Deuteronomy 20:16

Deuteronomy 20:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
• New International Version (NIV)However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,
• New King James Version (NKJV)“But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive,

Context of Deuteronomy 20:16

14However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city – all its plunder – you may take for yourselves as spoil. You may take from your enemies the plunder that the Lord your God has given you. 15This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations. As for the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing to survive. 17Instead you must utterly annihilate them – the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites – just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 20:16 word by word

רַ֗ק מֵעָרֵ֤י הָֽעַמִּים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה לֹ֥א תְחַיֶּ֖ה כָּל־נְשָׁמָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But of the citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• of these peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• which the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• doth giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• an inheritanceנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
• thou shalt save aliveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
• nothing that breathethנְשָׁמָהneshâmâh · breathH5397

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:16

• Deuteronomy 7:1When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you –
• Numbers 21:2So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand, then we will utterly destroy their cities.”
• Numbers 33:52you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images, all their molten images, and demolish their high places.
• Joshua 6:17The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies we sent.
• Joshua 9:24They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified we would lose our lives, so we did this thing.
• Joshua 10:28That day Joshua captured Makkedah and put the sword to it and its king. He annihilated everyone who lived in it; he left no survivors. He did to its king what he had done to the king of Jericho.
• Joshua 11:11They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword – no one who breathed remained – and burned Hazor.
• Joshua 11:12Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 20:16

• 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 20:16

• Massacre
• War

In the dictionaries

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

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