Why did God dash babies’ heads(Isaiah 13:9-16, Psalms 137:9, Judges 11:30-39)?
Answer: Answers are available online from ApologeticsPress and GotQuestions
The author of Psalm 137 is a captive in Babylon. The Babylonians (who caused so much destruction in Israel, killed so many of the Israelites, and held the author and other survivors captive) were demanding that the Israelites perform for them and sing songs about the beauty of Zion. The author was indignant that his captors would make such a demand in light of the horrible things that the Babylonians had done to the Israelites, and the fact that the Babylonians still held them captive. The author then proceeds to explain that the Babylonians were not going to be in their elevated position as victors for long. Instead, these captors who were demanding mirth and songs from the Israelite captives were going to suffer a similar fate to the one that they dealt out. According to the author, there would be those coming who would, in essence, do to the Babylonians what the Babylonians did to Israel, except the Babylonian punishment would be on an even greater scale. The nation that would destroy the Babylonians would repay the Babylonians for the evil they had done and would go so far as to dash the heads of the Babylonian babies against the stones. The Psalmist did not pray for Babylon’s destruction, but he was quoting a previous prophecy of Babylon’s destruction in Isaiah 13.
The nations that would destroy the Babylonian (Isaiah 13) were the Medes and the Persian (Jeremiah 50-51). The prophecy begins by stating: “The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans ” (50:1). The Israelites would repent of their sins (50:4-5) and beg the Lord to return them to Israel in a renewed covenant with God. God would then punish Babylon, as the prophet stated, “‘For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall become plunder; all who plunder her shall be satisfied,’ says the Lord ” (50:8-10). Jeremiah 51 continues to describe the destruction of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians. The prophet explains, “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, because the Lord is plundering Babylon and silencing her loud voice…. For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay ” (51:56). And again, “Repay her according to her work; according to all she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel ” (50:29).
So we know Psalm 137 was a foreshadowing of the destruction of the Babylon by the Medes and Persia. Psalm 137:9 is not a command given by God for anyone back then or anyone today to dash babies’ heads against stones. God simply foretold what would happen to Babylon. Second, God did not accept the actions of the Medes and Persians. In fact, God explains to Jeremiah that He will punish their evil doings, but also offers them a chance to repent. If they repent, “then they shall be established in the midst of my people ” (12:16), thus offering them an opportunity at legitimate spiritual well-being. However, if they refused to repent, God declared, “I will utterly pluck up and destroy the nation ” (12:17).
As for Judges 11, the Ammonites started the war against Israel (Judges 11:4). Israel then retaliated, however there is no mention of babies or children being killed in the passage at all.
Conclusion: God did not instruct anyone to kill babies in Isaiah 13, Hosea 13, and Psalm 137.
