You can't necessarily take everything you read in the Bible literally, LH.

Though the genocidal stuff in the Old Testament is well worth keeping in mind, and it's scary in the context of a set up where settlers are using those parts of the Bible as a justification for claiming a right to particular territory in the Holy Land.

It's also very relevant to keep that stuff in mind, when you have people quote passages from the Koran as proof that Islam is a peculiarly warlike religion.