The Impact of Siege Warfare on Biblical Conceptualizations of YHWH

Abstract

The physical devastation wrought by the campaigns of Tiglath-pileser III through Nebuchadnezzar with their concomitant death and suffering raises the question of YHWH’s role in the unfolding events. In response to increasingly effective foreign siege technology, YHWH’s portrayals in prophetic and Deuteronomistic texts evolve from the once-mighty warrior to a supreme commander employing Assyrian and Babylonian tactics in charge of Israelite and enemy forces alike.