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Deuteronomy Chapter
Twenty
Deuteronomy 20
Chapter Contents
Exhortation and proclamation respecting those who went to
war. (1-9) Peace to be offered
What cities were to be devoted. (10-20)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:1-9
(Read Deuteronomy 20:1-9)
In the wars wherein Israel engaged according to the will
of God
they might expect the Divine assistance. The Lord was to be their only
confidence. In these respects they were types of the Christian's warfare. Those
unwilling to fight
must be sent away. The unwillingness might arise from a
man's outward condition. God would not be served by men forced against their
will. Thy people shall be willing
Psalm 110:3. In running the Christian race
and
fighting the good fight of faith
we must lay aside all that would make us
unwilling. If a man's unwillingness rose from weakness and fear
he had leave
to return from the war. The reason here given is
lest his brethren's heart
fail as well as his heart. We must take heed that we fear not with the fear of
them that are afraid
Isaiah 8:12.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:10-12
(Read Deuteronomy 20:10-12)
The Israelites are here directed about the nations on
whom they made war. Let this show God's grace in dealing with sinners. He
proclaims peace
and beseeches them to be reconciled. Let it also show us our
duty in dealing with our brethren. Whoever are for war
we must be for peace.
Of the cities given to Israel
none of their inhabitants must be left. Since it
could not be expected that they should be cured of their idolatry
they would
hurt Israel. These regulations are not the rules of our conduct
but Christ's
law of love. The horrors of war must fill the feeling heart with anguish upon
every recollection; and are proofs of the wickedness of man
the power of
Satan
and the just vengeance of God
who thus scourges a guilty world. But how
dreadful their case who are engaged in unequal conflict with their Maker
who
will not submit to render him the easy tribute of worship and praise! Certain
ruin awaits them. Let neither the number nor the power of the enemies of our
souls dismay us; nor let even our own weakness cause us to tremble or to faint.
The Lord will save us; but in this war let none engage whose hearts are fond of
the world
or afraid of the cross and the conflict. Care is here taken that in
besieging cities the fruit-trees should not be destroyed. God is a better
friend to man than he is to himself; and God's law consults our interests and
comforts; while our own appetites and passions
which we indulge
are enemies
to our welfare. Many of the Divine precepts restrain us from destroying that which
is for our life and food. The Jews understand this as forbidding all wilful
waste upon any account whatsoever. Every creature of God is good; as nothing is
to be refused
so nothing is to be abused. We may live to want what we
carelessly waste.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 20
Verse 2
[2] And it shall be
when ye are come nigh unto the battle
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people
Speak unto the people — Probably to one
regiment of the army after another.
Verse 5
[5] And the officers shall speak unto the people
saying
What man is there that hath built a new house
and hath not dedicated it? let
him go and return to his house
lest he die in the battle
and another man
dedicate it.
What man — This and the following exceptions are to be understood
only of a war allowed by God
not in a war commanded by God
not in the
approaching war with the Canaanites
from which even the bridegroom was not
exempted
as the Jewish writers note.
Verse 6
[6] And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard
and
hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house
lest he
die in the battle
and another man eat of it.
A vineyard — This and the former dispensation
were generally convenient
but more necessary in the beginning of their
settlement in Canaan
for the encouragement of those who should build houses or
plant vineyards
which was chargeable to them
and beneficial to the
common-wealth.
Eaten of it — Heb. made it common
namely
for
the use of himself and family and friends
which it was not
'till the fifth
year.
Verse 9
[9] And it shall be
when the officers have made an end of
speaking unto the people
that they shall make captains of the armies to lead
the people.
Make captains — Or rather
as the Hebrew hath it
they shall set or place the captains of the armies in the head or front of the
people under their charge
that they may conduct them
and by their example
encourage their soldiers. It is not likely they had their captains to make when
they were just going to battle.
Verse 16
[16] 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:
Nothing — No man. For the beasts
some few excepted
were given
them for a prey.
Verse 19
[19] When thou shalt besiege a city a long time
in making
war against it to take it
thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing
an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them
and thou shalt not cut them
down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege:
Thou shalt not destroy — Which is to be
understood of a general destruction of them
not of the cutting down some few
of them
as the conveniency of the siege might require.
