17
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:
17
but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,
17
You must completely destroy them-the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite-as the Lord your God has commanded you,
Deuteronomy 20:17 In-Context
15
This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16
However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
17
Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you.
18
Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.
19
When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?
Footnotes 1
[a].
The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.