Serge Janouin-Benanti

Crimes in the Bible

4,000 BC to 135 AD

A gripping investigation through 4000 years of sacred texts

This work brings together, in a colour version, the five volumes already published, thus covering the entire period from 4000 BC to 135 AD.

The crimes and massacres that populate Genesis, Exodus and Judges set the tone for the book and are presented in the form of thrilling stories.

The author then reveals the dark side of Israel's most famous kings: Saul, David, and Solomon.
The protagonists of this turbulent period are driven by intense passions that lead them to betrayal, rape, murder, and human sacrifice.

After the era of the great kings, the kingdom of Israel split in two. A relentless fratricidal war raged between Israel and Judah, culminating in the disappearance of both kingdoms, the destruction of the Temple, and the Exile.
The narrative unfolds through the adventures of no fewer than forty kings and a multitude of prophets.

Between the two testaments, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Augustus shaped the destiny of Judea and the Jewish people. The fascinating saga of the Maccabees and the astonishing reign of Herod the Great gave rise to nationalist and religious struggles, accompanied by conspiracies, betrayals, and astonishing crimes.

Finally, under an increasingly oppressive Roman occupation, prophets and messiahs, proclaimed or self-proclaimed, arose to liberate the country or bring the promise of a new world. John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, Dositheus of Samaria, Theudas the Egyptian, Simon Magus, Jesus ben Ananias, Elkasai, and Simon bar Kokhba would suffer a cruel fate.
Faced with these revolts and aspirations for new spiritualities, the response of the powers that be was violent and unrestrained.

A dense, powerful, moving, but necessary book.

And perhaps one of the most original ever written about the Bible.