Man's life — The sustenance or support of his
life.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
20 Chapter 20
Verses 1-4
When thou goest out to battle.
Righteous war
I. Undertaken to
accomplish the purpose of God. “In the name of our God we will set up our
banners.”
II. Sanctioned by
the will of God.
1. God’s will is ascertained by His presence.
2. God’s will is declared by His servants.
III. Conducted by
the precepts of God. (J. Wolfendale.)
Christian life a warfare
I. This warfare is
against mighty enemies.
1. Great in number.
2. Terrible in equipment.
II. In this warfare
right men are wanted.
1. Good leaders.
2. Good soldiers.
III. In this warfare
we should not be disheartened.
1. God’s providence encourages us. “Brought thee up out of the land
of Egypt.” There is constant reference to this deliverance most striking and
instructive. History unfolds Divine providence; abounds with proofs of
omnipotence
and pledges of help. Examples are cited to animate to fortitude
and virtue.
2. God’s presence is with us. “The Lord thy God is with thee.” Not
merely as commander
but “goeth with you” into the greatest danger. Not as a
spectator
like Xerxes
who viewed the conflict from on high
but “to fight for
you” with the determination to save you. The Lord thy God
He it is
not a
common general
“that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee
nor forsake
thee.” (J. Wolfendale.)
Be not afraid.
Fear forbidden
Israel had seen little of war
only a few brushes in their journey
with inferior adversaries. Things would soon become more serious. Hence alarm
and need of admonition and encouragement. All Christians are soldiers
and wage
a good warfare. It is a necessary and trying warfare--continues through every
season and in every condition. The forces of their enemies may be superior in
number
vigilance
wisdom
and might. Hence danger of alarm and need of
fortitude in the warrior. None have better grounds for courage than we; not in
ourselves
for then we must fail.
I. The Divine
presence: “For the Lord thy God is with thee.” Antigonus said to his troops
dismayed at the numbers of the foe
” How many do you reckon me for? But God is
all-wise and almighty. “They that be with us are more than they that he with
them.” “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
II. His agency:
“Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” To a Jew
this was not only a
proof
but a pledge; not only showed what He could do
but was a voucher of
what He would do. He is always the same
and never suffers what He has done to
be undone. Strange would it have been
after opening a passage through the sea
to have drowned them in Jordan. What would have been thought of His great name
after placing Himself at their head to lead them to Canaan
if He had suffered
them to be overcome by the way? He
who begins the work
is not only able to
finish
but begins it for the very purpose. “He that spared not His own Son
but delivered Him up for us all
how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things?” (W. Jay.)
Verses 5-9
Let him go and return to his house.
The exemptions in war
Soldiers must be as free from care and cowardice as possible.
Wellington declared “that the power of the greatest armies depends upon what
the individual soldier is capable of doing and bearing.” Four classes are here
exempted:--
I. Those involved
in business. The soldier leaves his private business when he enlists to serve
his country. The farmer leaves his plough
the mechanic his shop
and the
merchant his store. In Israel those were not called to serve who
from
circumstances and prospects
would feel most keenly the hardship.
1. Those engaged in dedicating a house. They must return to their
house lest another dedicate it.
2. Those engaged in planting a vineyard must enjoy the fruit of it.
Building and planting are good and needful for the community
but encumber the
soldier.
II. Those hindered
by social ties. “What man hath betrothed a wife and not taken her” (Deuteronomy 20:7; Deuteronomy 24:5). “It was deemed a great
hardship to leave a house unfinished
a new property half-cultivated
and a
recently contracted marriage unconsummated
and the exemptions allowed in these
cases were founded on the principle that a man’s heart being deeply engrossed
with something at a distance
he would not be very enthusiastic in the public
service.” In an army there should be one heart
one purpose
and one desire to
please the commander. In the corps of Christian soldiers there is entire
obedience to the will of the Captain of our Salvation.
III. Those deficient
in personal qualifications. The fearful and faint-hearted were not permitted to
war.
