List of Israelite civil conflicts explained

This is a list of intra-Israelite conflicts.

Biblical period

• Eli-Pincus conflict (approx 1400 BCE) – a civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Pincus (Phinehas), because Eli son of Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendants of Pincus.
• Benjamite War (1375 BCE) – Started when a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine, who travel through the Benjamite city of Gibeah and are assailed by a mob, who wish to gang-rape the Levite.^[1] He turns his concubine over to the crowd, and they rape her until she collapses. The Levite dismembers her and presents the remains to the other tribes of Israel. Outraged by the incident, the Israelite tribes swear that none shall give his daughter to the Benjamites (or Benjaminites) for marriage, and launch a war which nearly wipes out the clan, leaving only 600 surviving men.^[2]
• Abimelech's Tyranny (1129 – 1126 BCE) – King Abimelech engaged in war with his own subjects, including the Battle of Shechem.
• Battle of the Wood of Ephraim (1020 B.C.) – was a military conflict between the rebel forces of the formerly exiled Israelite prince Absalom against the royal forces of his father King David.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

Second Temple and Roman period

• Hasmonean-Samaritan conflict (113–110 BCE) – Beginning in 113 BCE, Hyrcanus began an extensive military campaign against Samaria. Ultimately, Samaria was overrun and totally destroyed. The inhabitants of Samaria were then put into slavery. ^{[7] [8]} After these victories, Hyrcanus went north towards Shechem and Mount Gerizim. The city of Shechem was reduced to a village and the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed. This military action against Shechem has been dated archaeologically around 111–110 BCE.^[9]
• Jewish-Samaritan conflict (1st century CE) – Under the leadership of two Zealots, Eleazar and Alexander, they invaded Samaria and began a massacre. Cumanus led most of his troops against the militants, killing many and taking others prisoner, and the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem were subsequently able to calm most of the others, but a state of guerrilla warfare persisted.^[10]
• Sicarii and Zealot rebels (6–73 CE) – Sicarii were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who used violence against Jews and Romans in the Roman province of Judea. Much of what is known about the Sicarii comes from the Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War by Josephus, who wrote that the Sicarii agreed to release the kidnapped secretary of Eleazar, governor of the Temple precincts, in exchange for the release of ten captured assassins. The Sicarii were involved in the murder of High Priest Jonathan and also committed a series of atrocities in an attempt to incite the population into war against Rome. In one account, given in the Talmud, they destroyed the city's food supply, using starvation to force the people to fight against the Roman siege, instead of negotiating peace. Josephus also wrote that the Sicarii raided nearby Hebrew villages including Ein Gedi, where they massacred 700 women and children.^{[11] [12]}
• Persecution of Ebionites and Nazarenes (70 CE – 135 CE) – Ebionites were in conflict with the Jewish followers of Bar Kochba for refusing to recognize his messianic claims.^[13] According to the Haran Gawaita, Nasoraean Mandaeans fled Jerusalem before its fall in 70 CE due to persecution by a faction of Jews.^[14]

References

Works cited

• Book: Anderson . Robert T. . Giles . Terry . The Keepers: An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans . 2002 . Hendrickson Publishing . 978-1-56563-519-7.
• Book: Berlin . Adele . Brettler . Marc Zvi . The Jewish Study Bible . 2014 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19939387-9 . 2nd .
• Book: Hancock . Rebecca S. . Esther and the Politics of Negotiation: Public and Private Spaces and the Figure of the Female Royal Counselor . 2013 . Fortress Press . 978-1-45146986-8 .
• Book: Josephus . Josephus . translated by William Whiston . 1737 . 75 . Wars of the Jews . The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus the Jewish Historian . London . CITEREFJosephus,_Wars_of_the_Jews.
• Book: Josephus . Josephus . translated by William Whiston . 1737 . 93 . Antiquities of the Jews . The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus the Jewish Historian . London . CITEREFJosephus,_Antiquities_of_the_Jews.
• Book: Schneider . Tammi J. . Berit Olam: Studies In Hebrew Narrative And Poetry: Judges . 2000 . Liturgical Press . 978-0-81465050-9 .
• Book: Smallwood, E.M. . 2001 . The Jews Under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian : a Study in Political Relations . Brill Academic Publishers . Biblical Studies and Religious Studies . 978-0-391-04155-4 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Gunn, David M. . Judges . 18 January 2016 . Judges 1–3: Beginnings . https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118710746.ch . 243–275 . 10.1002/9781118710746.ch1 . 9781118710746 . 25 May 2021.
2. Judges 19:2
3. Web site: Espionage and the Jews. Nov 12, 2013. Haarezt. Elon Gilad.
4. 15:27–29 KJV, KJV
5. Web site: David. www.Bibler.org.
6. 18:8 NIV NIV
7. Book: Berlin, Adele . The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion . 2011 . Oxford University Press . 9780199730049 . John Hyrcanus I, who embarked upon further territorial conquests, forcing the non-Jewish populations of the conquered regions to adopt the Jewish way of life and destroying the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.. 330. .
8. Jonathan Bourgel . The Destruction of the Samaritan Temple by John Hyrcanus: A Reconsideration . 2016 . . . 135 . 10.15699/jbl.1353.2016.3129 . 153/3. 505.
9. Sievers, 142
10. Josephus, War 2.234-238; Antiquities 20.120-124. See also Smallwood, pp. 267–268.
11. Book: 378–381 . The Holy Land . Oxford Archaeological Guides . Jerome . Murphy-O'Connor . Barry . Cunliffe . 5th . Oxford University Press.
12. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ancient-battle-divides-israel-as-masada-myth-unravels-1275878.html Ancient battle divides Israel as Masada 'myth' unravels; Was the siege really so heroic, asks Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem
13. Book: Henry Wace & William Piercy . A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography . 1911 . 1 August 2007.
14. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen(2010). Turning the Tables on Jesus: The Mandaean View. In Book: Christian Origins. 9781451416640. Horsley. Richard. March 2010. Fortress Press . (pp94-11). Minneapolis: Fortress Press