Evil People

Women of Saints

Women of the Body (Ekklesia) of Christ

Women Pastors

Women Preachers

Women Teachers

Women was a Doorkeeper

Women Working

Women:

Women: A Persian Queen Sat on a Throne Beside Her King

Women: Active in Instigating to Iniquity

Women: Anna

Women: As Poets: Deborah

Women: As Poets: Elisabeth

Women: As Poets: Hannah

Women: As Poets: Mary

Women: As Poets: Miriam

Women: As Prophets: Anna

Women: As Prophets: Deborah

Women: As Prophets: Huldah

Women: As Prophets: Miriam

Women: As Prophets: Noadiah

Women: As Prophets: Philip's Four Unmarried Daughters

Women: As Rulers

Women: Athaliah

Women: Athaliah, in Destroying the Royal Household and Usurping the Throne

Women: Bath-Sheba, in Her Adultery, in Becoming the Wife of Her Husband's Murderer

Women: Consecrated Jewels to Tabernacle

Women: Converted by Preaching of Paul

Women: Cooked

Women: Could not Marry Without the Consent of Parents

Women: Creation of

Women: Deborah

Women: Deborah, a Judge, Prophetess, and Military Leader

Women: Delilah, in Her Conspiracy Against Samson

Women: Difference in Ceremonies Made Between Male and Female Children

Women: Dinah, in Her Fornication

Women: Domestic Duties of

Women: Dorcas (Tabitha)

Women: Elisabeth

Women: Embroidered

Women: Esther

Women: Eve, in Yielding to Temptation and Seducing Her Husband

Women: Fall of, and Curse Upon

Women: False Prophets

Women: First at the Gravesite

Women: First to Sin

Women: First to Whom the Risen Lord Appeared

Women: Fond of Ornaments

Women: Fond of Self-Indulgence

Women: Forbidden to Wear Men's Costume

Women: Gleaned

Women: Gomer, the Adulterous Wife of Hosea

Women: Guilty of Sodomy

Women: had Separate Apartments in Dwellings

Women: Haman's Wife, in Advising Him to Hang Mordecai

Women: Hannah, the Mother of Samuel

Women: Help in Defensive Operations

Women: Herodias, in Her Incestuous Marriage With Herod Antipas

Women: Herodius, by Indirectly Causing John the Baptist to be Decapitated

Women: Jezebel, in Her Conspiracy Against Naboth, to Cheat Him out of his Vineyard

Women: Jezebel, in Her Evil Counsels To, and Influence Over, Ahab

Women: Jezebel, in Her Persecution and Destruction of the Prophets of the Lord

Women: Jezebel, in Her Persecution of Elijah

Women: Job's Wife, in Suggesting to Him That he Curse God and Die

Women: Julia

Women: Kept Vineyards

Women: Last at the Cross

Women: Leah, in Her Imitation of Rachel in the Matter of Children

Women: Lois and Eunice

Women: Lot's Wife, in Her Rebellion Against Her Situation, and Against the Destruction of Sodom

Women: Lydia

Women: Made Garments

Women: Mary

Women: Mary and Martha

Women: Mary Magdalene

Women: Michal, in Her Derision of David's Religious Zeal

Women: Miriam, in Her Sedition With Aaron Against Moses

Women: Mirrors

Women: Mother of Samson

Women: Named

Women: Naomi

Women: Noadiah, a False Prophetess in Attempting to Intimidate the Jews when They Were Restoring Jerusalem

Women: Not to be Given in Marriage Was Considered a Calamity

Women: Ornaments of

Women: Patriotic: Deborah

Women: Patriotic: Miriam

Women: Patriotic: The Women of Israel

Women: Patriotic: The Women of the Philistines

Women: Peninnah, the Wife of Elkanah, in Her Jealous Taunting of Hannah

Women: Phoebe

Women: Pilate's Wife

Women: Potiphar's Wife, in Her Lascivious Lust and Slander Against Joseph

Women: Priscilla (Prisca)

Women: Promise To

Women: Property Rights of in Inheritance

Women: Property Rights of To Sell Real Estate

Women: Punishment for Seducing, when not Betrothed

Women: Punishment to be Inflicted Upon Men for Seducing, when Betrothed

Women: Purifications of After Childbirth

Women: Purifications of After Menstruation

Women: Queen Candace

Women: Queen of Sheba

Women: Rachel, in Her Jealousy of Leah

Women: Rachel, in Stealing Images

Women: Rahab, in Her Harlotry

Women: Rebekah, in Her Partiality for Jacob, and Her Sharp Practice to Secure for Him Isaac's Blessing

Women: Religious Privileges of, Among Early Christians

Women: Required to Attend to the Reading of the Law of Moses

Women: Rules for Dress of Christian

Women: Ruth

Women: Sapphira, in Her Blasphemous Falsehood

Women: Sarah, in Her Jealousy and Malice Toward Hagar

Women: Silly, and Easily Led Into Error

Women: Social Status of in Persia

Women: Social Status of in Roman Customs

Women: Sold for Husband's Debts

Women: Solomon's Wives, in Their Idolatrous and Wicked Influence Over Solomon

Women: Spun

Women: Subtle and Deceitful

Women: Symbolical of Wickedness

Women: Taken Captive

Women: Tamar, in Her Adultery

Women: Tended Flocks and Herds

Women: The Cannibalistic Mothers of Samaria

Women: The Daughter of Herodias, in Her Complicity With Her Mother in Securing the Death of John the Baptist

Women: The Daughters of Lot, in Their Incestuous Lust

Women: The Midianite Woman in the Camp of Israel, Taken in Adultery

Women: The Philippian Christians

Women: The Shunammite Woman, Who Gave Hospitality to Elisha

Women: The Sodomites of the Southern Kingdom (Judah)

Women: The Widow Who Put Her Two Mite (Small Coins, Greek: Leptas) Into the Treasury

Women: The Woman Caught in the Act of Adultery and Brought to Jesus in the Temple

Women: Took Part in Ancient Worship

Women: Treated With Cruelty in War

Women: Unclassified Scriptures Relating To

Women: Vashti

Women: Veiled the Face

Women: Virtuous, Held in High Estimation

Women: Vows of

Women: Weaker than Men

Women: when Jealously Charged With Infidelity, Their Guilt or Innocence Was to be Determined by an Ordeal

Women: Wicked

Women: Wicked: Commits Forgery

Women: Wicked: Full of Deceit and Licentiousness

Women: Wicked: Silly and Wayward

Women: Wicked: Zeal of, in Licentious Practices of Idolatry

Women: Widow of Zarephath, Who Fed Elijah During the Famine

Women: Wore Hair Long

Women: Worked in Fields

Women: Worshiped in Separate Compartments

Women: Zealous in Promoting Superstition and Idolatry

Women: Zipporah, in Her Persecution of Moses on Account of his Religious Obligations

Related Terms

Women-servants (21 Occurrences)

Women's (9 Occurrences)

Bond-women (3 Occurrences)

Women-children (1 Occurrence)

Women-concubines (1 Occurrence)

Singing-women (3 Occurrences)

Servant-women (2 Occurrences)

Zimri (16 Occurrences)

Vashti (10 Occurrences)

Virgins (33 Occurrences)

Custody (27 Occurrences)

Singing (65 Occurrences)

Bracelet (5 Occurrences)

Concubines (18 Occurrences)

Cosmetics (3 Occurrences)

Ahasu-e'rus (30 Occurrences)

Singing-men (3 Occurrences)

Sucklings (18 Occurrences)

Submissive (12 Occurrences)

Polygamy

Veil (67 Occurrences)

Xerxes (24 Occurrences)

Company (287 Occurrences)

Younger (39 Occurrences)

Young (3454 Occurrences)

Kerchief

Babylon's (11 Occurrences)

Babies (16 Occurrences)

Baby (23 Occurrences)

Besides (178 Occurrences)

Bond-men (16 Occurrences)

Careless (10 Occurrences)

Changeth (10 Occurrences)

Citadel (20 Occurrences)

Complacent (5 Occurrences)

Crowded (10 Occurrences)

Amongst (47 Occurrences)

Alas (62 Occurrences)

Ahasuerus (28 Occurrences)

Adorn (13 Occurrences)

Sepulcher (48 Occurrences)

Susa (20 Occurrences)

Spinning

Salome (2 Occurrences)

Spared (45 Occurrences)

Strange (234 Occurrences)

Pregnant (33 Occurrences)

Beholding (45 Occurrences)

Sepulchre (57 Occurrences)

Philippians (2 Occurrences)

Chamberlain (14 Occurrences)

Playing (37 Occurrences)

Castle (26 Occurrences)

Stirred (64 Occurrences)

Breast (71 Occurrences)

Confident (42 Occurrences)

Beautiful (152 Occurrences)

Blessed (338 Occurrences)

Capital (29 Occurrences)

Afar (98 Occurrences)

Sex (51 Occurrences)

Apparel (38 Occurrences)

Prey (105 Occurrences)

Ahikam (20 Occurrences)

Plunder (118 Occurrences)

Crushing (93 Occurrences)

Keeper (72 Occurrences)

Homes (43 Occurrences)

Aged (63 Occurrences)

Bread (433 Occurrences)

Perfumes (69 Occurrences)

Kinds (110 Occurrences)

Believed (135 Occurrences)

Bone (35 Occurrences)

Prisoners (170 Occurrences)

Plundered (44 Occurrences)

Beauty (98 Occurrences)

3000 (3 Occurrences)

7337 (2 Occurrences)

Women: Took Part in Ancient Worship
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