“And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” - Job 1:7
Answer: GOD
I counted the number of people that were killed by God in the Bible. I came up with 2,038,344. Now, of course that greatly underestimates God’s total kill score. I only included those killings for which specific numbers are given. There are many events in the Bible where no number of fatalities are given. Noah’s flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the many plagues, famines, etc all are unknown variables, likely to push this number well over 30 million (see below).
Satan on the other is documented as killing only 10 people in the written text of the Bible. Even those 10 are suspect, as God basically allows Satan to do the killings as part of a “bet” (Job’s family). Don’t believe me? Here’s the scripture:
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job … And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD … put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house…And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. – Job 1:1-19
So there you have it. Confused? So am I.
Now to take this one step further, let’s put some real world numbers to the rest of God’s killings.
| SAB, Brick Testament | Proof | Number Killed | Cummulative Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| God drowns everyone on earth (except Noah and his family) | Genesis 7:23 | 30,000,000 | 30,000,000 |
| God rains fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, killing everyone. | Gen.19:24 | 1000 | 30,001,000 |
| Lot’s wife for looking back | Gen.19:26 | 1 | 30,001,001 |
| Er who was “wicked in the sight of the Lord” | Gen.38:7, 1 Chr.2:3 | 1 | 30,001,002 |
| Onan for spilling his seed | Gen.38:10 | 1 | 30,001,003 |
| 7th Egyptian Plague: Hail | Exodus 9:25 | 30,000 | 30,031,003 |
| God kills every Egyptian firstborn child. | Ex.12:29-30 | 500,000 | 30,531,003 |
| God drowns Egyptian army | Ex.14:28 | 1000 | 30,532,003 |
| God and Moses help Joshua kill the Amalekites | Ex.17:13 | 1000 | 30,533,003 |
| For dancing naked around Aaron’s golden calf | Ex.32:27-28, 35 | 3000 | 30,536,003 |
| Aaron’s sons for offering strange fire before the Lord | Lev.10:1-3, Num.3:4, 26:61 | 2 | 30,536,005 |
| A blasphemer | Lev.24:10-23 | 1 | 30,536,006 |
| God burned to death an unknown number for complaining | Numbers 11:1 | 100 | 30,536,106 |
| God sent “a very great plague” for complaining about the food. | Num.11:33 | 10,000 | 30,546,106 |
| God killed those who murmured with a plague. | Num.14:35-36 | 100 | 30,546,206 |
| A man who picked up sticks on the Sabbath | Num.15:32-36 | 1 | 30,546,207 |
| Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (and their families) | Num.16:27 | 12+ | 30,546,219 |
| Burned to death for offering incense | Num.16:35, 26:10 | 250 | 30,546,469 |
| For complaining | Num.16:49 | 14,700 | 30,561,169 |
| Massacre of the Aradites | Num.21:1-3 | 3000 | 30,564,169 |
| For complaining about the lack of food and water, God sent fiery serpents to bite the people, and many of them died. | Num.21:6 | 100 | 30,564,269 |
| God delivers the Bashanites into Moses’ hands and Moses kills everyone “until there was none left alive.” | Num.21:34-35 | 1000 | 30,565,269 |
| For “committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab” | Num.25:9 | 24,000 | 30,589,269 |
| Midianite massacre (32,000 virgins were kept alive) | Num.31:1-35 | 90,000+ | 30,679,269 |
| The slaughter of the Anakim, the childen of Esau, and the Horim | Deuteronomy 2:21-22 | 5000 | 30,684,269 |
