70 Ancient Ideals
The Lord turns her into a pillar of salt for daring to defy his com-
mand and look over her shoulder at the destruction that he’s brought.
He murders the fi rstborn male of every Egyptian family. When the
Egyptian forces pursue the Jews across the desert, goaded on by
the Lord, who wants to demonstrate his powers, a particularly
horrible end comes their way. Says the Lord: “I will harden Pha-
raoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for
myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord” (Exodus 14.4). The Egyptian army is lured into
the Red Sea, which has parted to let the Jews cross. But when the
Egyptians follow, the waters close and every one of them drowns.
(There are presumably no pleas ur able ways to die, but drowning,
though brief, is surely one of the most bitter.) In warfare Yahweh is
disposed to give no quarter.
It is illuminating to recall how K ing Saul fell out of favor with the
Lord. Through the prophet Samuel, the Lord tells Saul that he must
attack a city called Amalek and punish the Amalekites for what they
did to oppose the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. But Saul
must do more than capture the city. Every man and woman and
child has to die. Every beast has to go down to the sword. No living,
breathing creature can be left. “Now go and attack Amalek,” says
the Lord, “and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them,
but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel
and donkey” (Samuel 15.3).
And Saul complies— almost. He murders numberless men and
women and children. But he does not kill enough to satisfy Yahweh.
He leaves Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive, and he spares a
handful of animals, sheep and cattle and lambs. And so he infuri-
ates the Lord. The prophet Samuel approaches Saul in a rage: “You
have rejected the word of the lord,” he says to Saul, “and the Lord
has rejected you from being king over Israel” (Samuel 15.26).