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Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20:1 “When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them, because Yahveh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Deuteronomy 20:2 When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army.

Deuteronomy 20:3 He is to say to them: ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them.

Deuteronomy 20:4 You see, Yahveh, your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.’

Deuteronomy 20:5 “The officers are to address the army, and this is what you should say: ‘Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him leave and return home. Or else, he may die in battle, and another man dedicates it.

Deuteronomy 20:6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him leave and return home. Or else he may die in battle, and another man enjoys its fruit.

Deuteronomy 20:7 Has any man become engaged to a woman and not married her? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise, he may die in battle, and another man marries her.’

Deuteronomy 20:8 The officers will address the army again and say, ‘Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home so that his brothers won’t lose heart as he did.’

Deuteronomy 20:9 When the officers have finished addressing the army, they will appoint military commanders to lead it.

Deuteronomy 20:10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace.

Deuteronomy 20:11 If it answers your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you.

Deuteronomy 20:12 However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it.

Deuteronomy 20:13 When Yahveh, your God, hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword.

Deuteronomy 20:14 But you may take the women, dependents, animals, and whatever else is in the city– all its spoil– as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that Yahveh, your God, has given you.

Deuteronomy 20:15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations.

Deuteronomy 20:16 However, you must not let any breathing[1] thing stay alive among the cities of these people Yahveh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 20:17 You must destroy them — the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite – as Yahveh your God has commanded you,

Deuteronomy 20:18 so that they won’t teach you to do all the repulsive acts they do for their gods, and you fail Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 20:19 “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. Do not fell them. Are trees of the field human to come under siege by you?

Deuteronomy 20:20 But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce food. You may fell them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

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[1]נְשָׁמָה

Deuteronomy 20 quotes:

“It was just as consistent with the character of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to fight against His enemies, as it is with tlie character of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive them. And inasmuch as it is the revealed character of God that furnishes the model on which His people are to be formed — llie standard by which thej’ are to act, it was quite as consistent for Israel to cut their enemies in pieces as it is for us to love them, pray for them, and do them good.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 316.

“When the Israelites engaged in battle, the greater numbers and superior military equipment (horses and chariots—the Israelite army would consist of infantrymen) of their enemies need cause them no anxiety. Israelite strength lay not in numbers, not in the superiority of their weapons, but in their God.3 The strength of their God was not simply a matter of faith, but a matter of experience; in the Exodus from Egypt, God (the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt) had proved his strength and prowess in war against the strongest enemy that Israel had known.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 271). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 20 links:

confidence instead of fear
destroying the defiled
first seek peace
God’s remedy for defilement
in retrospect- wise warfare
leaving the fruitful trees
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, June 10, 2021
pep talk 1
pep talk 2

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 19

Deuteronomy 19:1 “When Yahveh your God eliminates the nations whose land he is giving you, so that you take possession from them and live in their cities and houses,

Deuteronomy 19:2 you are to separate three cities for yourselves within the land Yahveh your God is giving you to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 19:3 You are to determine the distances and divide the land Yahveh your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

Deuteronomy 19:4 “Here is the instruction concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to stay alive, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him:

Deuteronomy 19:5 If, for example, he goes into the forest with his neighbor to fell timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may run away to one of these cities and stay alive.

Deuteronomy 19:6 Or else, the avenger of blood in the heat of his anger might pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and slit his throat. Yet he did not legally deserve to die since he did not previously hate his neighbor.

Deuteronomy 19:7 This is why I am commanding you, and this is what I say: separate three cities for yourselves.

Deuteronomy 19:8 If Yahveh your God enlarges your territory as he swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land he promised to provide them with –

Deuteronomy 19:9 if you watch every one of these commands I am commanding you today and follow them, loving Yahveh your God and walking in his ways at all times – you are to add three more cities to these three.

Deuteronomy 19:10 In this way, innocent blood will not be shed, and you will not become guilty of bloodshed in the land Yahveh, your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 19:11 But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and runs away to one of these cities,

Deuteronomy 19:12 the elders of his city are to send for him, take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood and he will die.

Deuteronomy 19:13 Do not look on him with pity but purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, and you will prosper.

