Deuteronomy 20:17-18

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:16-20

This was for cities at a distance; it was to be otherwise with the cities of the Canaanites. To them no offer of peaceful submission was to be made, and when the city was taken, all the inhabitants without reserve were to be destroyed. This was in accordance with God's command to Israel ( Exodus 23:31-33 ; Exodus 34:11-16 ; Deuteronomy 7:1-3 ), and as a precaution against the risk of the people being seduced into idolatry by the heathen should they be allowed to remain in the land. But... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 20:10-20

Directions intended to prevent wanton destruction of life and property in sieges.Deuteronomy 20:16Forbearance, however, was not to be shown toward the Canaanite nations, which were to be utterly exterminated (compare Deuteronomy 7:1-4). The command did not apply to beasts as well as men (compare Joshua 11:11, Joshua 11:14).Deuteronomy 20:19The parenthesis may he more literally rendered “for man is a tree of the field,” i. e., has his life from the tree of the field, is supported in life by it... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 20:18

Deuteronomy 20:18. That they teach you not to do after all their abominations Here is the great reason for the aforesaid severe execution; they were most abominable idolaters, who offered their children to Moloch; they were magicians, wizards, necromancers, and guilty of all those abominations and filthy lusts mentioned Leviticus 18:0. So that God thought them not fit to live any longer upon the face of the earth; for had they been spared, after obstinately rejecting terms of peace, they... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Rules for war (20:1-20)God’s people were to have confidence in the wars that lay before them, knowing that God was on their side. That did not mean they could be half-hearted or inefficient in the way they planned and fought. All had to give themselves fully to the task before them. Nevertheless, the law temporarily excused some people from military service, such as those who had recently committed themselves to something that could be ruined if they were suddenly called away to the battlefield... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Deuteronomy 20:17

utterly destroy. Because descendants of the Nephilim. App-25 . Compare Ch. Deuteronomy 7:1 , Deuteronomy 7:2 . namely. Only six mentioned here. as = according as. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Deuteronomy 20:18

That = to the intent that. sin. Idolatry was, and still is, the great sin. Compare Galatians 1:5 , Galatians 1:20 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 20:16-18

Ver. 16-18. But of the cities of these people—thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth— i.e. Neither man, woman, nor child: but this slaughter of all the people is to be understood only, as we observed above, in case they did not surrender when summoned, but rejected the conditions of peace offered to them; in which case, their condition was worse than that of any other people, whose males only were to be slain; ver. 14. The reason given for this severe execution of the Canaanites is, lest... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

War ch. 20These instructions deal with how Israel was to come into possession of the Promised Land (cf. Numbers 33:50-56). They are in the context of civil legislation because Israel did not have a standing army. Soldiers volunteered to go into battle as needed. Warfare and its prosecution are relevant to the subject of killing and thus to the sixth commandment. This section provided a "manual of warfare" for the Israelites outlining their attitude and approach to national enemies. [Note:... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Laws of Warfare1. Horses and chariots] The army of the Israelites was chiefly composed of infantry: see on Deuteronomy 17:16. 2. The priest] It is implied that the priests accompany the hosts of Israel into battle: see on Numbers 10:9. Hence the Heb. phrase ’to consecrate a war, or warriors,’ usually rendered to ’prepare’: see Joel 3:9 mg.; Isaiah 13:3.5-9. From Numbers 1:3 it would appear that all able-bodied men from twenty years of age were liable to military service. But the evils of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Deuteronomy 20:10-20

Deuteronomy 20:10-20. SIEGES.(10) When thou comest nigh . . . proclaim peace.—Not as the children of Dan did, who massacred the inhabitants of Laish without warning (Judges 18:27-28). Even in the wars of Joshua, the cities that “stood still in their strength” were generally spared (Joshua 11:13).(15) Thus—i.e., sparing the women and the little ones.(16-18) But of the cities of these people . . . thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth . . . that they teach you not to do after all their... read more

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