The Canaanite genocide: why God commanded Israel to kill rather than drive out or convert

Winger notes our culture has an allergy to authority-sanctioned violence that distorts our reading of the OT conquest narratives. Key contextual points: (1) The numbers may be exaggerated in popular retelling. (2) The Canaanites practiced extraordinary evil, including live child sacrifice (passing children through fire on superheated bronze idol hands) and bestiality. (3) God had given the Canaanites hundreds of years to repent, and his Spirit strove with them (Gen 6 principle). (4) This command was unique — it only occurred at the conquest, not as a general policy. (5) Many targets were military fortress-cities, not ordinary settlements. (6) The emphasis in the text is actually "drive them out," with killing occurring because they remained and resisted. (7) Children who died entered God's eternal presence. (8) God, as sovereign over life and death, has authority to execute judgment that humans do not. Final counsel: if the reasoning still feels insufficient, trust God's revealed goodness in Christ and reserve judgment on what you cannot fully understand.