Deuteronomy 19:14 “Do not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, established at the start in the inheritance you will receive in the land Yahveh your God is giving you to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 19:15 “One witness cannot establish any violation or failure against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:16 “If a malicious witness testifies against someone accusing him of a crime,

Deuteronomy 19:17 the two people in the dispute are to stand in the presence of Yahveh before the priests and judges in authority at that time.

Deuteronomy 19:18 The judges are to make a careful investigation and notice if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely testified against his brother,

Deuteronomy 19:19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from you.

Deuteronomy 19:20 Then everyone else will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything evil like this among you.

Deuteronomy 19:21 Do not show pity: throat for throat, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19 quotes:

“What a very striking combination of “goodness and severity” we observe in these few lines ! We have the “cnttini; off” of the nations of Canaan because of tlieir consummated wickedness, which had become positively’ unbearable ; and on the other hand, we have a most touching display of divine goodness in the provision made for the poor maiislavcr in the day of his deep distress, when flying for his life from the avenger of blood. The government and the goodness of God are, we need hardly say. bolli divinely perfect. There are cases in which (Toodness would be nothing but a toleration of sheer wickedness and open rebellion, which is utterly impossible uniler the government of God. If men imagine that because God is good the}- ma}- go on and sin with a high hand, they will sooner or later find out their woeful mistake.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 303.

“You shall set aside for yourself three cities—bringing the total to six, including those to the east of the Jordan. In the midst of your land—the cities would be allocated on a geographical or regional basis, but not specifically in relation to tribal territory. The purpose of the distribution would be to provide places of refuge within easy access of all areas of Israel’s future land; to have allocated one city per tribe might have defeated the purpose of the cities, by making the law in relation to manslaughter and murder a matter of tribal justice and revenge.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 266). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 19 links:

closing the loophole
covenant abuse
handing over our hurts
in retrospect- taking advantage of grace
innocent blood
shame crimes
the price of refuge

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 18

Deuteronomy 18:1 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat Yahveh’s fire offerings;[1] that is their inheritance.

Deuteronomy 18:2 Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, Yahveh is his inheritance, as he promised him.

Deuteronomy 18:3 This is what the priests legally deserve from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

Deuteronomy 18:4 You are to give him the first of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock.

Deuteronomy 18:5 You see, Yahveh, your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in his name from now on.

Deuteronomy 18:6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns in Israel where he was a guest[2] and wants to go to the place Yahveh chooses,

Deuteronomy 18:7 he may minister in the name of Yahveh, his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there in the presence of Yahveh.

Deuteronomy 18:8 They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.

Deuteronomy 18:9 “When you enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you, do not imitate the repulsive customs of those nations.

Deuteronomy 18:10 No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery,

Deuteronomy 18:11 cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead.

Deuteronomy 18:12 Everyone who does these acts is repulsive to Yahveh, and Yahveh, your God, is taking possession from the nations before you because of these repulsive acts.

Deuteronomy 18:13 You must be complete[3] before Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 18:14 Though these nations you are about to take possession from listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, Yahveh, your God has not permitted you to do this.

Deuteronomy 18:15 “Yahveh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:16 This is what you requested from Yahveh your God at Horeb on the day of the collected assembly, and this is what you said: ‘Let us not hear the voice of Yahveh our God again or see this great fire any longer so that we will not die! ‘

Deuteronomy 18:17 Then Yahveh said to me, ‘They have spoken well.

Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

Deuteronomy 18:19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.

Deuteronomy 18:20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded him to say, or who speaks in the name of other gods — that prophet must die.’

Deuteronomy 18:21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message Yahveh has not spoken?’

Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaks in Yahveh’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message Yahveh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be intimidated by him.

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[1]אִשֶּׁה = fire offering.

[2]גּוּר = guest. Deuteronomy 18:6; 26:5.

[3]תָּמִים = perfect.  Deut. 18:13; 32:4.

Deuteronomy 18 quotes:

“Here, as in every part of the book of Deuteronomy, the priests are classed with the Levites in a very marked way. We have called the reader’s attention to this as a special characteristic feature of our book, and shall not dwell upon it now, but merely, in |)assing, remind the reader of it, as something claiming his attention. Let him weigh the opening words of our chapter, “^The priests the Levites,” and compare them with the way in which the priests the sons of Aaron are spoken of in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers ; and if he should be disposed to ask the reason of this distinction, we believe it to be this, that in Deuteronomy the divine object is, to bring the whole assembly of Israel more into prominence, and hence it is that the priests in their official capacity come rarelj^ before us. The grand Deuteronomic idea is, Israel in immediate relationship ivith Jehovah.

Now, in the passage just quoted, we have the priests and the Levites linked together, and presented as the Lord’s servants, wholly dependent upon Him, and intimately identified with His altar and His service. This is full of interest, and opens up a very important field of practical truth, to which the Church of God would do well to attend.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 281.

“None of the Levites would share a portion and an inheritance with Israel (v. 1)—that is to say, the Levites as a tribe would not have a portion of the promised land assigned to them as tribal land or territory. They shall eat offerings made by fire to the Lord, and his inheritance. If the word ʾishsheh means “offerings by fire,” then the sense is that the Levites would participate in portions of such offerings (cf. v. 3 below). However, it is possible that the word should simply be translated “gifts, offerings,” without any implications of sacrifice. This possibility seems quite likely in the context of the most general part of the legislation; the Levites would be supported by the generosity of the people, who have already been urged not to forget or neglect them.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 258-259). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 18 links:

called to serve elsewhere
completeness in Christ
in retrospect- those who minister
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 7, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 9, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, June 9, 2021
selfish spiritism
telling the difference
the alternative to Mount Doom
the audience factor

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 17

Deuteronomy 17:1 “Do not sacrifice to Yahveh your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, because that is repulsive to Yahveh your God.

Deuteronomy 17:2 “If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that Yahveh your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of Yahveh your God and violating his covenant

Deuteronomy 17:3 and has gone to serve other gods by bowing in worship to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky – about which I have commanded –

Deuteronomy 17:4 and if you are told or hear about it, then investigate it thoroughly. Notice if the report turns out to be true that this repulsive act has been done in Israel,

Deuteronomy 17:5 you are to bring out to your city gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.

Deuteronomy 17:6 The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness.

Deuteronomy 17:7 The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.

Deuteronomy 17:8 “If a judgment is too complicated[1] for you – concerning bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults – cases disputed at your city gates, then go up to the place Yahveh your God chooses.

Deuteronomy 17:9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the judgment.

Deuteronomy 17:10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place Yahveh chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you.

Deuteronomy 17:11 You must abide by the instruction they give you and the judgment they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you.

Deuteronomy 17:12 The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there ministering to Yahveh your God or the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:13 Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly.

Deuteronomy 17:14 “When you enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will place a king over me like all the nations around me,’

Deuteronomy 17:15 you are to place over you the king Yahveh your God chooses. Place a king from among your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you or one who is not of your people.

Deuteronomy 17:16 However, he must only acquire a few horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses because Yahveh has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must acquire a manageable amount of silver and gold for himself.

Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

Deuteronomy 17:19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Yahveh his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these prescriptions.

Deuteronomy 17:20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his fellow citizens, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.

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[1] פָּלָא = complicated, overwhelming. Deuteronomy 17:8; 28:59; 30:11.

Deuteronomy 17 quotes:

“In the closing lines of chapter xvi, Israel is w-arned against the most distant approach to the religious customs of the nations around. “Thou shalt not ])lant thee a grove of an}’ trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy God hateth.” They were carefully to avoid everv thing which might lead them in the direction of the daik and abominable idolatries of the heathen nations around. The altar of God was to stand out in distinct and unmistakable separation from those proves and shady places where false gods were worshiped, and things were done which are not to be named.* In a word, every thing was to be most carefully avoided which might in any way draw the heait away from the one living and true God.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. pp. 258-259.

“There had to be at least two valid witnesses against the accused person in order for a case to be established and the death penalty to be put into effect. One witness was not sufficient in a case of this severity, for in the last resort, the evidence would consist merely in one man’s word against that of another fellow Israelite. For the application of the principle of two or more witnesses in the NT, see Matt. 18:16, 2 Cor. 13:1, 1 Tim. 5:19. The way in which the execution was to be carried out emphasizes the burden of responsibility for truthful testimony that rested on the witness in a case involving capital punishment.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 250-251). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 17 links:

a king who follows God’s rules
arrogant evil
focused to the finish
in retrospect- lex rex
instructions for a future king
repulsive religious acts
the collector reflects on human nature
timeless truths about testifying
trusting the judges

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.