Deuteronomy 20:16

16 But what about the cities the LORD your God is giving you as your own? Kill everything in those cities that breathes.

Deuteronomy 20:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 20:16

But of the cities of those people, which the Lord thy God doth
give thee for an inheritance
The cities of the seven nations, six of which are mentioned by name in the next verse:

thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth;
the reason of this severity was because of their wickedness, the capital crimes and gross abominations they were guilty of, and for which they deserved to die; and on account whereof they were reserved to this destruction, when the measure of their iniquities was full, such as idolatry, incest, witchcraft, soothsaying, necromancy see ( Leviticus 18:3 Leviticus 18:24 Leviticus 18:25 Leviticus 18:27 ) ( 20:2-23 ) ( Deuteronomy 18:9-12 ) .

Deuteronomy 20:16 In-Context

14 But you can take the women and children for yourselves. You can also take the livestock and everything else in the city. What you have captured from your enemies you can use for yourselves. The LORD your God has given it to you.

15 That's how you must treat all of the cities that are far away from you. Those cities don't belong to the nations that are nearby.

16 But what about the cities the LORD your God is giving you as your own? Kill everything in those cities that breathes.

17 Completely destroy them. Wipe out the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. That's what the LORD your God commanded you to do.

18 If you don't destroy them, they'll teach you to follow all of the things the LORD hates. He hates the way they worship their gods. If you do those things, you will sin against the LORD your God.