| God hardened the king of Heshbon’s heart so that the Israelites could massacre his people. (included several cities) | Dt.2:33-34 | 3000 | 30,687,269 |
| God delievered the king of Bashan so that the Israelites could massacre his people. | Dt.3:3-6 | 60,000 | 30,747,269 |
| Massacre of Jericho | Joshua 6:21 | 1000 | 30,748,269 |
| God tells Joshua to stone to death Achan (and his family) for taking the accursed thing. | Joshua 7:10-12, 24-26 | 5+ | 30,748,274 |
| God tells Joshua to attack Ai and do what he did to Jericho (kill everyone). | Joshua 8:1-25 | 12,000 | 30,760,274 |
| God slaughters the Amorites and even chases them “along the way” as they try to escape. | Joshua 10:10-11 | 1000 | 30,761,274 |
| Joshua kills 5 kings and hangs their dead bodies on trees | Joshua 10:24-26 | 5 | 30,761,279 |
| Massacre of 7 cities | Joshua 10:28-42 | 7000 | 30,768,279 |
| God delivers the Hazorites. | Joshua 11:8-12 | 1000 | 30,769,279 |
| Massacre of the Anakim | Joshua 11:20-21 | 1000 | 30,770,279 |
| God delivered Canaanites and Perizzites | Judges 1:4 | 10,000 | 30,780,279 |
| Ehud delivers a message from God: a knife into the king’s belly | Jg.3:15-22 | 1 | 30,780,280 |
| God delivered Moabites | Jg.3:28-29 | 10,000 | 30,790,280 |
| Massacre of the Canaanites | Jg.4:15 | 1000 | 30,791,280 |
| God forces Midianite soldiers to kill each other. | Jg.7:2-22, 8:10 | 120,000 | 30,911,280 |
| God delivered the Ammonites to Jephthah to slaughter. | Jg.11:32-33 | 1000 | 30,912,280 |
| The Spirit of the Lord comes on Samson | Jg.14:19 | 30 | 30,912,310 |
| The Spirit of the Lord comes mightily on Samson | Jg.15:14-15 | 1000 | 30,913,310 |
| Samson’s God-assisted act of terrorism | Jg.16:27-30 | 3000 | 30,916,310 |
| “The Lord smote Benjamin” | Jg.20:35-37 | 25,100 | 30,941,410 |
| More Benjamites | Jg.20:44-46 | 25,000 | 30,966,410 |
| For looking into the ark of the Lord | 1 Sam.6:19 | 50,070 | 31,016,480 |
| God delivered Philistines | 1 Sam.14:12 | 20 | 31,016,500 |
| God forces the Philistine soldiers to kill each other. | 1 Sam.14:20 | 1000 | 31,017,500 |
| God orders Saul to kill every Amalekite man, women, and child. | 1 Sam.15:2-3 | 1000 | 31,018,500 |
| Samuel (at God’s command) hacks Agag to death | 1 Sam.15:32-33 | 1 | 31,018,501 |
| God delivers the Philistines. | 1 Sam.23:2-5 | 1000 | 31,019,501 |
| “The Lord smote Nabal.” | 1 Sam.25:38 | 1 | 31,019,502 |
| God delivers the Philistines to David (again). | 2 Sam.5:19, 25 | 1000 | 31,020,502 |
| Uzzah for trying to keep the ark from falling | 2 Sam.6:6-7, 1 Chr.13:9-10 | 1 | 31,020,503 |
| David and Bathsheba’s baby boy | 2 Samuel 12:14-18 | 1 | 31,020,504 |
| God sent a three-year famine because of something Saul did. | 2 Sam.21:1 | 5000 | 31,025,504 |
| Seven sons of Saul hung up before the Lord | 2 Sam.21:6-9 | 7 | 31,025,511 |
| From plague as punishment for David’s census (men only; probably 200,000 if including women and children) | 2 Sam.24:13, 1 Chr.21:7 | 70,000+ | 31,095,511 |
| A prophet for believing another prophet’s lie | 1 Kg.13:1-24 | 1 | 31,095,512 |
| Baasha killed everyone in the house of Jeroboam “according to the saying of the Lord.” | 1 Kings 15:29 | 1000 | 31,096,512 |
| Zimri killed everyone in the house of Baasha “according to the word of the Lord.” | 1 Kg.16:11-12 | 1000 | 31,097,512 |
| Religious leaders killed in a prayer contest | 1 Kg.18:22-40 | 450 | 31,097,962 |
| God delivers the Syrians into the Israelites’ hands | 1 Kg.20:28-29 | 100,000 | 31,197,962 |
| God makes a wall fall on Syrian soldiers | 1 Kg.20:30 | 27,000 | 31,224,962 |
| God sent a lion to eat a man for not killing a prophet | 1 Kg.20:35-36 | 1 | 31,224,963 |
