Appendix 3: Battle Narratives in the Historical Books of the Bible

  1. Gen 14. The rescue of Lot by Abraham.
  2. Gen 32:22-32. Jacob wrestles at Penuel.
  3. Gen 34. The Rape of Dinah.
  4. Exod 14-15. The defeat of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.
  5. Exod 17:8-16. Israel over Amalek.
  6. Num 21:1-3. Israel over Arad.
  7. Num 21:21-31 (|| Deut 2:16-37; Judg 11:16-23). Israel over Sihon.
  8. Num 21:33-35 (|| Deut 3:1-11). Israel over Og.
  9. Num 31:1-54. Israel over Midian.
  10. Josh 6. The conquest of Jericho.
  11. Josh 7-8. The initial defeat and conquest of Ai.
  12. Josh 10. Joshua over the five Amorite kings.
  13. Josh 11. Joshua over Jabin, king of Hazor.
  14. Judg 3:7-11. Othniel over Cushan-rishathaim, a Dtr narrative.
  15. Judg 3:15-30. Ehud over Eglon and the Moabites.
  16. Judg 4-5. Deborah, Barak, and Jael over Sisera.
  17. Judg 6-8. Gideon over the Midianites.
  18. Judg 9. The story of Abimelech, the bad king.
  19. Judg 10-11. Jephthah over the Ammonites.
  20. Judg 12:1-6. Jephthah over Ephraim.
  21. Judg 15:1-17. Samson over the Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.
  22. Judg 16:23-31. Samson pulls down the temple for his greatest victory over the Philistines.
  23. Judg 19-20. Israel over Benjamin.
  24. Judg 21:1-12. Israel over Jabesh-gilead.
  25. 1 Sam 4:1b-11 (5:1–7:2). The Philistines defeat Israel and capture the ark.
  26. 1 Sam 7:3-14. The Lord over the Philistines.
  27. 1 Sam 11. Saul over Nahash the Ammonite.
  28. 1 Sam 13-14. Jonathan over the Philistines.
  29. 1 Sam 15. Saul over the Amalekites.
  30. 1 Sam 17:1–18:4. David over Goliath.
  31. 1 Sam 18:13-29. David over the Philistines for the princess.
  32. 1 Sam 23:1-5. David over the Philistines at Keilah.
  33. 1 Sam 28-29, 31 (|| 1 Chr 10:1-14). The Philistines defeat Saul.
  34. 1 Sam 30. David over the Amalekites.
  35. 2 Sam 2:12-32. The indecisive battle between Joab and Abner.
  36. 2 Sam 5:6-10 (|| 1 Chr 11:4-9). David takes Jerusalem.
  37. 2 Sam 5:17-21, 22-25 (|| 1 Chr 14:8-12, 13-17). David over the Philistines.
  38. 2 Sam 10 (|| 1 Chr 19:1-19). David defeats the Ammonites and Syrians.
  39. 2 Sam 11-12. David’s campaign against Rabbah.
  40. 2 Sam 15-19. The rebellion of Absalom.
  41. 2 Sam 20. The rebellion of Sheba.
  42. 2 Chr 13 cf. 1 Kgs 15:1-8. Abijah over Jeroboam.
  43. 2 Chr 14:9-15. Asa over Zerah the Ethiopian.
  44. 1 Kgs 20:1-21, 22-43. Ahab over Ben-hadad.
  45. 1 Kgs 22 (|| 2 Chr 18:1-34). The kings of Israel and Judah against the Syrians.
  46. 2 Kgs 3. The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom over Moab.
  47. 2 Chr 20. Jehoshaphat watches the enemies ambush themselves as prophesied.
  48. 2 Kgs 6:8-23. Elisha strikes the Syrians blind.
  49. 2 Kgs 6:24-7:20. Benhadad is turned away from Samaria by the sound of a great army.
  50. 2 Kgs 9. Jehu anointed king, overthrows Joram.
  51. 2 Kgs 14:8-14 (|| 2 Chr 25:17-24). Jehoash of Israel defeats Amaziah of Judah.
  52. 2 Kgs 16:5-9. The king of Assyria defeats Rezin at the call of Ahaz.
  53. 2 Kgs 18:13–19:37 (|| 2 Chr 32:1-33; Isa 36-37). The angel of the Lord destroys the army of Sennacherib.
  54. 2 Kgs 23:29-30 (|| 2 Chr 35:20-26). Josiah dies in battle against the Egyptians
  55. Daniel 14:23-42. Daniel kills Bel, the dragon, and survives the lion’s den.
  56. Jdt 1-16. Judith over Holofernes.
  57. 1 Macc 1-7 (|| 2 Macc 8-15). The victories of Judas Maccabeus.
  58. 2 Macc 3:1-40. The Lord, at the call of the people, defeats Heliodorus.

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Mighty in Battle by Harry Hagan, OSB, © Saint Meinrad Archabbey, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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