Humanities Studios: Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy

Judaism and the ethics of war: Divine command, interpretation, and just war reasoning

Vitalii Felix Severus Yakushin*

zuikovvolodymyr1991@gmail.com

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Abstract

Questions concerning the relationship between divine authority, human interpretation, and collective violence remain central to contemporary debates in religious ethics. The purpose of this study was to examine how Jewish ethics of war negotiates the tension between divine command and interpretive judgement across different textual and historical layers. The research employed a qualitative, text-based methodology that combines historical-hermeneutical analysis with normative ethical evaluation. Biblical texts were analysed to identify how warfare is both authorised and morally restrained within the canon, producing a persistent tension between mercy and violence. Prophetic literature was examined as an internal mode of ethical critique that redefines obedience through repentance, moral self-suspicion, and restraint rather than military success. Rabbinic sources were described as translating canonical tensions into legal categories, such as obligatory and authorised wars, while preserving interpretive discretion in ethical decision-making. Medieval legal reasoning was analysed through M. Maimonides’ treatment of war, demonstrating how legal formulation sought to stabilise interpretive ambiguity without resolving it. Across these stages, interpretive flexibility was identified as a structural feature that sustains ethical relevance while simultaneously exposing moral reasoning to the risk of ideological expansion under conditions of power, urgency, and political pressure. It was concluded that Jewish ethics of war cannot be understood as a fixed or internally consistent doctrine, but as an ongoing process of moral negotiation between restraint and necessity, responsibility, and obedience. Rather than eliminating ethical contradictions, the tradition preserves them as a dialogical space for moral deliberation across historical contexts. The findings of this study are relevant for scholars of religious ethics, biblical studies, and political theology, and for broader ethical discussions concerning the role of interpretation in situations of collective violence

Keywords

moral restrain; biblical violence; prophetic critique; halakhic categories; moral ambiguity; tradition and reinterpretation

Suggested citation
Yakushin, V.F.S. (2026). Judaism and the ethics of war: Divine command, interpretation, and just war reasoning. Humanities Studios: Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, 14(3), 122-140. https://doi.org/10.31548/hspedagog/3.2026.122
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