Serge Janouin-Benanti

Crimes in the Bible

Volume 3: KINGS and PROPHETS

930 to 400 B.C.

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.

After the time of the great kings - Saul, David, and Solomon - the kingdom of Israel split in two. An incessant fratricidal war set Israel and Judah against each other, until the two kingdoms disappeared, the Temple was destroyed and people were sent into exile.

The story of this era is punctuated by the adventures of no less than forty kings and a multitude of prophets. Whether they were short-lived kingdoms or long reigns, many of them ended tragically in bloodshed.

Great figures emerge from this period, such as the kings Jeroboam, Omri, Jehu, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel… not to mention a number of heroines, some sublime and others disturbing, like Jezebel, Athaliah, Judith, Esther, and Suzanne.

This third volume takes us to the end of the Old Testament, with the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Under foreign domination, crimes persist and moral questions continue to proliferate.

A fascinating and original reading of the Bible.