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If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it:
Verse Takeaways
1
A Law of Restraint
John Calvin observes that while the command to besiege a city seems harsh, it functioned as a divine restraint in the context of ancient warfare. In an era of total, indiscriminate slaughter, God's law, while not the 'perfection of equity,' set moral boundaries by requiring the sparing of women and children in non-Canaanite cities. It was a concession to human 'hardness of heart' that still limited excessive cruelty.
See 3 Verse Takeaways
Book Overview
Deuteronomy
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5
18th Century
Presbyterian
Directions intended to prevent wanton destruction of life and property in sieges.
(Deuteronomy 20:16) Forbearance, however, was …
19th Century
Anglican
Deuteronomy 20:10–20. SIEGES.
When thou comest nigh ... proclaim peace. —Not as the c…
16th Century
Protestant
And if he will make no peace. The permission given here seems to grant too much license; for, since pagan writers46 command eve…
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17th Century
Reformed Baptist
And if it will make no peace with you Will not accept of terms of peace offered:
but will make wa…
The Israelites are here instructed about the nations against whom they made war. Let this show God's grace in dealing with sinners. He proclaims pe…