Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the
 edge of the sword
 This could not be the work of a single person, nor of the whole sanhedrim, but was what the whole nation was to join in, according to the above note: 
 destroying it utterly;
 pulling down the houses, and demolishing its walls and fortifications, or burning it, as afterwards explained: 
 and all that is therein;
 men, women, and children: 
 and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword;
 this severity was used to show the Lord's indignation against the sin of idolatry, and to deter persons from it, both individuals and bodies of men.