 Susan Niditch explores the range of war ideologies in ancient Near Eastern culture saying, "...To understand attitudes toward war in the Hebrew Bible is thus to gain a handle on war in general..." In the Hebrew Bible warfare includes the Amalekites, Canaanites, Moabites, and the record in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and both books of Kings.In the Bible God commands the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land, placing city after city "under the ban" -which meant every man, woman and child was supposed to be slaughtered at the point of the sword.For example, in Deuteronomy 20