Deuteronomy 20:1-20

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20:1 KI TETSE LA MILCHAMAH AL OYEVECHA VE RA'ITA SUS VA RECHEV AM RAV MIMCHA LO TIRA ME HEM KI YHVH ELOHEYCHA IMACH HA MA'ALCHA ME ERETS MITSRAYIM

כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶךָ וְרָאִיתָ סוּס וָרֶכֶב עַם רַב מִמְּךָ לֹא תִירָא מֵהֶם כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עִמָּךְ הַמַּעַלְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

KJ (King James translation): When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

BN (BibleNet translation): When you go into battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people larger in number than you, do not be afraid of them; for YHVH your god is with you, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim.


Horses? Yes indeed. See my note to Deuteronomy 17:16, and/or go straight to this link. Worth looking at the first Book of Samuel, where we are given to understand that a new wave of Pelishtim arrived by boat bearing chariots and weapons of a type never seen previously - the start of the Iron Age. But in fact we have already witnessed these in the Book of Judges - a detailed
background to all this, with an inventory of all these references, can be found here.


20:2 VE HAYAH KE KARAV'CHEM EL HA MILCHAMAH VE NIGASH HA KOHEN VE DIBER HA AM

וְהָיָה כְּקָרָבְכֶם אֶל הַמִּלְחָמָה וְנִגַּשׁ הַכֹּהֵן וְדִבֶּר אֶל הָעָם

KJ: And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

BN: And it shall be, when the time of battle approqaches, that the Kohen will step forward and speak to the people...


20:3 VA AMAR ALEYHEM SHEM'A YISRA-EL ATEM KEREVIM HAYOM LA MILCHAMAH AL OYEVEYCHEM AL TIR'U VE AL TACHPEZU VE AL TA'ARTSU MI PENEYHEM

וְאָמַר אֲלֵהֶם שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל אַתֶּם קְרֵבִים הַיּוֹם לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֵיכֶם אַל יֵרַךְ לְבַבְכֶם אַל תִּירְאוּ וְאַל תַּחְפְּזוּ וְאַל תַּעַרְצוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם

KJ: And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

BN: And shall say to them: Hear me, Yisra-El, you are drawing nigh this day to battle against your enemies; do not let your heart be faint; do not fear, or be alarmed, nor frightened of them...


SHEM'A YISRA-EL: The opening phrase echoing what would become the central credo of Judaism, instituted by Mosheh in Deuteronomy 6.


20:4 KI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM HA HOLECH IMACHEM LEHILACHEM LACHEM IM OYEVEYCHEM LEHOSHI'A ET'CHEM

כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם אֹיְבֵיכֶם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם

KJ: For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

BN: For YHVH your god is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.


Which is wonderful, but still probably advisable to get the best weapons, train the best soldiers, develop the best tactics, put spies in the enemy camp to pre-empt their plans and strategies, and do it without needing him, just in case. This, at least, is the strategy of modern Israel. The evidence of history advocated for it.


20:5 VE DIBRU HA SHOTRIM EL HA AM LEMOR MI HA ISH ASHER BANAH VAYIT CHADASH VE LO CHANACHO YELECH VE YOSHEV LE VEITO PEN YAMUT BA MILCHAMAH VE ISH ACHER YACHNECHENU

וְדִבְּרוּ הַשֹּׁטְרִים אֶל הָעָם לֵאמֹר מִי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה בַיִת חָדָשׁ וְלֹא חֲנָכוֹ יֵלֵךְ וְיָשֹׁב לְבֵיתוֹ  פֶּן יָמוּת בַּמִּלְחָמָה וְאִישׁ אַחֵר יַחְנְכֶנּוּ

KJ: And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

BN: And the officers shall speak to the regular soldiers, saying: Is there any man here who has built a new house, but has not yet dedicated it? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.


And is there any man (asks the modern secular Israeli), who would rather sit in the Yeshiva, and stick his nose in some mediaeval responsum, and debate the nuances of Hillel versus Shammai, while bombs are falling on his neighbour's recently-dedicated house and his brother-in-law just got shot down in the Baq'aa Valley?

Having vented which out of my spleen... it is actually an interesting piece of social anthropology. Chanukat ha bayit in today's world is just a sentimentally formal ceremony, a moving-in party with blessings, and songs around the newly-posted mezuzah. But apparently, back then, you built or bought a property, and you may well have the planning permission documents and the surveyor's report and even the first Council Tax bill to show it's yours, but it isn't fully, legally yours, which means Jubilee-protected as something you can bequeathe to your descendants, until the Kohen comes and says the blessing.