| Ahaziah is killed for talking to the wrong god. | 2 Kings 1:2-4, 17, 2 Chr.22:7-9 | 1 | 31,224,964 |
| Burned to death by God | 2 Kg.1:9-12 | 102 | 31,225,066 |
| God sends two bears to kill children for making fun of Elisha’s bald head | 2 Kg.2:23-24 | 42 | 31,225,108 |
| Trampled to death for disbelieving Elijah | 2 Kg.7:17-20 | 1 | 31,225,109 |
| God calls for a seven year famine. | 2 Kg.8:1 | 10,000 | 31,235,109 |
| Jezebel | 2 Kg.9:33-37 | 1 | 31,235,110 |
| Jehu killed “all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria … according to the saying of the Lord” | 2 Kg.10:16-17 | 100 | 31,235,210 |
| God sent lions to kill “some” foreigners | 2 Kg.17:25-26 | 3+ | 31,235,213 |
| Sleeping Assyrian soldiers | 2 Kg.19:35, 2 Chr.32:21, Is.37:36 | 185,000 | 31,420,213 |
| Saul | 1 Chronicles 10:14 | 1 | 31,420,214 |
| God delivers Israel into the hands of Judah | 2 Chronicles 13:15-17 | 500,000 | 31,920,214 |
| Jeroboam | 2 Chr.13:20 | 1 | 31,920,215 |
| “The Lord smote the Ethiopians.” | 2 Chr.14:9-14 | 1,000,000 | 32,920,215 |
| God kills Jehoram by making his bowels fall out | 2 Chr.21:14-19 | 1 | 32,920,216 |
| Judean soldiers because they had forsaken the Lord | 2 Chr.28:6 | 120,000 | 33,040,216 |
| God delivered the Israelites into the hand of the Chaldeans. | 2 Chr.36:16-17 | 1000 | 33,041,216 |
| Ezekiel’s wife | Ezekiel 24:15-18 | 1 | 33,041,217 |
| Ananias and Sapphira | Acts 5:1-10 | 2 | 33,041,219 |
| Herod | Acts 12:23 | 1 | 33,041,220 |
Sure makes you question that “All Loving God” stuff huh?
Well, it definitely raises an eyebrow, it’s hard to argue with the facts. But I’m not 100% sure the bible ever mentions that Satan’s goal is to kill people.
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Uhm. You need to read your Bible more.
John 10:10 says Satan’s only purpose is to “Steal, KILL, and Destroy.”
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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By the way…you forgot to put Jesus on there under God’s list…
He sent his only son to die for us. Tell me that’s not love.
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Johnson,
Don’t end the discussion. Feel free to debate!
You’re right that its not just the sheer numbers but the reason for people dying. I can totally see how deaths might be justified in some cases for the good of the people, for example in a war to defend ones nation or an intruder invading your home.
However, if you look at the reasons for Jehova killing people that Mike mentions, such as Lot’s wife, the first born of the egyptians or the famine for something Saul did, these don’t seem very good reasons IMHO. Jehova seems to be a very jealous, angry and unforgiving god. Many times, jehova punishes the innocent right along with the guilty.
I won’t comment in detail on jesus, but simply say that things change in the new testament quite a bit.
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How many people did Satan GIVE life to?
If I bred 7 billion fruitflies…I probably wouldn’t feel bad about killing off some of them – especially if I felt they were disrespecting me. If someone else started killing my fruitflies though, well, I’d be pissed off.
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I thought God was all about love and forgiveness. Why should he be allowed to kill? He breaks his own commandments by doing so, so shouldn’t be setting the example? God gave man free will, that means they are on their own and he shouldn’t punish for creating humans the way HE WANTED TO.
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