1. In moral qualifications. Some think that the fear named arose from
an evil conscience
which makes a man afraid of danger and death. Men of loose
and profligate lives are often cowards and curses to an army. Hence those
conscious of guilt were to be sent away. “A guilty conscience needs no
accuser.” “Conscience makes cowards of us all.”
2. In natural qualification. The allusion seems to be natural cowardice.
Men reverence bravery
but cowards are objects of scorn. Wellington said of
some foreigners who ran away from the field of Waterloo
“Let them go; we are
better without them.” There must be no fear in officers or men. No cowards in
the ranks lest the army flee before the enemy. (J. Wolfendale.)
Fearful and faint-hearted.--
Faint-heartedness
The army might thus be greatly reduced; we must remember
however
that reduction may mean increase. We do not conquer by number but by
quality. One hero is worth ten thousand cowards. Caesar is in himself more than
all his legions. Quality counts for everything in the greatest battles and the
most strenuous moments of life. Given the right quality
and the issue is
certain. Quality never gives in; quality is never beaten; quality flutters a
challenge in its dying moments
and seems to say
“I will rise again and
continue the fight from the other side.” So the army was reduced
and yet the
army was increased in the very process of reduction. Today the great speech is
made over again--“What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him
go and return unto his house
lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his
heart.” We cannot deny the fact that most Christian professors are
faint-hearted; they are not heroic souls. What is the explanation of
faint-heartedness? Want of conviction. Given a convinced Church
and a heroic
Church is the consequence; given a Church uncertain
unconvinced
and you have
a Church that any atmosphere can affect and any charlatan can impose upon. We
must
therefore
return to foundations
to central principles
to primary
realities; and having made sure of these the rest will arrange itself. Where is
conviction There may be a good deal of concession: there may be a strong
indisposition to object to
or to deny
or to bring into discredit
theological
problems and religious usages
but what is needed is something more--clear
well-reasoned
strongly grounded conviction; and where this rules the mind
every faculty is called into service
and the battle of life is conducted with
heroic decision and chivalrous self-forgetfulness. It was well understood in
Israel that the faint-hearted man does more harm than he supposes he does. It
is the same all the world over and all time through. The timid man says
“I
will sit behind.” Does his retirement behind mean simply one man has gone from
the front? It means infinitely more--it is a loss of influence
a loss of
sympathy
a loss of leadership. A Christian professor is not at liberty to say
he will abide in the shade; he will allow the claims of others; any place
how
obscure soever
will do for him. Have no patience with men who tell such lies!
They have no right to be behind; their mission should be to find the best
place
and to wake up every energy--to stir up the gift that is in them; and
every man should feel that the battle depends upon him. The discouraging
influence of faint-heartedness it is impossible to describe in words. Better
have a congregation of six souls of light and fire and love
than have a great
crowd without conviction
easy-going
flaccid in sentiment and thought--without
central realities and foundations that can be relied upon. “What man is there
that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go”: he is not a loss--his going is the
gain of all who are left behind. How marvellously faint-heartedness shows
itself! In one ease it is fear of heresy. In another case it is fear of
criticism. What will the people next door say? What will the adjoining Church
think? What will other men declare their judgment? In another case it is fear
of sensation. We must not advertise
because some people might misunderstand
it; we must not have too much music
because there are persons unable to follow
the mystery of praise; we must not have anything unusual. To have such
fainthearted men in the Church is the bitterest trial that Christ has now to
undergo. There is another faintness which is rather to the credit of the man
who experiences it--a faintness arising from great service
long-continued effort
and noble sacrificial consecration. When a man pours out his life for the cause
he may well be faint now and then. A beautiful sentiment in Scripture describes
his condition: “faint
yet pursuing”--putting out the arm in the right
direction
looking along the right road
and saying in mute eloquence
“Give me
breathing time
and I will join you again; let me rest awhile; do not take my
sword away - in a day or two at most I will be at the front of the flight.”
That is a faintness which may be the beginning of great strength. So God is
gracious to us; having no sympathy with timidity and fear and cowardliness
He
has infinite compassion upon those who
having worn themselves out in service
need space and time for breathing. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verses 16-18
Thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.
