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Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20 places Israel’s warfare under God’s authority, joining assurance of his presence with exemptions, conquest commands, and limits on destruction.

Moses gives Israel laws for warfare as the people prepare to enter the land. Priests are to speak courage to the troops, and officers must release men with unfinished household commitments or fearful hearts. The laws distinguish distant cities, which receive an offer of peace under forced service, from the peoples of Israel’s inheritance, who face total destruction. The chapter closes by protecting food trees during sieges while allowing other trees to be used for siege works.

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1When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.
2It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people,
3and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;
4for the LORD your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
5The 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.
6What 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.
7What man is there who has pledged to be married to a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.”
8The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.”
10When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.
11It shall be, if it gives you answer of peace and opens to you, then it shall be that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you.
13When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword;
14but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you shall take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.
16But of the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;
17but 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;
18that they not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have done for their gods; so would you sin against the LORD your God.
19When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down, for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you?
20Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down. You shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Deuteronomy 20:4The priest grounds Israel’s courage in YHWH’s presence and his power to fight for and save his people.
Deuteronomy 20:1Israel’s deliverance from Egypt becomes the stated reason to trust God when facing superior numbers and weapons.
Deuteronomy 20:3The priest addresses fear at the battle line, preparing the people to hear the assurance of God’s help.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus supplies the deliverance from Egypt recalled in verse 1, and Joshua shares the setting of conquest, commands against fear, and the promise of God’s presence. Numbers also connects through warfare against peoples of the land and warnings that their worship would lead Israel into sin.

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After reading the whole chapter

How do the exemptions from battle shape your understanding of the warfare commanded here?

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What questions arise as you read the promise of God’s presence alongside the commands for destruction?

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Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 20

Why does Deuteronomy 20 command the destruction of whole peoples?

Verses 16–18 command total destruction of the named peoples within Israel’s inheritance. The stated reason is to prevent them from teaching Israel practices associated with their gods and leading Israel into sin against YHWH. The command belongs to Israel’s conquest of that land; it grants no general permission for religious violence.

What does offering peace mean in Deuteronomy 20?

For distant cities, the offer of peace means surrender followed by forced labor and service to Israel. If a city refuses and fights, Israel is to besiege it, kill every male, and take the women, children, livestock, and goods as plunder. Verse 15 distinguishes these cities from those within Israel’s inheritance.

Why does Deuteronomy 20 forbid cutting down fruit trees?

Verses 19–20 protect trees that provide food because the besieging army can eat from them. The text also asks whether a tree is a human enemy that should be besieged. Trees known to bear no food may be cut down to build siege works, so the restriction concerns food trees.

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What the Bible says about fear →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).