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Deuteronomy 20:8

in Deuteronomy 20

Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart melt as his heart.

KJV

And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.

This verse in Deuteronomy 20

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

What man is there that is fearful and faint - hearted? - The original רך rach, signifies tender or soft-hearted. And a soft heart the man must have who, in such a contest, after such a permission, could turn his back upon his enemies and his brethren. However, such were the troops commanded by Gideon in his war against the Midianites; for after he gave this permission, out of 32,000 men only 10,000 remained to fight! Jdg 7:

This site's exposition

And the officers shall speak unto the people

on Deuteronomy 20:5-9

Three men are sent home over things left unfinished: a new house not dedicated, a vineyard not eaten of, a wife betrothed and not taken. The reason given each time is the same, lest he die in the battle and another man have it, so the release guards the man's stake in the land rather than his life. 24:5 gives a newly married man a full year at home, and Albert Barnes reads the same one year limit into this list. The fourth case stands apart, since the fearful and fainthearted go home for the sake of the ranks, and Judges 7:3 has Gideon use those words and watch twenty and two thousand men leave.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the officers shall speak further unto the people,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This is the reason here given: Lest his brethren's heart fail as well as his heart. Fear is catching, and in an army is of most pernicious consequence.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And the officers shall speak unto the people--literally, Shoterim, who are called "scribes" or "overseers" (Ex 5:6). They might be keepers of the muster-roll, or perhaps rather military heralds, whose duty it was to announce the orders of the generals (2Ch 26:11).

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְיָסְפ֣וּand they will repeat

    veyasefuH3254212 times

  • הַשֹּׁטְרִים֮the officials

    hashoterimH786025 times

  • לְדַבֵּ֣רto speak

    ledaberH16961141 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הָעָם֒the people

    haamH59711873 times

  • וְאָמְר֗וּand they will say

    veameruH5595305 times

  • מִי־who?

    mi-H4310423 times

  • הָאִ֤ישׁ[is] the man

    haishH3761663 times

  • הַיָּרֵא֙<the> fearful

    haiyare'H3373

  • וְרַ֣ךְand [the] weak of

    verakhH739016 times

  • הַלֵּבָ֔ב<the> heart

    halevavH3824252 times

  • יֵלֵ֖ךְlet him go

    yelekhH19801546 times

  • וְיָשֹׁ֣בand let him return

    veyashoH77251056 times

  • לְבֵית֑וֹto house his

    leveitoH10042046 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • יִמַּ֛סit will be melted

    yimasH4549

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • לְבַ֥ב[the] heart of

    levavH3824252 times

  • אֶחָ֖יוcountrymen his

    ʾechavH251630 times

  • כִּלְבָבֽוֹ׃like heart his

    kilvavoH3824252 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Revelation 21:8

    But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 6:9–10

      Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…

    • Revelation 2:11

      He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

    • Ephesians 5:5–6

      For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

    • Revelation 22:15

      But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

    • Revelation 20:14–15

      Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.

  • Through

    Judges 7:3

    Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 17:14

      They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 1:28

    Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 9:1–2

      Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

    • Numbers 13:28–33

      Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.