Deuteronomy 20:17
in Deuteronomy 20For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but thou shalt utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;
KJV
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:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut thou shalt utterly destroy them - The above reasoning will gain considerable strength, provided we could translate כי החרם תחרימם ki hacharem tacharimem, thou shalt utterly subdue them - slaying them if they resist, and thus leaving nothing alive that breathed; or totally expel them from the land, or reduce them to a state of slavery in it, that they might no longer exist as a people. This certainly made them an anathema as a nation, wholly destroying their political existence.
This site's exposition
However, in the cities of the nations
on Deuteronomy 20:16-18
The near cities get no such offer. Verse 18 gives the reason, “so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods”.
This site's exposition
the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites
The command points back to 7:1 and 2, where Israel is commanded to devote the same nations to complete destruction. Joshua 11:15 reports Joshua leaving nothing undone of that command. Adam Clarke reads the devotion as destroying each nation's political existence.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), because, since it could not be expected that they should be cured of their idolatry, if they were left with that plague-sore upon them they would be in danger of infecting God's Israel, who were too apt to take the infection: They will teach you to do after their abominations (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
But thou shalt utterly destroy them,....
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).
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הַחֲרֵ֣ם | hacharem | certainly <to totally destroy> | H2763 → | 52 times |
| תַּחֲרִימֵ֗ם | tacharimem | you will totally destroy them | H2763 → | 52 times |
| הַחִתִּ֤י | hachiti | the Hittite[s] | H2850 → | |
| וְהָאֱמֹרִי֙ | vehaemori | and the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| הַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י | hakenaani | the Canaanite[s] | H3669 → | 73 times |
| וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י | vehapperizi | and the Perizzite[s] | H6522 → | |
| הַחִוִּ֖י | hachivi | the Hivite[s] | H2340 → | |
| וְהַיְבוּסִ֑י | vehayvusi | and the Jebusite[s] | H2983 → | |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוְּךָ֖ | tzivekha | he commanded you | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הַחֲרֵ֣םcertainly <to totally destroy>
hacharemH2763 →52 times
תַּחֲרִימֵ֗םyou will totally destroy them
tacharimemH2763 →52 times
הַחִתִּ֤יthe Hittite[s]
hachitiH2850 →
וְהָאֱמֹרִי֙and the Amorite[s]
vehaemoriH567 →87 times
הַכְּנַעֲנִ֣יthe Canaanite[s]
hakenaaniH3669 →73 times
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔יand the Perizzite[s]
vehapperiziH6522 →
הַחִוִּ֖יthe Hivite[s]
hachiviH2340 →
וְהַיְבוּסִ֑יand the Jebusite[s]
vehayvusiH2983 →
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צִוְּךָ֖he commanded you
tzivekhaH6680 →494 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃God your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 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
Jeremiah 48:10Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…
- 1 Kings 20:42
And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for…
- Judges 5:23
‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
- 1 Samuel 15:9
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they…
- Numbers 31:14–18
But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.
- 1 Samuel 15:3
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.