Deuteronomy 20:10

Contemporary English Version

Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. Then, after the Lord helps you capture it, kill all the men. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace.

Hebrew Names Version
When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim shalom to it.

King James Version
When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

Lexham English Bible
"When you approach a city to fight against it, you must offer it peace.

English Standard Version
"When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.

New Century Version
When you march up to attack a city, first make them an offer of peace.

New English Translation
When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.

Amplified Bible
"When you advance to a city to fight against it, you shall [first] offer it terms of peace.

New American Standard Bible
"When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.

Geneva Bible (1587)
When thou commest neere vnto a citie to fight against it, thou shalt offer it peace.

Legacy Standard Bible
"If you come near a city to fight against it, you shall call for terms of peace.

Complete Jewish Bible
(vii) "When you advance on a town to attack it, first offer it terms for peace.

Darby Translation
When thou approachest unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt proclaim peace unto it.

Easy-to-Read Version
"When you go to attack a city, you must first offer peace to the people there.

George Lamsa Translation
When you come near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.

Good News Translation
"When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender.

Literal Translation
When you come near a city to fight against it, then call to it for peace.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan thou commest nye vnto a cite to fight against it, thou shalt offre them peace

American Standard Version
When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

Bible in Basic English
When you come to a town, before attacking it, make an offer of peace.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
When thou commest nye vnto a citie to fyght agaynst it, offer them peace.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

King James Version (1611)
When thou commest nigh vnto a City to fight against it, then proclaime peace vnto it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if thou shalt draw nigh to a city to overcome them by war, then call them out peaceably.

English Revised Version
When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

Berean Standard Bible
When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If ony tyme thou schalt go to a citee to ouercome it, first thou schalt profire pees to it.

Young's Literal Translation
`When thou drawest near unto a city to fight against it, then thou hast called unto it for Peace,

Update Bible Version
When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.

Webster's Bible Translation
When thou comest nigh to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.

World English Bible
When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.

New King James Version
"When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it.

New Living Translation
"As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace.

New Life Bible
"When you come near a city to fight against it, ask the people of the city if they would rather have peace.

New Revised Standard
When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
When thou shalt come nigh unto a city, to fight against it, - then shalt thou proclaim unto it - peace,

Douay-Rheims Bible
If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace.

Revised Standard Version
"When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.

THE MESSAGE
When you come up against a city to attack it, call out, "Peace?" If they answer, "Yes, peace!" and open the city to you, then everyone found there will be conscripted as forced laborers and work for you. But if they don't settle for peace and insist on war, then go ahead and attack. God , your God, will give them to you. Kill all the men with your swords. But don't kill the women and children and animals. Everything inside the town you can take as plunder for you to use and eat— God , your God, gives it to you. This is the way you deal with the distant towns, the towns that don't belong to the nations at hand.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. Then, after the Lord helps you capture it, kill all the men. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value. ¹⁶ Whenever you capture towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you, be sure to kill all the people and animals. ¹⁷ He has commanded you to completely wipe out the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ¹⁸ If you allow them to live, they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods, and you will be unfaithful to the Lord . ¹⁹ When you are attacking a town, don't chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. Fruit trees aren't your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don't cut them down. ²⁰ You may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town. But use only trees that you know are not fruit trees.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

then proclaim: 2 Samuel 20:18-22, Isaiah 57:19, Zechariah 9:10, Luke 10:5, Luke 10:6, Acts 10:36, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 2 Corinthians 6:1, Ephesians 2:17

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 2:26 - with words Deuteronomy 7:2 - make no Deuteronomy 21:10 - thou goest Joshua 9:15 - made peace Judges 11:12 - sent messengers Judges 20:12 - sent men Judges 21:13 - call peaceably

Gill's Notes on the Bible

When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it,.... This is to be understood of an arbitrary war, as Jarchi observes; which they engaged in of themselves, or were provoked to by their enemies; which was their own choice, and according to their own will and pleasure; and their conduct towards their enemies in it was different from that in a war with the seven nations, commanded by the Lord, and distinguished from it, Deuteronomy 20:15.

then proclaim peace unto it; that is, offer them terms of peace; which were, that the inhabitants of it should renounce idolatry, and become their tributaries and servants.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 from the tree of the field, is supported in life by it (compare Deuteronomy 24:6). The Egyptians seem invariably to have cut down the fruit-trees in war.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 20:10. Proclaim peace unto it. — Interpreters are greatly divided concerning the objects of this law. The text, taken in connection with the context, (see Deuteronomy 20:15-18), appears to state that this proclamation or offer of peace to a city is only to be understood of those cities which were situated beyond the limits of the seven anathematized nations, because these latter are commanded to be totally destroyed. Nothing can be clearer than this from the bare letter of the text, unless some of the words, taken separately, can be shown to have a different meaning. For the common interpretation, the following reasons are given.

God, who knows all things, saw that they were incurable in their idolatry; that the cup of their iniquity was full; and as their Creator, Sovereign, and Judge, he determined to destroy them from off the face of the earth, "lest they should teach the Israelites to do after all their abominations," Deuteronomy 20:18. After all, many plausible arguments have been brought to prove that even these seven Canaanitish nations might be received into mercy, provided they,

1. Renounced their idolatry;

2. Became subject to the Jews; and,

3. Paid annual tribute: and that it was only in case these terms were rejected, that they were not to leave alive in such a city any thing that breathed, Deuteronomy 20:16.