_A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451._ The exhortation of the priest to them who were going to battle, Deuteronomy 20:1. The dismission of them who were engaged in business, or faint-hearted, Deuteronomy 20:5. How they were to treat distant cities, Deuteronomy 20:10. The cities of the Canaanites, Deuteronomy 20:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies_ The land of Canaan being to be gained by conquest, in a war of God's special appointment; and the Israelites, after their settlement in it, being likely to be exposed to invasions from, or quarrels with the neighbouring nations, Moses judged it n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The priest shall approach_ The Jews say there was a priest anointed for the purpose, whose office, as we may gather from Numbers 31:6, was to blow with the trumpet when they were preparing for battle. _And_ shall _speak to the people_ Probably exhorting them, in the most persuasive manner, to a cou... [ Continue Reading ]
_What man is there_ This and the following exceptions are to be understood only of a war allowed by God, not in a war commanded by God, not in the approaching war with the Canaanites, from which even the bridegroom was not exempt, as the Jewish writers note. _Hath planted a vineyard_ This and the fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hath betrothed a wife_ The time allowed in this case was a year, Deuteronomy 24:5. This was a law of great humanity, that conjugal love might not be disturbed, but have time to knit into a firm and lasting affection. _What man is fearful and faint-hearted_ This fearfulness is to be understood, say... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall make captains_ Or rather, as the Hebrew is, _they shall set_ or _place the captains of the armies in the head or front of the people_ under their charge, that they may conduct them, and, by their example, encourage their soldiers. It is not likely they had their captain to make when they... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt save alive nothing_ No human creature; for the beasts, some few excepted, were given for a prey. This slaughter of all the people is to be understood only in case they did not surrender when summoned, but rejected the conditions of peace when offered them. In which case their condition w... [ Continue Reading ]
_That they teach you not to do after all their abominations_ Here is the great reason for the aforesaid severe execution; they were most abominable idolaters, who offered their children to Moloch; they were _magicians, wizards, necromancers_, and guilty of all those abominations and filthy lusts men... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not destroy the trees_ Which is to be understood of a general destruction of them, not of cutting down some few of them, as the convenience of the siege might require. _Man's life_ The sustenance or support of his life.... [ Continue Reading ]