Deuteronomy 20:18

Deuteronomy 20:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.
• New International Version (NIV)Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

Context of Deuteronomy 20:18

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. 17For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you, so 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? 20But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

Deuteronomy 20:18 word by word

לְמַ֗עַן אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־יְלַמְּד֤וּ אֶתְכֶם֙ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת כְּכֹל֙ תּֽוֹעֲבֹתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשׂ֖וּ לֵֽאלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם וַחֲטָאתֶ֖ם לַיהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

• so thatמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• ·אֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• they cannotלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• teachלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• you to doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the detestable thingsתּוֹעֵבַהtô‛êbah tô‛êbah · abominationH8441
• for their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and so cause you to sinחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
• against the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:18

• Deuteronomy 7:4because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.
• Deuteronomy 12:30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
• Deuteronomy 18:19And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.
• Exodus 23:33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
• Joshua 23:13know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
• Judges 2:3So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
• Psalms 106:34They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
• 2 Corinthians 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
• Ephesians 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:14Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.
• 1 Timothy 6:5and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
• 2 Timothy 2:17and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
• Revelation 18:3All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 20:18

• 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 20:18

• Amorites
• War

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Faint
• Fearful
• Accursed
• Atonement, Day of
• Criticism
• Deuteronomy
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis

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