20:6 U MI HA ISH ASHER NATA KEREM VE LO CHILELO YELECH VE YASHOV LE VEITO PEN YAMUT BA MILCHAMAH VE ISH ACHER YECHALELENU

וּמִי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר נָטַע כֶּרֶם וְלֹא חִלְּלוֹ יֵלֵךְ וְיָשֹׁב לְבֵיתוֹ פֶּן יָמוּת בַּמִּלְחָמָה וְאִישׁ אַחֵר יְחַלְּלֶנּו

KJ: And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.

BN: And is there any man here who has planted a vineyard, but has not yet enjoyed its fruit? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man enjoy its fruit.


Leviticus 19:23-25 states: "And when you come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden; for three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. And in the fourth year all of its fruit should be set apart, and then give praise to YHVH. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, and in this way it will yield to you a richer crop: I am the LORD your God." Which law presumably applied to vineyards too, and therefore exempted the man from military service for up to five years.


20:7 U MI HA ISH ASHER ERAS ISHAH VE LO LEKACHAH YELECH VE YASHOV LE VEITO PEN YAMUT BA MILCHAMAH VE ISH ACHER YIKACHENAH

וּמִי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר אֵרַשׂ אִשָּׁה וְלֹא לְקָחָהּ יֵלֵךְ וְיָשֹׁב לְבֵיתוֹ פֶּן יָמוּת בַּמִּלְחָמָה וְאִישׁ אַחֵר יִקָּחֶנָּה

KJ: And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

BN: And is there a man here who has become engaged to a woman, but has not yet married her? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.


ERAS: The space between Kiddushin and Nisu'in- click here.

I think there is at least one more verse missing here. "And is there a man who recently opened a business... and is there a man who just started on a three-year degree course... and is there anyone left to form an army?"


20:8 VE YASPHU HA SHOTRIM LEDABER EL HA AM VE AMRU MI HA ISH HA YAR'E VE RACH HA LEVAV YELECH VA YASHOV LE VEITO VE LO YIMAS ET LEVAV ECHIV KI LEVAVO

וְיָסְפוּ הַשֹּׁטְרִים לְדַבֵּר אֶל הָעָם וְאָמְרוּ מִי הָאִישׁ הַיָּרֵא וְרַךְ הַלֵּבָב יֵלֵךְ וְיָשֹׁב לְבֵיתוֹ וְלֹא יִמַּס אֶת לְבַב אֶחָיו כִּלְבָבוֹ

KJ: And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.

BN: And the officers shall speak further to the regular soldiers, and they shall say: Is there any man here who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest his fellow-soldiers' heart melt like his heart.


Hands up the cowards! Can we assume that, being cowards, they wouldn't have the guts to put their hands up? Which leaves us with an army from which all the strong and healthy males are exempt, gone home to finish their houses, farm their vineyards and husband their wives, while all the cowards, plus the men in their forties and early fifties, are going to engage in the battle - and the offciers, of course, will stay safe in their tents, planning the battle. This is going to need YHVH's very serious help.


20:9 VE HAYAH KE CHALOT HA SHOTRIM LEDABER EL HA AM U PHAKDU SAREY TSEVA'OT BE ROSH HA AM

וְהָיָה כְּכַלֹּת הַשֹּׁטְרִים לְדַבֵּר אֶל הָעָם וּפָקְדוּ שָׂרֵי צְבָאוֹת בְּרֹאשׁ הָעָם  

KJ: And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

BN: And it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the regulars, that the troop commanders will be appointed to lead the people.


Assuming that there are any competent souls left to take up such a posting.

samech break, and now that we have done the traditional Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori, and set some poppy seeds In Flanders Fields as well, we can move on to the traditional next stage, which is the establishment of carefully imprecise military language: "genocide" is now to be called "collateral damage", "Hiroshima" is "a necessary act to bring the war to a quicker conclusion", and, as in the very next verse, a call to immediate surrender or take responsibility for the consequences is...


20:10 KI TIKRAV EL IR LEHILACHEM ALEYHA VE KARATA ELEYHA LE SHALOM

כִּי תִקְרַב אֶל עִיר לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ וְקָרָאתָ אֵלֶיהָ לְשָׁלוֹם

KJ: When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

BN: When you approach a city to fight against it, first proclaim peace to it.


And, being as how you are here on behalf of YHVH, don't forget to proclaim the other twelve attributes as well: justice, mercy, compassion... this is not, after all, a defensive war, Mosheh guiding his people in how to protect themselves against an invading enemy. They are the invading enemy. They are going in "to take possession" of someone else's land.


20:11 VE HAYAH IM SHALOM TA'ANCHA U PHAT'CHAH LACH VE HAYAH KOL HA AM HA NIMTSA VAH YIHEYU LECHA LA MAS VA AVADUCHA

וְהָיָה אִם שָׁלוֹם תַּעַנְךָ וּפָתְחָה לָךְ וְהָיָה כָּל הָעָם הַנִּמְצָא בָהּ יִהְיוּ לְךָ לָמַס וַעֲבָדוּךָ

KJ: And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

BN: And it shall be, if it agrees to surrender without a sword being unsheathed, and opens its gates for you, then it shall be that all the people who are living there shall become second-class citizens beneath you, and shall provide you servants and slaves.


Not for the first time, we find ourselves dealing with text that is hugely contradictory of the self-image the cult wishes to project, then as much as now; and the same problem exists within both Christianity and Islam. YHVH the merciful, compassionate, carer for widows and orphans, provider of decent employment contracts, bringer of peace, and all that wonderful idealism... but also barbarous YHVH, divine bully, conquering marauder who annihilates whole cities, makes its people subservient slaves, destroys nations unto the fourth generation of them that hate him, or simply prefer a different deity. The methodology of the leveraged buy-out, as practiced by the mafiosi - we wanna own this store, you understand; agree terms or we burn it to the ground. YHVH says this is the way to do it.

From a religious perspective, we should be criticising the Netanyahu government for being far too liberal, far too generous, when the correct fate of the Palestinians, who have been offered peace and rejected it repeatedly, is laid out in no uncertain terms in this and the following verses. (I am not advocating that we do so; merely exegising the text).


20:12 VE IM LO TASHLIM IMACH VE ASTAH IMCHA MILCHAMAH VE TSARTA ALEYHA

וְאִם לֹא תַשְׁלִים עִמָּךְ וְעָשְׂתָה עִמְּךָ מִלְחָמָה וְצַרְתָּ עָלֶיהָ

KJ: And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

BN: But if it does not agree to surrender to you unconditionally and become your slaves, but insists on war against you, then you shall lay siege to it.


Actually, in effect, this is the policy with respect to the Gaza Strip; though not the West Bank.


20:13 U NETANAH YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE YADEYCHA VE HIKITA ET KOL ZECHURAH LEPHI CHAREV

וּנְתָנָהּ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וְהִכִּיתָ אֶת כָּל זְכוּרָהּ לְפִי חָרֶב

KJ: And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

BN: And when YHVH your god delivers it into your hand, you shall know that Resolution 260 A (III) of the United Nations will not come into force until January 1951 CE, and so you are free to do what human beings, men especially, always want to do when chance affords it (and god knows why).


Yes, this is where Netanyahu looks like a pinko, softie Liberal in the eyes of the deity. But don't start getting carried away into anti-Semitism because of this. Jesus also claimed to bring "not peace but a sword" (Matthew 10:34-36), and the Qur'an is much clearer than this text on how precisely the sword should be deployed: beheading is the preferred methodology of al-Lah (Surah 8:12).


20:14 RAK HA NASHIM VE HA TAPH VE HA BEHEMAH VE CHOL ASHER YIHEYEH VA IR KOL SHELALAH TAVOZ LACH VE ACHALTA ET SHELAL OYEVEYCHA ASHER NATAN YHVH ELOHEYCHA LACH

רַק הַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף וְהַבְּהֵמָה וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בָעִיר כָּל שְׁלָלָהּ תָּבֹז לָךְ וְאָכַלְתָּ אֶת שְׁלַל אֹיְבֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָךְ

KJ: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

BN: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, including all its spoil, you may take for booty for yourself; and you may eat the spoil of your enemies, which YHVH your god has given you.


Well, obviously. The women can provide servants and bed-companions, and the children can be, what is the technical phrase in circumstances such as these? Re-educated, I believe it is (or killed later on, if the re-education fails to prove effective). As to the cattle - see Numbers 31; and when you do, you will realise that everything Mosheh is saying to the people here is really just retroactive validation of everything they have been doing for the past two years: war, slaughter, pillage, sacking, rape, enslavement. But in Numbers 31 he had, or YHVH had, a problem with some of what they were doing - my notes on this are there and don't need repeating here; verse 14 ff especially.


