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

16Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. 17But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God. 19“When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? 20Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war with 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

• soמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• that they may not teachלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
• you to doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• according to allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• their detestableתּוֹעֵבַהtô‛êbah tô‛êbah · abominationH8441
• whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• for their godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• sinחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
• against the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:18

• Deuteronomy 7:4For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.
• Deuteronomy 12:30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’
• Deuteronomy 18:19It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.
• Exodus 23:33They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
• Joshua 23:13know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
• Judges 2:3Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
• Psalms 106:34They did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord commanded them,
• 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
• 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.
• Ephesians 5:11Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
• 2 Thessalonians 3:14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.
• 1 Timothy 6:5and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
• 2 Timothy 2:17and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
• Revelation 18:3For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

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