John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 20

When you go out to battle against your enemies
There were two sorts of war the Israelites were engaged in, one commanded and another permitted, as Maimonides ^F3 distinguishes; one was by the order and appointment of God, as against the seven nations of Canaan; the other was voluntary and arbitrary, which was left to their own discretion and will, as they saw fit, when they were provoked or distressed, or were invaded by their enemies, or they saw reason to go out against them, and either act the offensive or defensive part, or both; and of each of these some things are said in this chapter:

and you see horses and chariots, and a people more than you ;
the Israelites had no horses, and so no chariots, their armies were all infantry; but their neighbouring nations that made war with them had a large cavalry, and multitudes of chariots, which made them very formidable; thus Shishak, king of Egypt, in the times of Rehoboam, came against Jerusalem with 1200 chariots and 60,000, horsemen, and people without number; and Zerah the Ethiopian, in the times of Asa, came against him with an host of 100,000 men, and three hundred chariots, (2 Chronicles 12:2 2 Chronicles 12:3) (14:9)

be not afraid of them ;
because of the strength of their cavalry, the terrible approaches of their chariots, and the number of their men:

for the Lord your God is with you ;
hence, as Hezekiah says, more would be with them than with their enemies, with whom was an arm of flesh, but with them the Lord their God, (2 Chronicles 32:7 2 Chronicles 32:8) and so the Targum of Jonathan, ``for all of them shall be reckoned as one horse and one chariot before the Lord your God;'' with whom numbers are nothing; and which adds, ``for his Word shall be your help;'' the eternal Logos, or Word of God; so Onkelos; and if God and his Word, his only begotten Son, are on the side of his people, they have nothing to fear from enemies, though ever so many and mighty:

which brought you out of the land of Egypt ;
which is observed for the encouragement of their faith and confidence in him; for he that did that for them, what is it he cannot or will not do?

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 1.

Ver. 2 And it shall be, when you are come near to the battle
When all things are preparing for it, and it seems unavoidable:

that the priest shall approach and speak to the people ;
not any priest, but one appointed for this service; who is called

the anointed of war ,
as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, and concerning whom Maimonides ^F4 is more particular; he says,``they appoint a priest to speak to the people at the time of war, and they anoint him with the anointing oil, and he is called the anointed of war; twice the anointed of war speaks to the people, once in a book at the time they go forth, before they set in battle array, he says to the people, "what man is there" and when he has caused his words to be heard, he returns; at another time, when they are set in array, he says, "fear not"''

This man seems to be an emblem of Gospel ministers, who are anointed with the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, and whose business it is to encourage the people of God to fight the Lord's battles against sin, Satan, and the world, and not to be afraid of their spiritual enemies; directing them to take to them the whole armour of God, and to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, to follow him the captain of their salvation, assuring them of victory through him who makes them more than conquerors, and that their warfare is or shortly will be accomplished.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 1, 2.

And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel
Exciting their attention to what he was about to say, and which, as Jarchi observes, was spoken in the holy tongue, or in the Hebrew language:

you approach this day unto battle against your enemies ;
were marching or ready to march, preparing to engage with them, and a battle seemed near at hand:

let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be you
terrified because of them ;
many words are made use of to animate them against those fears which the strength, number, and appearance of their enemies, would be apt to cause in them. Jarchi observes, that here are four exhortations, answerable to four things which the kings of the nations do (in order to inject terror into their enemies); they shake their shields, to clash them one against another, that hearing their noise they may be afraid of them and flee; they prance their horses, and make them neigh, to cause the noise of the hoofs of their horses to be heard; they shout with their voices, and blow with their trumpets:

and accordingly these several clauses are so interpreted in the Misnah {e}"and let not your hearts faint"; at the neighing of the horses, and the brightness of swords: "fear not"; at the clashing of shields: "and do not tremble"; at the sound of trumpets: "neither be you terrified" at the voice of shouting;'' and no doubt but it includes everything that tends to cause fear, faintness, and dismay, which they are cautioned against.

For the Lord your God is he that goes with you
To battle, and therefore they had no reason to fear and be dismayed, to be fainthearted, terrified, and tremble:

fear not, I am with you
(Isaiah 41:10) , this, according to the Misnah ^F6 , respects the ark, and so Jarchi, which was a symbol of the divine Presence, and went with them to battle; see (Joshua 6:4) (1 Samuel 4:3–5)

to fight for you against your enemies, to save you ;
to annoy and destroy the one, and to protect and save the other; thus far the anointed priest addressed the people in an oration to this purpose: the account Maimonides gives of it is, that "when they have set their ranks, and are near to a battle, the anointed of war stands on an high place, and all the ranks before him, and says to them in the holy tongue, 'hear, O Israel' unto to save you; and then another priest under him causes it to be heard by all the people with an high voice ^F7 ;" he repeated what the anointed of war had said, and expressed it with a loud voice, that all might hear.

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: Ut supra. (Misn. Sotab, c. 8. sect. 1.)
• F7: Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 3.

And the officers shall speak to the people
What these officers were is not easy to say; they seem not to be officers of the army, for they aredistinguished from captains of the armies, (Deuteronomy 20:9), unless they can be thought to be generalofficers; but the word for them is the same that is used of such that attended the judges and were ministersto them, (Deuteronomy 16:18), and perhaps they were a sort of heralds that published and proclaimed whatthe anointed of war has said; and so the above writer ^F8 affirms, that what here follows was firstspoken by him, and after that (what is said, (Deuteronomy 20:3Deuteronomy 20:4)) the anointed of warspeaks, saying,

what man is there
(to the end of (Deuteronomy 20:7)) thus far the anointed of war speaks, and then an officer causes all thepeople to hear it with a high voice, saying,

what man is there that has built a new house, and has not dedicated
it ?
or perfected it, as the Targum of Jonathan, not quite finished it, has not, as that paraphrast says, fixed init the door posts, or rather perhaps he means the Mezuzah, or writing, which the Jews thought themselvesobliged to fasten to the door posts of their houses; see (Deuteronomy 11:20) until this was done, an housewas not thought to be completed; though Jarchi interprets this of inhabitation; of a man's having built ahouse, but has not yet dwelt in it; see (Deuteronomy 28:30), so Josephus ^F9 explains it, of itsnot having been used and enjoyed by a man a full year; but there seems to be something more than all this indedication; for though it does not signify a consecration or dedication of it to holy uses, as the dedicationof the tabernacle and temple, yet there was something done, some ceremony used at entrance into a new house;a good man entered into it, no doubt, with prayer and praise, as the thirtieth psalm was composed by David atthe dedication of his house; see (Nehemiah 12:27).

and perhaps it was usual to have their friends together,and make a cheerful entertainment on the occasion. Ben Melech on the place, assures us it was a custom tomake a feast and merriment at eating the first meal in a new house:

let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and
another man dedicate it ;
or perfect it, as the above Targum, or dwell in it, as well as have the pleasure of entertaining his friendsin it at the first opening of it; this was either a command, enjoining a man, in such a circumstance, toreturn, and so the rest that follow, or a permission to him, allowing him to do it if he thought fit.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 3.
• F9: Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 41.