Deuteronomy 20:20

Deuteronomy 20:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
• New International Version (NIV)However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.
• New Living Translation (NLT)You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.

Context of Deuteronomy 20:20

18that 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. 19"When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Deuteronomy 20:20 word by word

רַ֞ק עֵ֣ץ אֲשֶׁר־תֵּדַ֗ע כִּֽי־לֹא־עֵ֤ץ מַאֲכָל֙ ה֔וּא אֹת֥וֹ תַשְׁחִ֖ית וְכָרָ֑תָּ וּבָנִ֣יתָ מָצ֗וֹר עַל־הָעִיר֙ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֨וא עֹשָׂ֧ה עִמְּךָ֛ מִלְחָמָ֖ה עַ֥ד רִדְתָּֽהּ׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Only the treesעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• which thou knowestיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• for meatמַאֲכָלma'ăkâl · foodH3978
• thou shalt destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
• and cut them downכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• and thou shalt buildבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• bulwarksמָצוֹרmâtsôr mâtsûr · siegeH4692
• against the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• that makethעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• warמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
• with thee, until it be subduedיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:20

• Deuteronomy 1:28Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'
• 2 Chronicles 26:15In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
• Ecclesiastes 9:14There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.
• Isaiah 37:33"Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
• Jeremiah 6:6For thus says the Lord of hosts: "Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.
• Jeremiah 33:4For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword:
• Ezekiel 17:17Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 20:20

• 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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20This equipment consisted of the materials built up against a city wall as part of the effort to bring it under siege.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 20:20

• Bulwark
• Fort
• Fruit Trees
• Horticulture
• Siege

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Fearful
• Atonement, Day of
• Bulwark
• Criticism
• Deuteronomy
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis
• Give
• Leviticus

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