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

15You must do this to all the cities that are far away from you. But it is different for the cities that belong to the nations of Canaan where you will live. 16You will take for yourselves the cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you as your home. In those cities, you must kill everything that is alive, people and animals. You must completely destroy all the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this to the people of those nations. 18If not, they would teach you all the evil things that they do to worship their gods. They would cause you to do bad things against the Lord your God. 19Perhaps you are preparing to attack a city. Your soldiers may have their camp around the city for a long time. If so, you must not cut down the fruit trees. Then you can eat the fruit from them. These trees are not people, like your enemies! So do not attack them!

Deuteronomy 20:17 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• But thou shalt utterlyחָרַםchâram · to devote/destroyH2763
• the Hittitesחִתִּיchittîy · HittiteH2850
• and the Amoritesאֱמֹרִי'ĕmôrîy · AmoriteH567
• the Canaanitesכְּנַעֲנִיkena‛anîy · CanaaniteH3669
• and the Perizzitesפְּרִזִּיperizzîy · PerizziteH6522
• the Hivitesחִוִּיchivvîy · HiviteH2340
• and the Jebusitesיְבוּסִיyebûsîy · JebusiteH2983
• as the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• hath commandedצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:17

• Isaiah 34:5The Lord says, ‘My sword has finished its work in the skies. Now it will come to punish Edom. Those are the people that I have decided to destroy.’
• Jeremiah 48:10The Lord will curse anyone who refuses to do his work! He will punish anyone who does not use his sword to kill his enemies!
• Jeremiah 50:35The Lord says, ‘I am sending an army to fight against Babylon. They will attack the people of Babylonia, its leaders and its wise men.
• Ezekiel 38:21I will command the soldiers on all the mountains of my land to attack Gog. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say. Gog's soldiers will fight against each other with their swords.
• Revelation 19:18Eat the meat from the dead bodies of God's enemies! Come and eat the meat of kings, the meat of army captains and the meat of powerful men. Eat the meat of dead horses and the soldiers who ride them. Eat the meat of all kinds of people: slaves and free people, important people and ordinary people.’
• Deuteronomy 7:1The Lord your God will now bring you into the land that will be your home. As you go in, he will chase out seven nations that now live there. Those nations are larger and more powerful than you are. They are the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.

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