Deuteronomy 20:19-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:10-20

The terrible side of human duty. Sin has made such fatal havoc in our world, that the most severe remedies have to be applied. In the administration of these remedies God has chosen to employ men. Thus he allies himself with us and makes us partners with him in the administration of his kingdom. "Such honor have all his saints." I. THE AIMS OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED . Every aim which is formed in God's mind is a seed of righteousness. Therefore... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:19

To employ them in the siege ; literally, to come , i . e . that they should come into the siege before thee , i . e . either as thine adversary or to be used by thee for the siege. For the tree of the field is man's life. This may mean that the tree supplies food for the sustenance of man's life. But as the words stand in the text, they can only be rendered thus: "For the man s a tree of the field." This gives no good sense, or indeed, any sense at all; and hence it is proposed... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 20:20

And thou shalt build bulwarks against the city … until it be subdued ; literally, That thou mayest build a siege— he, an instrument for besieging, a rampart, or bulwark —against the city , till it come down (cf. Deuteronomy 28:52 ). HOMILETICS 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 20:19

Deuteronomy 20:19. Thou shalt not destroy the trees Which is to be understood of a general destruction of them, not of cutting down some few of them, as the convenience of the siege might require. Man’s life The sustenance or support of his life. 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 20:19

man's. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Deuteronomy 20:19

"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? Only of the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it fall."This... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 20:19-20

Ver. 19, 20. (For the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege— The plain meaning of the passage, as appears from the context, is, that in case of a long siege, where they might want wood for raising batteries, they were to spare the fruit-trees as much as possible, and make use of others which were as fit for those purposes, and bare not fruit; and that too, not merely for waste and desolation, but for necessary occasions. In this view, perhaps, our translation is as... read more

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