Deuteronomy 20:11
in Deuteronomy 20If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found therein shall become tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee.
KJV
And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
When you approach a city to fight against it
on Deuteronomy 20:10-15
The order is peace first and siege second, and a city that accepts becomes forced labour, living under Israel rather than beside it. Moses had already done this at 2:26, sending words of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon.
This site's exposition
accept your offer of peace
Matthew Henry reports the terms the Jewish writers attached. The city renounced idolatry, worshipped the God of Israel as proselytes of the gate, paid a yearly tribute and accepted Israel's rule. 1 Kings 9:21 records Solomon making forced laborers of the peoples left in the land.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Some think that even the seven nations of Canaan were to have this offer of peace made to them; and the offer was no jest or mockery, though it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should not accept it, Josh. xi. Others think that they are excluded (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Eaten of it - Hebrew. made it common, namely, for the use of himself and family and friends, which it was not, 'till the fifth year. Make captains - Or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, 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.
And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it--An important principle is here introduced into the war law of Israel regarding the people they fought against and the cities they besieged. With "the cities of those people which God doth give thee" in Canaan, it was to be a war of utter extermination (De 20:17, 18).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
“[Their surrender is not to be accepted] until they accept tribute and servitude upon themselves.” This is the language of Rabbeinu Shlomo [Rashi]. And in the Sifre the Rabbis have said: 340 Sifre, Shoftim.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
When you near a city to do battle against it, you are to offer it [ words of ] peace.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָה֙ | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שָׁל֣וֹם | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| תַּֽעַנְךָ֔ | taankha | it will answer you | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וּפָתְחָ֖ה | ufatechah | and it will open | H6605 → | 144 times |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| וְהָיָ֞ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַנִּמְצָא־ | hanimtza'- | which is found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| בָ֗הּ | vah | in <the> it | ||
| יִהְי֥וּ | yihyu | they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְךָ֛ | lekha | for <the> you | ||
| לָמַ֖ס | lamas | <into> forced labor | H4522 → | |
| וַעֲבָדֽוּךָ׃ | vaavadukha | and they will serve you | H5647 → | 288 times |
וְהָיָה֙and it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שָׁל֣וֹםpeace
shalomH7965 →236 times
תַּֽעַנְךָ֔it will answer you
taankhaH6030 →331 times
וּפָתְחָ֖הand it will open
ufatechahH6605 →144 times
לָ֑ךְto <the> you
lakh
וְהָיָ֞הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַנִּמְצָא־which is found
hanimtza'-H4672 →455 times
בָ֗הּin <the> it
vah
יִהְי֥וּthey will become
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
לְךָ֛for <the> you
lekha
לָמַ֖ס<into> forced labor
lamasH4522 →
וַעֲבָדֽוּךָ׃and they will serve you
vaavadukhaH5647 →288 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 19:14But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 8:7
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as…
- Acts 7:51–52
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Acts 3:14–15
You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
- Psalms 2:1–3
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- John 15:18
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- 1 Samuel 8:7
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.