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.