New King James Version
Deuteronomy 20:18
18lest 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
Context of Deuteronomy 20:18
16“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, 17but 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, 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. 19“When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. 20Only 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.
Read all of Deuteronomy 20Deuteronomy 20:18 word by word
לְמַ֗עַן אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־יְלַמְּד֤וּ אֶתְכֶם֙ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת כְּכֹל֙ תּֽוֹעֲבֹתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשׂ֖וּ לֵֽאלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם וַחֲטָאתֶ֖ם לַיהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 20:18
- Deuteronomy 7:4For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
- Deuteronomy 12:30take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’
- Deuteronomy 18:19And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.
- Exodus 23:33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Joshua 23:13know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from 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 shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”
- Psalms 106:34They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
- 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”
- Ephesians 5:11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:14And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
- 1 Timothy 6:5useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
- 2 Timothy 2:17And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,
- Revelation 18:3For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance 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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries