Deuteronomy 20:10-18 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:10

Proclaim peace unto it - Interpreters are greatly divided concerning the objects of this law. The text, taken in connection with the context, (see Deuteronomy 20:15-18 ;), appears to state that this proclamation or offer of peace to a city is only to be understood of those cities which were situated beyond the limits of the seven anathematized nations, because these latter are commanded to be totally destroyed. Nothing can be clearer than this from the bare letter of the text, unless some... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:17

But thou shalt utterly destroy them - The above reasoning will gain considerable strength, provided we could translate תחרימם החרם כי ki hacharem tacharimem , thou shalt utterly subdue them - slaying them if they resist, and thus leaving nothing alive that breathed; or totally expel them from the land, or reduce them to a state of slavery in it, that they might no longer exist as a people. This certainly made them an anathema as a nation, wholly destroying their political existence.... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:10

Verse 10 10.When thou goest forth to war. He now teaches that, even in lawful wars, cruelty is to be repressed, and bloodshed to be abstained from as much as possible. He therefore commands that, when they shall have come to take a city, they should first of all exhort its inhabitants to obtain peace by capitulating; and if they should do so, to keep them alive, and to be content with imposing a tribute on them. This principle of equity was naturally implanted in all nations; hence heralds took... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:12

Verse 12 12.And if he will make no peace. The permission here given seems to confer too great a license; for, since heathen writers (46) command even the conquered to be spared, and enjoin that those should be admitted to mercy who lay down their arms, and cast themselves on the good faith of the General, although the battering-ram may have actually made a breach in the wall, how does God, the Father of mercies, give His sanction to indiscriminate bloodshed? It has already been stated, that... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:15

Verse 15 15.Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities. An exception is introduced, that the Jews should not apply the common laws of war to the Canaanitish nations, with respect to whose extermination the sentence had passed. (48) For God had not only armed the Jews to carry on war with them, but had appointed them to be the ministers and executioners of His vengeance. We have elsewhere explained that there were just causes why He would have their race and memory radically destroyed; especially... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

EXPOSITION DIRECTIONS CONCERNING WARFARE IN GENERAL , AND FOR THE BESIEGING OF CITIES IN PARTICULAR . The instructions in this chapter are peculiar to Deuteronomy. As the people of God, Israel was not a warlike nation; they were rather to abstain from warfare, and as a general rule to cultivate the arts of peace. But they had before them at this time the prospect of a serious and protracted conflict before they could occupy the land which God had assigned to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Wars to be regulated by Divine precepts. The directions given by Moses in this chapter may serve to show the spirit in which wars should, if undertaken at all, be entered on and prosecuted. We are not called upon here to moot the question whether war is under any circumstances justifiable; since the principle on which the Hebrew lawgiver proceeds is that of tolerating for a while certain socially accepted customs, mitigating whatever in them is evil, and gradually educating people out of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Religious wars. We have in this chapter an instructive direction about the prosecution of a religious war. For, after all, war may be the only way of advancing the interests of nations. Disputes become so entangled, and great principles become so staked in the disputes, that war is welcomed as the one way to peace and progress. It is an awful expedient, but there are worse things than war. "Cowardice," said Rev. F. W. Robertson, of Brighton, "is worse. And the decay of enthusiasm and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:5-10

Exemptions. Three classes were exempted from service in war, and one class was forbidden to take part in it. The exempted classes were: 1. He who had built a house, but had not dedicated it. 2. He who had planted a vineyard, but had not eaten of its fruit. 3. He who had betrothed a wife, but had not married her. The class forbidden to engage in the war was the class of cowards ( Deuteronomy 20:8 ). These regulations— I. HAD AN IMPORTANT BEARING ON THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:10

Then proclaim peace unto it ; i . e . invite it peaceably to surrender. read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:10

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:12

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:5-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:10

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