Deuteronômio 20

ARC · Chapter 20/34

1Quando saires á peleja contra teus inimigos, e vires cavallos, e carros, e povo maior em numero do que tu, d'elles não terás temor; pois o Senhor teu Deus, que te tirou da terra do Egypto, está comtigo.

2E será que, quando vos achegardes á peleja, o sacerdote se adiantará, e fallará ao povo,

3E dir-lhe-ha: Ouve, ó Israel, hoje vos achegaes á peleja contra os vossos inimigos: que se não amolleça o vosso coração; não temaes nem tremaes, nem vos aterroriseis diante d'elles,

4Pois o Senhor vosso Deus é o que vae comvosco, a pelejar contra os vossos inimigos, para salvar-vos.

5Então os officiaes fallarão ao povo, dizendo: Qual é o homem que edificou casa nova e ainda a não consagrou? vá, e torne-se á sua casa, para que porventura não morra na peleja e algum outro a consagre.

6E qual é o homem que plantou uma vinha e ainda não logrou fructo d'ella? vá, e torne-se á sua casa, para que porventura não morra na peleja e algum outro o logre.

7E qual é o homem que está desposado com alguma mulher e ainda a não recebeu? vá, e torne-se á sua casa, para que porventura não morra na peleja e algum outro homem a receba.

8E continuarão os officiaes a fallar ao povo, dizendo: Qual é o homem medroso e de coração timido? vá, e torne-se á sua casa, para que o coração de seus irmãos se não derreta como o seu coração.

9E será que, quando os officiaes acabarem de fallar ao povo, então ordenarão os maioraes dos exercitos na dianteira do povo.

10Quando te achegares a alguma cidade a combatel-a, apregoar-lhe-has a paz.

11E será que, se te responder em paz, e te abrir, todo o povo que se achar n'ella te será tributario e te servirá.

12Porém, se ella não fizer paz comtigo, mas antes te fizer guerra, então a sitiarás.

13E o Senhor teu Deus a dará na tua mão; e todo o macho que houver n'ella passarás ao fio da espada,

14Salvo sómente as mulheres, e as creanças, e os animaes; e tudo o que houver na cidade, todo o seu despojo, tomarás para ti; e comerás o despojo dos teus inimigos, que te deu o Senhor teu Deus.

15Assim farás a todas as cidades que estiverem mui longe de ti, que não forem das cidades d'estas nações.

16Porém, das cidades d'estas nações, que o Senhor teu Deus te dá em herança, nenhuma coisa que tem folego deixarás com vida;

17Antes destruil-as-has totalmente: aos hetheos, e aos amorrheos, e aos cananeos, e aos pherezeos, e aos heveos, e aos jebuseos, como te ordenou o Senhor teu Deus.

18Para que vos não ensinem a fazer conforme a todas as suas abominações, que fizeram a seus deuses, e pequeis contra o Senhor vosso Deus.

19Quando sitiares uma cidade por muitos dias, pelejando contra ella para a tomar, não destruirás o seu arvoredo, mettendo n'elle o machado, porque d'elle comerás: pelo que o não cortarás (pois o arvoredo do campo é o mantimento do homem), para que sirva de tranqueira diante de ti

20Mas as arvores que souberes que não são arvores de comer, destruil-as-has e cortal-as-has: e contra a cidade que guerrear contra ti edificarás tranqueiras, até que esta seja derribada.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God establishes rules of warfare for Israel: priests encouraging the people before battle, exemptions from military service for those who built a new house, planted a vineyard, or were newly married, an offer of peace before laying siege to distant cities, yet total destruction of the Canaanite nations, and a prohibition against destroying fruit trees during sieges.

Explanation

The military exemptions for those with recent, important commitments (a new house, a vineyard, a recent marriage) show a practical concern for individual well-being even in times of national war, recognizing that certain life transitions deserved priority over immediate military duty. The distinction between war against distant cities (which first received an offer of peace) and the complete destruction ordered specifically against the Canaanite nations shows that this extreme policy of conquest was not a general principle of warfare for every situation, but a specific, limited measure, theologically tied to the idolatrous contamination of that particular territory. The prohibition against destroying fruit trees during military sieges ('for thou mayest eat of them') is considered by many historians one of the earliest recorded principles of environmental protection in wartime, anticipating modern concepts of ethical conduct in armed conflict.

Fun facts

  • The rhetorical question 'for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee?' (v. 19) is one of the earliest known expressions in world literature of a principle of environmental protection during military conflict, clearly distinguishing between human targets of war and non-combatant natural resources.
  • The military exemptions mentioned here (a new house, a new vineyard, a recent marriage) appear almost identically detailed later in chapter 24, showing how certain social priorities — protecting new homes and marriages — were so important that they deserved explicit repetition in the Law.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 20:1It opens the laws of war with encouragement: even facing a larger army, with horses and chariots, there is no reason for fear, because God is with the people.
  2. Deuteronômio 20:2Before the battle, it is the priest who steps forward to speak directly to the soldiers.
  3. Deuteronômio 20:3The priest’s speech is one of encouragement: asking that hearts not grow faint or be terrified in the face of the enemy.
  4. Deuteronômio 20:4The reason for the encouragement is reinforced: it is God Himself who will fight alongside the people to save them.
  5. Deuteronômio 20:5Before a battle, four kinds of men were excused: whoever had built a new house and not yet dedicated it, whoever had planted a vineyard and not yet eaten its fruit, whoever was engaged and not yet married, and whoever was afraid. The idea seems to be not mixing distracted soldiers in with the rest of the army, as well as sparing those with recent life commitments.
  6. Deuteronômio 20:6The second exemption releases whoever has planted a vineyard and has not yet eaten its first fruit.
  7. Deuteronômio 20:7The third exemption releases the man who is engaged but has not yet actually married the woman promised to him.
  8. Deuteronômio 20:8The last exemption is for whoever is afraid: excused so as not to spread his own discouragement to the other soldiers.
  9. Deuteronômio 20:9After all these exemptions, the commanders formally organize the remaining troops at the head of the army.
  10. Deuteronômio 20:10For cities far away from Canaan, the law commands offering peace first; only if they refuse does the siege come, and even then only the men are killed — women, children, and goods become plunder. The cities of Canaan, in the next verse, do not receive this offer of peace.
  11. Deuteronômio 20:11If the besieged city accepted the offer of peace and opened its gates, its inhabitants would become tributary servants, not be wiped out.
  12. Deuteronômio 20:12If the city refused peace and chose war instead, the response would be a full military siege.
  13. Deuteronômio 20:13Once the siege was won, every man in the city was to be put to death with the edge of the sword.
  14. Deuteronômio 20:14Women, children, livestock, and goods from the city, however, could be taken as plunder of war for one’s own use.
  15. Deuteronômio 20:15This milder rule — sparing women and children — applied only to cities far away, outside Canaanite territory.
  16. Deuteronômio 20:16For the cities within the promised land, the rule was far harsher: nothing that breathed was to be left alive.
  17. Deuteronômio 20:17It specifically names the peoples subject to this total destruction: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
  18. Deuteronômio 20:18The reason given is to avoid religious contamination: learning the idolatrous practices of these peoples would lead Israel to sin against God.
  19. Deuteronômio 20:19Even in war, fruit trees could not be cut down to build siege works or fires, only trees that bore no fruit. It’s one of the rare wartime rules of that era that considers what’s left after the victory.
  20. Deuteronômio 20:20It distinguishes which trees could be cut down to build siege structures during a prolonged war.

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