Extermination of Canaanites
Is not this fierce irruption in Canaan with fire and sword
precisely similar to the wave of Mahomedan conquest? Is it any way different
from the most pitiless of heathen invasions? How can we justify such an
acquisition of territory as this
whilst we are
at least in theory
so
scrupulous about adding one acre of unjustly acquired land to our dominions
and cannot let one drop of blood be shed
even in a conquered race
without
inquiry? The key to this difficulty was given in the very first confirmation of
the grant made to Abraham. When the land of Canaan was made over to him and his
descendants
he was told that they could not at once enter on possession
“because the iniquity of the Amorites was not full.” The transference of
territory was thus from the first viewed and treated as a judicial transaction.
God reserves to Himself the right which all sovereigns must and do reserve--the
right of removing offenders from the earth
and of confiscating their goods. In
other respects this invasion finds a parallel in almost every century of
history
and in every part of the world. It is
in point of fact
by conquest
that civilisation has spread and is spreading upon earth
and in the career of
progress the nations whose iniquities are full--that is to say
which have
fallen too low for national redemption--have been swept away by the purer and
stronger races. In this
therefore
there is no difference between the conduct
of Israel and the conduct of other great nations. The difference consists in
this--that while other nations have pushed their conquests for love of gain or
glory
or through pride in their leader or mere lust of adventure
Israel
entered Canaan as God’s servant
again and again warned that they were merely
God’s sword of justice
and that if they forgot this
and began to think it was
their own might that had emptied the land for them
they should themselves
suffer the like extermination. Between this and many other outwardly similar
conquests there was
in short
all the difference which there is between a
righteous execution which rejoices the hearts of all good men
and a murder
which makes us ashamed of our nature. (Marcus Dods
D. D.)
Unselfish conquest
The difference between the Jews and other people is precisely
this:--All the great nations that we read of have effected extensive and
on
the whole
salutary conquests. Their triumphs have been the means of spreading
law
government
civilisation
where they would otherwise not have reached.
They have swept away feeble
corrupt
sensualised people
who had become animal
worshippers or devil worshippers
and had lost all sense of their human
dignity. But we feel that the nations who have done these works have done them
in great part for their own glory
for the increase of their territory
at the
instigation and for the gratification of particular leaders. All higher and
more blessed results of their success
which it is impossible not to recognise
have been stained and corrupted by the ignoble and selfish tendencies which
have mixed with them
and been the motives to them; so that we are continually
perplexed with the question
what judgment we shall form of them
or what
different causes we can find for such opposite effects. There is one nation
which is taught from the very first that it is not to go out to win any prizes
for itself
to bring home the silver or gold
the sheep or the oxen
the men
servants or the women servants; that it is to be simply the instrument of the
righteous Lord against those who were polluting His earth
and making it unfit
for human habitation. (F. D. Maurice
M. A.)
The command to extirpate the Canaanites
This command to extirpate the Canaanites is regarded by
many as one of the chief difficulties in the Old Testament. The difficulty lies
not so much in the thing itself
as in our defective views of God
or of mail’s
relation to Him
or of the supernatural character of the revelation made to
Moses. The objection
it will be observed
is grounded (or it has no force)
upon the supposed inconsistency of this command with the Divine righteousness
and equity. Yet there are other acts of God
equally terrible and equally
indiscriminate in their effects
which we never presume to call in question.
When
for example
the Almighty sends an earthquake or a pestilence
there is
no complaint of injustice; and yet earthquake and pestilence spare neither age
nor sex nor rank
but involve all in the same ruin. Do fire or famine or
cholera discriminate between the sexes
or spare the aged or the young? If the
sword of Israel was commissioned to destroy all that breathed of the
Canaanites
it certainly was not more indiscriminate than these other judgments
of God. If we dare not assert or even insinuate injustice in the case of the
one
neither can we rationally do so in the case of the other; nor can we deny
to the Almighty the right to choose this or that method of chastising a guilty
people
whether earthquake or famine
pestilence or war. We may further
remember that the annihilation of a people is so far from being a new or an
unexampled occurrence
that similar events in the overruling wisdom of God have
been continually taking place ever since the dawn of history. For an example of
it we need not travel beyond our own shores. Where are the original inhabitants
of England? The Briton was subdued by the Saxon
the Saxon was driven out by
the Norman and the Dane
each race leaving
however
some trace of itself in
the stock and blood of the country. Yet the original race has been more
completely extirpated than ever the Canaanitish races were during the Hebrew
occupancy of Palestine. Still more complete has been the disappearance of the
North American Indians. The red man has been driven farther and farther towards
the setting sun
till the race seems threatened with absolute extermination
and is actually extinct over an area twenty times as great as that of Palestine.
