Deuteronomy 20 Study Notes

20:12-15 Any city that would not surrender could be plundered and its citizens either killed or taken as prisoners of war. The treatment accorded these distant cities presupposes some kind of provocation against Israel and not likely a desire for Israelite imperialism. David’s famous campaign against the Ammonite city of Rabbah is a case in point (2Sm 10:1-19).

20:16-18 Every living thing in the cities of Israel’s inheritance must be put under the cherem (Hb, “the ban”) and utterly destroyed. This was in line with what the Lord had commanded (7:1-6) and with what had already been carried out in Transjordan (Nm 21:24,33-35; cp. Dt 2:31-3:7). Such harsh measures precluded the possibility that these irredeemable inhabitants of Canaan might teach Israel detestable acts, and Israel might thereby sin against the Lord.

20:19-20 Trees which produce food must not be cut down, or “killed,” during a siege because they are “innocent.” The major point in all this is that humans are different from and privileged beyond all other living things, but this imposes upon them a responsibility to know and serve the Lord with all their being. Failure to do so will result in grievous consequences.