Deuteronomy, Chapter 20

בס״ד

Chapter 20

Verses 1-20: Conduct in Warfare and Preservation of Life
1. “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.
2. And when you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people.
3. He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be faint-hearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or be terrified of them.
4. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
5. The officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
6. And what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man use its fruit.
7. And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’
8. The officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘What man is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren’s heart melt like his heart.’
9. When the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of the armies to lead the people.
10. When you approach a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it.
11. If it responds in peace and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become forced labor for you and shall serve you.
12. But if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
13. And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike down all its males with the edge of the sword.
14. But the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you.
15. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.
16. But of the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.
17. But you shall utterly destroy them—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you,
18. so 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.
19. When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding 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?
20. Only the trees which 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.

Interpretation:
Chapter 20 provides detailed instructions for warfare, reflecting a blend of practical military strategy and religious faith. It begins with encouragement and assurances of divine support for the Israelite soldiers. The provisions allowing certain men to return home highlight a compassionate approach towards the individual lives and responsibilities of the soldiers. The commands for how to engage with cities emphasize a distinction between distant cities and those within the land God promised to Israel. The instruction to offer peace before besieging a city shows a preference for peaceful resolution when possible. The directive to spare trees during a siege reflects an early form of environmental consideration, recognizing the ongoing value and life-giving properties of trees. This chapter overall illustrates how warfare was intertwined with religious principles and societal values in ancient Israel.

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