100 Bible Verses About Violence
Bible verses about Violence
Exploring the Bible's perspective on violence is crucial for cultivating a heart aligned with God's will. Scripture offers profound insights into the roots of violence, its devastating consequences, and God's unwavering commitment to peace and justice. Understanding these verses allows us to grapple with the complexities of human conflict, seek divine guidance in navigating difficult situations, and actively participate in building a world that reflects God's love and compassion. By studying these passages, we can learn to discern between righteous anger and destructive rage, promoting reconciliation and fostering a spirit of gentleness and understanding in our interactions with others.
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Featured Verse
Genesis 34:26 (KJV)
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.
Violence in the Bible: Exploring Key Verses
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.
Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.
But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them away through the plain all night.
And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.
And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.
Thou shalt not kill.
An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
(For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)
And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left.
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.
Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh–gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.
And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.
And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled.
So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
The Bible offers a complex and multifaceted perspective on violence. While acknowledging its presence in a fallen world, scripture consistently points toward God's desire for peace, justice, and reconciliation. The verses explored highlight both the consequences of violence – pain, suffering, and separation from God – and the call to actively resist it. They challenge us to examine our own hearts for the seeds of anger and aggression, urging us toward compassion, forgiveness, and the pursuit of non-violent solutions whenever possible. Ultimately, these verses serve as a powerful reminder that true strength lies not in perpetuating cycles of violence but in embracing God's transformative love, striving to be peacemakers in a world desperately in need of healing and restoration, and relying on the Holy Spirit's guidance to respond to violence with wisdom, grace, and unwavering faith.