Siege

How Nave’s arranged it

• An offer of peace must be made to the city before beginning aDeuteronomy 20:10–12
• Conducted by erecting embankments parallel to the walls of the besieged cityDeuteronomy 20:19Deuteronomy 20:20Isaiah 29:3Isaiah 37:33
• Battering-rams used in
• See Battering-rams
• Distress of the inhabitants during a2 Kings 6:24–292 Kings 25:3Isaiah 9:20Isaiah 36:12Jeremiah 19:9
• Cannibalism during a2 Kings 6:282 Kings 6:29
• INSTANCES OF
• JerichoJoshua 6
• Rabbah2 Samuel 11:1
• Abel2 Samuel 20:15
• Gibbethon1 Kings 15:27
• Tirzah1 Kings 16:17

The passages, in Bible order (30)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 20:10–12

   When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:10–122 voices

   “Proclaim peace unto it - Interpreters are greatly divided concerning the objects of this law. The text, taken in connection with the context, (see Deu 20:15-18), appears to state that this proclamation or offer of peace to a city is only to be understood of those cities which were situated beyond the limits of the seven anathematized nations, because these latter are commanded to be totally destroyed. Nothing can be clearer than this from the bare letter of the text, unless some of the words, taken separately, can be shown to have a different meaning.

   “That is (say the Jewish writers), "upon condition that they renounce idolatry, worship the God of Israel, as proselytes of the gate that were not circumcised, pay to their new masters a yearly tribute, and submit to their government:" on these terms the process of war should be stayed, and their conquerors, upon this submission, were to be their protectors,

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2. Deuteronomy 20:19

   When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:192 voices

   “When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it,.... Before it will surrender; it holding out the siege a considerable time: the Hebrew text says, "many days" (c); which the Targum of Jonathan interprets of all the seven days, to make war against it, in order to subdue it on the sabbath day.

   “That reason, for the tree of the field is man's (the word life we supply), all the ancient versions, the Septuagint, Targums, &c., read, For is the tree of the field a man? Or the tree of the field is not a man, that it should come against thee in the siege, or retire from thee into the bulwark.

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3. Deuteronomy 20:20

   But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:201 voice

   “That reason, for the tree of the field is man's (the word life we supply), all the ancient versions, the Septuagint, Targums, &c., read, For is the tree of the field a man? Or the tree of the field is not a man, that it should come against thee in the siege, or retire from thee into the bulwark.

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4. Joshua 6:1

   Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

   ›Commentary on Joshua 6:12 voices

   “This verse is strictly parenthetical. It is inserted to explain the declaration commenced Jos 5:14, and interrupted by Joshua’s question and obeisance Jos 5:14-15, but resumed in Jos 6:2. Straitly shut up - See the margin, i. e., not only shut, but barred and bolted.

   “It did shut up, and it was shut up (so it is in the margin); it did shut up itself, being strongly fortified both by art and nature, and it was shut up by the obstinacy and resolution of the inhabitants, who agreed never to surrender nor so much as sound a parley; none went out as deserters or to treat of peace, nor were any admitted in to offer peace.

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5. Judges 1:8

   Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

   ›Commentary on Judges 1:81 voice

   “Had fought against Jerusalem - We read this verse in a parenthesis, because we suppose that it refers to the taking of this city by Joshua; for as he had conquered its armies and slew its king, Jos 10:26, it is probable that he took the city: yet we find that the Jebusites still dwelt in it, Jos 15:63; and that the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till the days of David, who took it, and totally destroyed the Jebusites.

   Everything gathered on Judges 1:8→

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6. 2 Samuel 5:6

   Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 5:61 voice

   “The king and his men went to Jerusalem - This city was now in the hands of the Jebusites; but how they got possession of it is not known, probably they took it during the wars between Ish-bosheth and David. After Joshua’s death, what is called the lower city was taken by the Israelites; and it is evident that the whole city was in their possession in the time of Saul, for David brought the head of Goliath thither, 1Sa 17:54. It appears to have been a very strong fortress, and, from what follows, deemed impregnable by the Jebusites.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 5:6→

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7. 2 Samuel 5:9

   So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 5:92 voices

   “David built round about from Millo and inward--probably a row of stone bastions placed on the northern side of Mount Zion, and built by David to secure himself on that side from the Jebusites, who still lived in the lower part of the city. The house of Millo was perhaps the principal corner tower of that fortified wall.

   “David dwelt in the fort - or stronghold, (as in 2Sa 5:7) i. e. eventually, when the buildings were completed, which may not have been for two or three years. Millo appears to have been a fortress of some kind, the northern defense of the city of David, and to have been a part of the original Canaanite defenses of Zion, as appears probable also from there having been a fortress called the house of Millo in the Canaanite city of Shechem. (Jdg 9:6 note, and 2Sa 9:1-13:20.) Millo may be the native name.

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8. 2 Samuel 11:1

   In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 11:12 voices

   “This metropolis of the Ammonites was situated in the mountainous tract of Gilead, not far from the source of the Arnon. Extensive ruins are still found on its site.

