Deuteronomy 20:17

Deuteronomy 20:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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:
• New International Version (NIV)Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,
• New King James Version (NKJV)but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you,

Context of Deuteronomy 20:17

15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. 16However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes. For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you, 18so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God. 19When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?

Deuteronomy 20:17 word by word

כִּֽי־הַחֲרֵ֣ם תַּחֲרִימֵ֗ם הַחִתִּ֤י וְהָאֱמֹרִי֙ הַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י הַחִוִּ֖י וְהַיְבוּסִ֑י כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear

• Forכִּיkîy · forH3588
• you must devote them to complete destructionחָרַםchâram · to devote/destroyH2763
• the Hittitesחִתִּיchittîy · HittiteH2850
• Amoritesאֱמֹרִי'ĕmôrîy · AmoriteH567
• Canaanitesכְּנַעֲנִיkena‛anîy · CanaaniteH3669
• Perizzitesפְּרִזִּיperizzîy · PerizziteH6522
• Hivitesחִוִּיchivvîy · HiviteH2340
• and Jebusitesיְבוּסִיyebûsîy · JebusiteH2983
• asכַּאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · as whichH834
• the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• has commanded youצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:17

• Isaiah 34:5When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
• Jeremiah 48:10Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
• Jeremiah 50:35A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
• Ezekiel 38:21And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother.
• Revelation 19:18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”
• Deuteronomy 7:1When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 20:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17But 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10-20Verses 10-20 Directions intended to prevent wanton destruction of life and property in sieges. Deuteronomy 20:16 Forbearance, 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 20:19 The parenthesis may he more literally rendered “for man is a tree of the field,” i. e., has his life…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-2010-20. When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it--An important principle is here introduced into the war law of Israel regarding the people they fought against and the cities they besieged. With "the cities of those people which God doth give thee" in Canaan, it was to be a war of utter extermination (De 20:17, 18). But when on a just occasion, they went against other nations, they were first to make a proclamation…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 20:17

• Amorites
• Hivites
• Jebusites
• Perizzites
• War

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Canaanites
• Faint
• Fearful
• Idolatry
• Accursed
• Amorites
• Atonement, Day of
• Criticism

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings