Does God Promote Genocide? Understanding the Hard Passages

I think we can all admit that there are passages in the Old Testament that are really hard to read. They’re violent, disturbing, and—if they were in movie form—likely rated R, if not MA.

Recently, I came across one of these passages, Deuteronomy 3:6, and wanted to understand it better. This raised a tough question: Does God promote genocide? In this post, I’ll walk through some biblical explanations, focusing on the Canaanites, and also give some broader perspectives.

Things to Know

• Peace before war: In Deuteronomy 20, Israel was commanded to first offer peace. If rejected, only the men were killed. The Canaanites were a specific exception.
  
  
• Not all wars were God-sanctioned: The Bible records many wars, but God did not approve all of them.
  
  
• Later wars were defensive: After Joshua’s time, the wars God permitted were defensive, not offensive.
  
  

Why Did God Declare Destruction on the Canaanites?

1. Moral Corruption & Judgment

The Canaanites were extremely corrupt, engaging in sins like incest, child sacrifice, bestiality, and more (Leviticus 18). They weren’t ignorant of their guilt—they knew judgment was coming (Joshua 2:10–11; 9:9).

2. Protection for Israel

God was protecting His people spiritually and physically. If left, the Canaanites would have led Israel into idolatry and sin, while also posing a constant military threat.

3. Fulfillment of Noah’s Prophecy

In Genesis 9:25, Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan, one of Ham’s sons. The Canaanites, as his descendants (Genesis 10), ultimately faced judgment, including slavery for some and destruction for others.

4. Hyperbolic Language

Some scholars argue that phrases like “destroyed everything in their path” were ancient war hyperbole, not literal extermination. For instance, despite such language, later passages (e.g., Joshua 15:13–15) show many Canaanites still living in the land.
This suggests the emphasis was on total victory over evil, not necessarily complete annihilation.

Why God Does Not Promote Genocide

God’s overall nature consistently points toward mercy, patience, and peace. Throughout Scripture:

• He calls people to repentance.
  
  
• He often spares nations when they turn from sin.
  
  
• He judges only in extreme cases where wickedness becomes unbearable (“every intention… was only evil continually,” Genesis 6:5).
  
  

The destruction of the Canaanites wasn’t about ethnicity but about judgment against evil. In fact, God also judged Israel when they turned to sin.

What About the Women and Children?

This part is especially difficult to grasp in our modern perspective. Some explanations offered include:

• No one is truly “innocent”—all are sinners before God.
  
  
• Women participated in Canaanite sins and idolatry.
  
  
• Children would grow up adopting the same practices and hostility toward Israel. 

• Both women and Children would have become resentful to the Israelites and pose a threat.
  
  

While still hard to process, the point is that God was ultimately judging wickedness, not wiping out people arbitrarily.

Conclusion

Passages like Deuteronomy 3:6; 20:16–17 are difficult, but several explanations help us understand: punishment for deep corruption, protection for Israel, hyperbolic language, and unique circumstances in salvation history.

Ultimately, God’s nature is not genocidal. He is just, merciful, and holy. Even when His actions are beyond our full understanding, we see that it was never simply Israel vs. other nations but good vs. evil.

At the end of the day, God doesn’t ask us to fully agree with everything He does, but to trust Him for who He is—all-wise, all-knowing, and perfectly just. Faith isn’t blind; it’s based on the evidence of God’s character, promises, and actions throughout history.