The Bible describes many crimes, ranging from the most common, such as theft, deceit or betrayal, to the most horrendous, such as rape, murder, war crimes or genocide.
As usual, Serge Janouin-Benanti has dissected these stories and rewritten them in the form of gripping narratives. We thus rediscover in a new light the stories of Cain, Noah, Canaan, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Joseph, Moses, Phinehas, Joshua, Abimelech, Jephthah, Delilah, Micah, and the Levite of Ephraim… Each of these figures was either the perpetrator, accomplice, witness or victim to a crime.
From earthly paradise to exile: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel
EveCain killing AbelExile of Adam and Eve, then exile of Cain
2- The unknown crime of Canaan
Noah, Shem, Japheth, Ham, Canaan, Lud, Javan, Mitzraim, Cush and Arpacshad
The Drunkenness of NoahChoice of location for some of Noah's grandsons to populate the world.
3- Pimping and attempted infanticide
Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac
The Sacrifice of Isaac by AbrahamAbraham's Journey to Egypt
4- Rape and incest
Lot, his daughters, Ben-Ammi, Moab
Lot and his daughtersLand of Canaan in the days of Abraham and Lot
5- Multiple deceptions, rape, assassinations
Jacob, Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, Leah, Rachel, Dinah, Simeon and Levi
Abduction and Rape of DinahJacob's Place Map
EXODUS
The Egypt of the Pharaohs.
6- Murder, purges, war crimes, assassinations
Moses, Zipporah, Aaron, Miriam, Phinehas
Moses breaking the tablets of the lawPossible paths for the Exile of Moses in the land of Midian (dotted line), and for the Exodus to the land of Canaan.
7- Genocide of peoples
Joshua, Eleazar, Rahab, Achan
The Battle of JerichoJoshua's Conquest of the Land of CanaanThe partition of the land of Canaan among the twelve tribes of Israel
THE JUDGES
Judge Debora.
8- Mutiple fratricides
Abimelech, Gideon, Jotham
Death of AbimelechMap: Abimelech, king of Shechem.
9- Infanticide
Jephthah, Sheila
Jephthah's daughterMap: Judge Jephthah.
10- Venal companion and traitor
Delilah and Samson
Samson and DelilahSamson, Delilah and the Philistines.
11- Theft of Micah and genocide of Laïsh
Tribe of Dan, Micah, Jonathan
Theft of the idols of Micah.The exodus of Dan's tribe.
12- Gang rape, murder, dismemberment
The Levite of Ephraim
The Levite cuts his wife into pieces.Rape and murder of the Levite's wife.
13- Fratricidal war, kidnappings and rapes
The punishment of the Benjaminites, extermination of Jabes in Gilead
Removal of Siloh Virgins.The punishment of the Benjaminites and the extermination of Jabes in Gilead.
Reviews published on Crimes in the Bible - Volume 1 :
We were accustomed to the cruel and true tales of Serge Janouin-Benanti in which, after a thorough investigation,
he returned true stories in the form of thrilling short stories.
In dealing with the Bible, the author deprives himself of his usual sources: court records, investigation reports,
witness hearings, period newspapers, analyzes of the social and historical context.
With biblical texts as the sole basis, enriched anyway with historical and archaeological documents available from this
remote period, the author succeeds in his bet to captivate us from beginning to end with stories that we thought we knew by heart.
This book gives us the opportunity to discover the way Serge Janouin-Benanti works. Always as close as possible to
the facts, so as not to betray them, this is the angle from which he approaches the narrative and the analysis of the psychology of the
characters that make all the difference. In the end, the actors come to life in front of us and make the story fascinating.
We look forward to the next volume.
CDL 44, june 2020.
A true-crime tour through Genesis, Exodus, and Judges
Volume I covers roughly 3,000 years of biblical history, from Cain and Abel to the near-civil war that almost wipes out the tribe of Benjamin. It’s organized not by biblical chapter, but by crime:
Fratricide
The Unknown Crime
Pimping and Attempted Infanticide
Rape and Incest
Multiple Deceptions, Rape, Murders
Murder, Purges, War Crimes, Assassinations
Genocides
Multiple Fratricides
Infanticide
Gang Rape, Murder, Dismemberment
Fratricidal War, Abduction, and Rape
Those blunt titles set the tone. Serge Janouin-Benanti uses modern legal language—infanticide, war crimes, genocide—to force us to confront what’s actually happening in these stories, stripped of pious varnish. Yet he never simply mocks or dismisses the text. His bet is more subtle: if we read these episodes like case files, what do they tell us about power, fear, faith, and human violence?
Each tale is built as a short narrative with a prologue, a central story, and an “Epilogue” that reconnects what we’ve just read to biblical genealogies and later events. Maps locate the action (Eden and the land of Nod, Abraham’s journeys, the routes of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan), and reproductions of paintings and engravings—Rubens’s Cain Killing Abel, Rembrandt’s Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law, scenes of Dinah’s abduction or Jericho’s fall—underscore the grim drama.
You can dip in anywhere, but the book does have a powerful cumulative effect if you read straight through.
If you’re ready to let the Bible unsettle you, and you enjoy narrative nonfiction that reads like a series of historical thrillers, this first volume of Crimes in the Bible is absolutely worth your time—and will likely leave you eager (and a little apprehensive) to see what horrors and questions the next volumes will bring.
