Siege
“To press in a hostile manner, siege”
Summary
Military operations conducted to capture a fortified city by surrounding it, cutting off supplies, and attacking its defenses.
☩Biblical Regulations
Mosaic law required that before besieging a city, an offer of peace be made. If rejected, the siege could proceed. Upon capture, male inhabitants were to be put to death, while women and children could be spared as captives. Canaanite cities, however, were to be completely destroyed. The law also forbade cutting down fruit trees during sieges, permitting only non-fruit-bearing trees for siege works.
☩Siege Operations
Siege warfare involved several key operations: investment of the city by the besieging army; drawing a line of circumvallation with towers around the walls; building earthwork mounds to command the streets and batter the upper walls; deploying battering rams; and finally storming the walls through breaches. Ancient monuments from Egypt and Assyria depict these operations in detail.
☩Horrors of Siege
Sieges brought terrible suffering. Famine drove inhabitants to extremes, including cannibalism as prophesied in Deuteronomy and recorded during Samaria's siege. The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar lasted years, reducing the city to desperate straits before its fall and the exile of its inhabitants.
☩Notable Sieges
Scripture records many sieges: Jericho fell miraculously; Rabbath-Ammon was besieged by Joab; Abel by Sheba's pursuers; Samaria by Syria and later by Assyria; Jerusalem by various enemies including Sennacherib (unsuccessfully) and Nebuchadnezzar (successfully, leading to exile).
Related Verses41 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Siege," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Siege," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).