It appears to be an unvarying law
that the savage recedes before the civilised
man. We cannot justify all the means by which this result is accomplished
or
palliate the dark and monstrous crimes which have been perpetrated in the name
of civilisation; yet it is an evident fact that the Ruler of nations is pleased
to ordain
or to permit
that nations should be driven from their ancestral
inheritance
and their places filled by others. Thus we see that what happened
to the Canaanites is happening continually in the history of nations. In this
view the phenomenon of the destruction of the Canaanite nations does not stand
alone. It can be referred to a class. And there is no more ground for disputing
the Divine justice in regard to the destruction of those people than in regard
to the disappearance of scores and perhaps hundreds of other ancient races from
the face of the earth; for it cannot be contended that there is any difference
as it regards justice and equity
whether a nation be extirpated by war
destroyed
by famine or pestilence
or left to perish
like the aborigines of Australia
by hopeless and helpless exhaustion. (L. H. Wiseman M. A.)
Verse 19
Thou shalt not destroy the trees.
Cutting down fruit trees
It will be observed that this instruction is given to the Jews in
the event of their going to war against any city. No question of mere
horticulture arises in connection with this injunction. It is wantonness that
is forbidden; it is not art that is decried. Trees that did not bear fruit were
of course available for war
but trees that could be used for purposes of
sustaining human life were to be regarded as in a sense sacred and inviolable.
A prohibition of this kind is charged with lofty moral significance. When men
go to war they are in hot blood; everything seems to go down before the
determination to repulse the enemy and to establish a great victory. But here
men in their keenest excitement are to discriminate between one thing and
another
and are not to permit themselves to turn the exigencies of war into an
excuse for wantonness or for the destruction of property that bears an intimate
relation to human sustenance. Dropping all that is merely incidental in the
instruction
the moral appeal to ourselves is perfect in completeness and
dignity. Civilisation has turned human life into a daily war. We live in the
midst of contentions
rivalries
oppositions
and fierce conflicts of every
kind
and God puts down His law in the very midst of our life
and calls upon
us to regulate everything by its sacredness. God has not left human life in a
state of chaos; His boundaries are round about it; His written and unwritten
laws constitute its restraints
its rewards
and its penalties; and even war in
its most violent form is not to blind our eyes to the claims of God. Men say
that all is fair in love and war
but this proverbial morality has no sanction
in Holy Scripture. We are too apt to plead the exigency of circumstances in
extenuation of acts that would not have otherwise been committed. It is evident
that there are points in life at which circumstances must triumph or law must
be maintained. Thus an appeal is made to reason and conscience nearly every
day. When the human or the Divine must go down
the Christian ought to have no
hesitation as to his choice. Victories maybe bought at too high a price. He who
gives fruit-bearing trees in exchange for his triumphs may be said to have paid
his soul for the prizes of this world. The young life
boastful of its energy
insists upon having its pleasures
cost what they may
and the old man is left
to ruminate that in his youth he won his victories by cutting down his fruit
trees. Two views may be taken of the circumstances and objects by which we are
surrounded; the one is the highest view of their possible uses
and the other
the low view which contents itself with immediate advantages. The wood of the
fruit tree might be as useful as any other wood for keeping back an enemy or
serving as a defence; but the fruit tree was never meant for that purpose
and
to apply it in that direction is to oppose the intention of God. We are to look
at the highest uses of all things--a fruit tree for fruit; a flower for beauty;
a bird for music; a rock for building. Power and right are not co-equal terms.
