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 :
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Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Gill's Exposition
When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it,.... Before it will surrender; it holding out the siege a considerable time: the Hebrew text says, "many days" (c);…
Directions intended to prevent wanton destruction of life and property in sieges. Deu 20:16 Forbearance, however, was not to be shown toward the Canaanite nations, which were to be utterly…
They are here directed what method to take in dealing with the cities (these only are mentioned, Deu 20:10, but doubtless the armies in the field, and the nations they had occasion to deal with, are…
Cambridge Bible
besiege … a long time From this and build bulwarksin Deu 20:20, we see that Israel were already familiar with siege-operations and did not depend on carrying a city by immediate storm, as the nomad…
Cross References
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