20:15 KEN TA'ASEH LE CHOL HE ARIM HA RECHOKOT MIMCHA ME'OD ASHER LO MEY AREY HA GOYIM HA ELEH HENAH

כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה לְכָל הֶעָרִים הָרְחֹקֹת מִמְּךָ מְאֹד אֲשֶׁר לֹא מֵעָרֵי הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה הֵנָּה

KJ: Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

BN: Thus shall you do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations...


20:16 RAK ME AREY HA AMIM HA ELEH ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA NACHALAH LO TECHAYEH KOL NESHAMAH

רַק מֵעָרֵי הָעַמִּים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה לֹא תְחַיֶּה כָּל נְשָׁמָה

KJ: But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

BN: But in the cities which YHVH your god is giving you for an inheritance, 
of these peoples you shall save alive nothing that breathes. 


Apologies, I forgot to put in a link to Resolution 260 A (III) of the United Nations when I naughtily added it to my translation earlier. Ah well, maybe it's better placed here anyway.


20:17 KI HACHAREM TACHARIMEM HA CHITI VE HA EMORI HA KENA'ANI VE HA PERIZI HA CHIVI VE HA YEVUSI KA ASHER TSIVSHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA

כִּי הַחֲרֵם תַּחֲרִימֵם הַחִתִּי וְהָאֱמֹרִי הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי הַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ

KJ: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

BN: But you shall utterly destroy them: the Chiti, and the Emori, the Kena'ani, and the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi; as YHVH your god has instructed you...


TACHRIMEM: From the root CHEREM. See my notes to KARMI, and also Leviticus 27:21-29, where the word takes on an entirely different meaning, and Deuteronomy 7:26, where its meaning is entirely different again.


20:18 LEMA'AN ASHER LO YELAMDU ET'CHEM LA'ASOT KE CHOL TO'AVOTAM ASHER ASU LE ELOHEYHEM VE CHATATEM LA YHVH ELOHEYCHEM

לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְלַמְּדוּ אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכֹל תּוֹעֲבֹתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם וַחֲטָאתֶם לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

KJ: That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.

BN: So that they do not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have performed for their gods, and so that you sin against YHVH your god.


TO'AVOTAM: I am wondering what abominations these might be, by which I mean, not what they might do, but how those things can get to be called "abominations" in the light of the above dozen verses. Maybe they just don't genocide in the proper way, and use the wrong materials for ethnic cleansing.

samech break


20:19 KI TATSUR EL IR YAMIM RABIM LEHILACHEM ALEYHA LETAPHSAH LO TASH'CHIT ET ETSAH LINDO'ACH ALAV GARZEN KI MIMENU TOCHEL VE OTO LO TICHROT KI HA ADAM EYTS HA SADEH LAVO MI PANEYCHA BA MATSOR

כִּי תָצוּר אֶל עִיר יָמִים רַבִּים לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ לְתָפְשָׂהּ לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ לִנְדֹּחַ עָלָיו גַּרְזֶן כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ תֹאכֵל וְאֹתוֹ לֹא תִכְרֹת כִּי הָאָדָם עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה לָבֹא מִפָּנֶיךָ בַּמָּצוֹר

KJ: 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:

BN: When you lay siege to a city for a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; you may eat from them, but you may not cut them down to use them as one of your siege-weapons, because this tree is in a field owned by a man.


And this despite the fact the man is either going to die in the siege, or be put to death in the ethnic cleansing that follows. Or perhaps because of this: once the city is taken and the man dead, the field with its trees becomes spoil, and the new inhabitants of the town will be able to reap and harvest the full benefit... but not if it is lying on the nearby landfill site among the other now-discarded siege-weapons.

All translations without exceptions down the centuries have come up with something largely meaningless, and all commentaries have ultimately given up. And yet it seems very clear: YHVH regards the tree more valuably than he does human beings. Or at least, as per the next verse, those that can bear edible fruit.


20:20 RAK ETS ASHER TEDA KI LO ETS MA'ACHAL HU OTO TASH'CHIT VE CHARAT U VANITA MATSOR AL HA IR ASHER HI OSAH IMACH MILCHAMAH AD RIDETAH

רַק עֵץ אֲשֶׁר תֵּדַע כִּי לֹאעֵץ מַאֲכָל הוּא אֹתוֹ תַשְׁחִית וְכָרָתָּ וּבָנִיתָ מָצוֹר עַל הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר הִוא עֹשָׂה עִמְּךָ מִלְחָמָה עַד רִדְתָּהּ

KJ: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

BN: Only those trees which you know are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, that you may build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.


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