Ironically, there are characters in the Bible who are presented as righteous and virtuous people, some of whose actions are immoral and even monstrous. Here are ten biblical representatives of highly questionable morality.
1. Elisha
Elisha was a prophet believed to have lived in the ninth century BC. e. Elisha performed many miracles, for example, returned water to Jericho and resurrected the son of one woman, but there is one “miracle” that stands out from the number of his actions.
One day the children laughed at Elisha's bald head, for which the prophet cursed them and called death punishment on their heads. At the call, two bears came running and tore the children to pieces. That is, the righteous prophet brutally killed 42 children, simply because they laughed at him. Elisha is now revered as a saint.
2. Jael
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You may have never heard of Jaelle: her only role in the Bible was to gain the trust of a person and kill him. In the battle between the Israeli and Canaanite armies in the Holy War, victory remained with the Israelites, who killed all the enemy soldiers. Only Sisera, the army commander, managed to escape.
Fleeing from pursuers, in the desert he stumbled upon the tent of an ally - Hever Keneyan. Heber's wife, Jael, ran out to meet Sisera, escorted him to the tent and assured him that he was safe. Then Jael waited until the guest fell asleep, crept up to the sleeping man and drove a stake from the tent into his temple, nailing her head to the ground.
3. David
King David is perhaps the most righteous person in the Bible, even though he single-handedly killed and emasculated 200 men at the request of his wife. Cruelty often goes hand in hand with righteousness, and it is the righteous who begins the slaughter.
David with an army invaded the neighboring lands and destroyed all men and women in the captured cities. The Bible does not indicate the reason for such an act, it is only known that these were "old inhabitants of the earth" - apparently, David destroyed the indigenous population. Even the textbook episode of David's murder of Goliath ends with the beheading of a defeated enemy, after which it was carried around the camp.
4. Samson
Samson was given superhuman strength by God to fight the Philistines. Samson did defeat the enemies, but then began killing more and more people. He was betting with 30 men that none of them would be able to solve his riddle.
If someone succeeds, he will give them 30 silk shirts. The rivals tricked Samson's wife into telling them the answer. The warrior, in order to evade payment of the debt, killed 30 other people, took off their clothes and gave them to his opponents.
5. Elijah
Elijah is a saint who was a prophet before Elisha, until God took him to heaven. When Elijah was a prophet in Israel, many people worshiped the pagan god Baal. The prophet decided to punish the Israelites and gathered 450 prophets of Baal, ordered them to kill the bull, put it on the altar and pray that their god would make the altar burn. Naturally, nothing came of it. Then Elijah killed the bull, put it on the altar and prayed to God. A fire broke out almost instantly. The prophets of Baal believed, but this was not enough for Elijah. He took them to the river and executed them one by one.
Elijah really proved his holiness more than once. For example, the king ordered 50 soldiers to bring Elijah, to which the prophet replied: "If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and burn you and your 50 soldiers." So he killed them, and then did the same with the next hundred men who came for him.
6. Jephthah
Jephthah was one of the sons of the city of Gilead, a wealthy man, but his mother was a harlot, and Jephthah was driven out of the house without an inheritance. A few years later, the Israelites tracked down Jephthah and asked him to return to Gilead to lead an army against the Ammonites. King Ammon asked Israel to simply allow them to live in peace, to which the Israelites replied: "Whom the Lord our God drives away from us, we will take possession."
Before the battle, Jephthah made a deal with God: if the Israelites win, Jephthah will sacrifice the first thing he meets at home upon his return. When Jephthah returned home with victory, his only daughter ran out to meet him, whom the warrior sacrificed.
7. Jehu
Jehu became king of Israel as a result of the overthrow of King Jehoram. Jehu tracked down and killed all members of Joram's royal family - 70 people - and dumped their severed heads outside the city gates. Then he rode over the still living mother of Joram in his chariot.
The new king was anointed to reign by the prophet Elisha. To disprove rumors that he was worshiping Baal, Jeha asked all of Baal's servants to offer a rich sacrifice in his honor. People who came from all over the kingdom filled the huge temple of Baal, after which the army of Jehu slaughtered all those who gathered. God rewarded the king by promising that his descendants would be guaranteed to occupy the throne of Israel for four generations.
8. Joshua
According to legend, Jesus broke the walls of Jericho with a trumpet. As soon as the walls fell, Joshua's army entered the city and killed all men, women, and children.
And this is not an isolated case: the cities of Livna, Lachis, Eglone, Hebron and Davir were also destroyed, and each of their inhabitants found their death on the edges of the swords of Joshua's army.
9. Moses
Moses is famous for leading the Israelites out of Egypt. The book of Exodus tells about ten executions, how the waters of the Red Sea parted and how the ten commandments were received from God (including “Thou shalt not kill”). The Israeli people wandered in the desert for 40 years, most of this time the Israelites spent attacking foreign cities.
After the victorious battle against the Midianites, Moses gave the order to kill all male babies and all women who knew her husband on the bed. All female children who have not come to know their husband should be kept alive for themselves. That is, all the little girls in the cities of the Midianites were raped by the order of the saint.
10. God
You have just read how dozens of cities were destroyed, how their inhabitants were put to death; learned about rape, religious genocide, murder of children and human sacrifice. But we have not yet talked about burning harlots or killing 70,000 men.
If we talk about every such deed, committed by the order of God or with his consent, a huge thick book is not enough. But by today's standards, all such actions are considered immoral or even insane. For 800 years before the birth of Christ, moral principles were completely different, but this does not mean that they are applicable to modern reality.