   “After - When that year ended, and the next begun, which was in the spring time. When kings - Which is, when the ground is fit for the march of soldiers, and brings forth provision for man and beast.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 11:1→

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9. 2 Samuel 20:15

   And Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah and built a siege ramp against the outer rampart of the city. As all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to topple it,

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 20:152 voices

   “Cast up a bank - See the marginal references. The throwing up of mounds against the walls of besieged places by the besiegers is well illustrated in the Assyrian sculptures. The trench - The “pomoerium,” or fortified space outside the wall. When the mound was planted in the pomoerium the battering engines were able to approach close to the wall to make a breach.

   “Justly is that place attacked with all this fury which dares harbour a traitor; nor will that heart fare better which indulges those rebellious lusts that will not have Christ to reign over them.

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10. 1 Kings 15:27

    Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 15:272 voices

    “Baasha smote him at Gibbethon--This town, within the tribe of Dan, was given to the Levites (Jos 19:44). It lay on the Philistine borders, and having been seized by that people, Nadab laid siege to recover it.

    “Baasha ... of the house of Issachar - It is curious to find Issachar furnishing a king. Tola, its one very undistinguished Judge Jdg 10:1, on obtaining office had at once settled himself in the territory of Ephraim. The tribe was as little famous as any that could be named. The “ass crouching between two burthens” was a true symbol of the patient, plodding cultivators of the plain of Esdraelon Gen 49:14-

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 15:27→

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11. 1 Kings 16:17

    Then Omri and all the Israelites marched up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 16:172 voices

    “And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,.... He, and the army under him, broke up the siege of that place, and marched to Tirzah; which, according, to Bunting (c) were thirty six miles distant from each other: and they besieged Tirzah; the royal city, in which Zimri was. (c) Travels, &c. p. 162.

    “Went up - The expression “went up” marks accurately the ascent of the army from the Shephelah, where Gibbethon was situated Jos 19:44, to the hill country of Israel, on the edge of which Tirzah stood 1Ki 14:17.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 16:17→

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12. 1 Kings 20:1

    Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 20:12 voices

    “Ben-hadad, the king of Syria - Probably the son of the Ben-hadad who assisted Asa against Baasha (1Ki 15:18 note). Thirty and two kings with him - Not allies, but feudatories 1Ki 20:24. Damascus had in the reign of this Ben-hadad become the center of an important monarchy, which may not improbably have extended from the Euphrates to the northern border of Israel. The Assyrian inscriptions show that this country was about the period in question parcelled out into a multitude of petty kingdoms, the chief tribes who possessed it being the Hittites, the Hamathites, and the Syrians of Damascus.

    “What the ground of the quarrel was we are not told; covetousness and ambition were the principle, which would never want some pretence or other. David in his time had quite subdued the Syrians and made them tributaries to Israel, but Israel's apostasy from God makes them formidable again.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 20:1→

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13. 2 Kings 6:24–29

    Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 6:24–292 voices

    “Ben-hadad - He whom Ahab wickedly spared, now comes to requite his kindness, and to fulfil that Divine prediction. Ben- hadad was a name very frequent among the kings of Syria, if not common to them all.

    “There are base spirits that can never feel obliged. The country, we may suppose, was plundered and laid waste when this capital city was brought to the last extremity,

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14. 2 Kings 6:28

    Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 6:281 voice

    “The king had assumed that the cry of the woman was for food. Her manner indicated that it was not so. He therefore proceeded to inquire what she wanted of him. This woman - Both women, it would seem, were present; and the aggrieved one pointed to the other.

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15. 2 Kings 6:29

    So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.”

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 6:292 voices

    “So we boiled my son, and did eat him,.... Thus what was predicted, by way of threatening, began to be accomplished, Deu 28:53; see Gill on Deu 28:53, and of which there were other instances of a like kind at the siege of Jerusalem, both by Nebuchadnezzar and Vespasian: and I said unto her on the next day; after her child had been wholly ate up: give thy son, that we may eat him; according to agreement: and she hath hid her son; either to save him alive, or to eat him herself alone.

    “The prophecy alluded to in the marginal references was now fulfilled, probably for the first time. It had a second accomplishment when Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar Lam 4:10, and a third in the final siege of the same city by Titus.

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16. 2 Kings 16:5

    Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 16:52 voices

    “Then Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war,.... To fight with Ahaz, moved to it by the Lord, to chastise Ahaz for his idolatry, 2Ki 15:37. but could not overcome him; so as to take Jerusalem, and set up another king there, as their scheme was, Isa 7:5 though they had both at other times got great advantages over him, and slew many of his people, and carried them captive, see 2Ch 28:5.

    “Rezin and Pekah, who had already begun their attacks upon Judaea in the reign of Jotham 2Ki 15:37, regarded the accession of a boy-king, only 16 years of age, as especially favorable to their projects, and proceeded without loss of time to carry them out. The earlier scenes of the war, omitted by the writer of Kings, are given at some length in 2Ch 28:5-15.

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