We have the power to cut down fruit trees
but not the right; we have the power
to mislead the blind
but not the right; we have the power to prostitute our
talents
but not the right. The right is often the more difficult course as to
its process
but the difficulty of the process is forgotten in the heaven of
its issue. To have the power of cutting down fruit trees is to have the power
of inflicting great mischief upon society. A man may show great power in
cutting down a fruit tree
but he may show still greater power in refusing to
do so. The first power is merely physical
the second power is of the nature of
God’s omnipotence. Forbearance is often the last point of power. To love an
enemy is to show greater strength than could possibly be shown by burning up
himself and his house
and leaving nothing behind but the smoking ashes. There
are times when even fruit trees are to be cut down. Perhaps this is hardly
clear on the first putting of it. The meaning is that fruit tree may cease to
be a fruit tree. When Jesus came to the fig tree and found on it nothing but
leaves
He doomed it to perpetual barrenness
and it withered away. Even the
husbandman pleaded that if the fruit tree did not bear fruit after one more
trial it should be cut down as a cumberer of the ground. Fruit trees are not to
be kept in the ground simply because in years long past they did bear fruit.
Trees are only available according to the fruit which they bear today. “Herein
is My Father glorified
that ye bear much fruit.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
Fruit or timber
A fruit tree may be used for timber
or it may be kept for fruit.
In the legislation of Moses there is a command which directs the Hebrews to
spare the fruit trees of the Promised Land. Moses knew that the land would be
occupied by conquest. The Hebrews would have to besiege many of its towns and
cities before they could enter them. For the siege they would require timber
and would be apt to destroy the groves of olives and palms and oranges
which
have always been the wealth of Palestine. Inasmuch as they were expecting to
find their homes in these conquered towns and cities
it was very important
that the fruit trees should be preserved.
1. Life’s opportunities and institutions are our fruit trees. They
may be used for timber
or they may be preserved for fruit. It is possible to
exhaust their power and vitality now
or they may be protected and developed
and made to yield fruit from generation to generation. The law of Moses--and
his words here
or elsewhere
are confirmed by other portions of Holy
Scripture--commands men to regard the future. Life’s advantages are designed
for those who shall come after us
as well as for those who now enjoy them. We
are only stewards. Our interest is but a life interest. The future most not be
sacrificed to the present.
2. Yet how often this sacrifice is witnessed! When I see a man who is
making a fortune by dishonest practices
I feel that he is converting fruit
trees into timber; when I see a young Christian
who is absorbed in all the
gaieties of social life
eager for the dance and the card party and the race
I
feel that he is turning his fruit trees into timber; when I see a schoolboy who
refuses the education which his father offers him
I feel that he is raising an
axe against the fruit trees; when I hear a man say that his business will be
ruined if he becomes a Christian
I look about me to see what he is building
with the timber of his fruit trees; when I meet with individuals who are
neglecting the salvation of their souls for the sake of worldly pleasure
I
tremble for the fruit trees; when I hear distant nations calling in vain for
the Gospel
and then realise that the Church has wealth and influence
I wonder
if the fruit trees are used for timber.
3. There are many ways of violating this law. The axe is busy all the
time. Our fruit trees are constantly sacrificed. For men too often prefer a
present gratification to a future good; and they try and gain the whole world
even at the risk of losing their immortal souls. The rich man of the parable
did so
and Lazarus did not. And by and by the one was comforted and the other
was tormented.
4. In our regard for the Sabbath this principle has place and
importance. The Sabbath is a fruit tree. It may be converted into timber. If
you have a journey to make
you can use the Sabbath; if yon have any work to
accomplish
you can employ the hours of holy time; if you wish to live for
pleasure
you can count the days of pleasure in a week seven instead of six. A
present and temporary advantage may thus be gained. But how about the future?
Is it right or wise to break in upon the sanctity of the Sabbath? Can we
prosper
can the nation prosper
without this holy day? Yet if we secularise
the day now
there will soon be no Sabbath left; and when the Sabbath
disappears
will not freedom disappear also
and will not the comfort of our
happy homes be gone? (H. M. Booth.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》