The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 20
Chapter XX · Vol. I, pp. 511–512
1 The priest's exhortation to encourage the people to battle. 5 The officers' proclamation who are to be dismissed from the war. 10 How to use the cities that accept or refuse the proclamation of peace. 16 What cities must be devoted. 19 Trees for man's meat must not be destroyed in the siege.
1 WHEN thou agoest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots, and a people more than thou, bbe not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
a ch. 2.21; 7.1; 25.17,19. Ju. 3.12,28; 11.4,12. 2 Sa. 10.2?,6. Ps. 33.16,17.
b ver. 3,4,8. 2 Ch. 13.7,12; 32.7,18. Is. 7.4; 41.10-16. Ps. 118.6; 28.7; 20.7.
2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the cpriest shall approach and speak unto the people,
3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel; Ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint;1 fear not, and do not 2tremble, dneither be ye terrified because of them:
4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 And the eofficers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not fdedicated it?3 let him go and return to his house, lest he gdie in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
e ch. 16.18, i.e. general officers of the army.
f Ne. 12.27.
3 Every Jewish house being constituted a school of religious instruction, De. 6.6,7, and a place of prayer, Da. 6.10, was as much to be dedicated to God as the tabernacle or temple, Nu. 7.10. 1 Ki. 8.63. Ezr. 6.16.—C.
g 2 Sa. 11.25. Ac. 20.22.
6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet heaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
h Heb. made it common, Le. 19.23,24. ch. 28.30.
7 Andi what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
i ch. 24.5. Pr. 5.18,19.
8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, kWhat man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint4 as well as his heart.
k Ju. 7.3. Ps. 103.13,14.
4 Melt. Thus only such as were hearty and courageous went to the battle.
9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make5 captains of the armies lto lead the people.
5 Inferior officers.
l Heb. to be in the head of the people, 2 Ch. 13.12.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be otributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will pmake no peace with thee, but will make war against thee,6 then thou shalt besiege it:
6 The Mosaic institutes were decidedly opposed to wars of aggression and the spirit of foreign conquest and acquisition. A single example will establish this fact:—'Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord God,' Ex. 23.17. A people so organized could never become aggressively warlike. The text, however, admits that there might be wars beyond the borders of Canaan, but provides only for cases where enemies will not make peace, and where, consequently, safety is best and soonest secured by seeking the enemy in his own country. Hasten, O Prince of peace! hasten the time when 'nation shall no more rise against nation, nor kingdom against kingdom, and men shall learn war no more!'—C.
13 And when the qLORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
q Ps. 44.2-4; 18.37-42; 118.10-12. Ex. 23.33. ch. 7.2,4. Pr. 13.14. ver. 18.
14 But the women, and the little ones, and rthe cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take7 unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
r Jos. 8.2; 22.8; 11.14. Nu. 31.9,11. 2 Ch. 20.25; 14.13-15.
7 Heb. spoil.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the 8cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
8 All cities of the nations which lay around Canaan, of Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians, &c.
16 But sof the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:9
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them: namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
18 That they tteach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.1
t Nu. 33.55. Jos. 23.13. Ju. 2.3. ch. 7.4. Ps. 106.34-38.
1 Let it be remembered that this command emanated from God, the Judge of all the earth—not from man. It was a part of God's just and wise government. As a holy ruler, having regard to the best interests of mankind, it was necessary entirely to sweep away a nation so steeped in the grossest corruption.—P.
19 When thou shalt besiege a city a 2long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down, (for3 the tree of the field is man's life,) to employ4 them in the siege:
2 In these times cities often stood a siege of several years, as the besiegers had no cannon, mortars, bombs, &c.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
3 Or, for, O man, the tree of the field is to be employed in the siege.
4 Heb. to go from before thee.
20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat,5 thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.6
5 In warm climates, fresh or preserved fruits constitute a principal article of food: a law for the preservation of fruit-trees was therefore an ordinance of equal wisdom and humanity. But this law, like other of the divine institutions, was still further intended to check and restrain the spirit of aggressive war, which, like the wolf in the fold, destroys what it can neither retain nor carry away.—Note, The distinguishing humanity of the Mosaic laws stands prominent amongst the evidences of their divine origin.—C.
6 Heb. it come down.
Notes
Reflections.—While we remark how carefully piety towards God, tenderness towards others, and prudence towards ourselves, should be carried into war itself, let us ponder how necessary it is that armies and churches should be furnished with faithful ministers to encourage them in the Lord their God! Hopeful is the most difficult work when we are assured of God's presence in it, and encouraged with the former experience of what he hath done for us! Then we can triumph, in hopes of being more than conquerors through him that loved us. But there is little hope of men's prospering in their duty when their affections are engaged elsewhere: and therefore carnal worldlings, who are intoxicated with pleasure in temporal enjoyments, or the fearful and unbelieving, are unfit to fight with principalities and powers. God must be served heartily and willingly, or not at all. And though every saint ought to be courageous, yet ministers, who go before the host in fighting the Lord's battles, need distinguished boldness. Amazing is the mercy and long-suffering of God; he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance! And surely then we ought to be forward in accepting, or even offering, terms of peace to such as have offended us! But dreadful is the case if men will not hear the calls of God's mercy, or if the preservation of his people make it necessary to ruin them: for infallibly certain is the success of those enterprises in which God is the director! It is necessary to remove all occasions and temptations to idolatry, or other wickedness, and to preserve every means of comfort, as God pleases to direct us.