Deuteronomy 20:17

Christian Standard Bible ®

You must completely destroy them—the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amori, the Kana`ani, and the Perizzi, the Hivvi, and the Yevusi; as the LORD your God has commanded you;

King James Version
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:

Lexham English Bible
Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you,

English Standard Version
but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,

New Century Version
Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded.

New English Translation
Instead you must utterly annihilate them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded you,

Amplified Bible
"But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you,

New American Standard Bible
"Instead, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you,

Geneva Bible (1587)
But shalt vtterly destroy them: to wit, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, & the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,

Legacy Standard Bible
But you shall devote them to destruction, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you,

Contemporary English Version
He has commanded you to completely wipe out the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Complete Jewish Bible
Rather you must destroy them completely — the Hitti, the Emori, the Kena‘ani, the P'rizi, the Hivi and the Y'vusi — as Adonai your God has ordered you;

Darby Translation
but shalt utterly devote them to destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;

Easy-to-Read Version
You must completely destroy all the people—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this.

George Lamsa Translation
But you shall utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD your God has commanded you;

Good News Translation
Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do.

Literal Translation
But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as Jehovah your God has commanded you;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
but shalt vtterly destroye the, namely the Hethites, Amorites, Cananites, Pheresites, Heuites, & Iebusites, as the LORDE thy God hath commaunded the,

American Standard Version
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;

Bible in Basic English
Give them up to the curse; the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has given you orders:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But shalt destroy them without redemption, namely the Hethites, the Amorites, the Chanaanites, the Pherezites, the Heuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lorde thy God hath commaunded thee:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
but thou shalt utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee;

King James Version (1611)
But thou shalt vtterly destroy them, namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
but ye shall surely curse them, the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Gergesite; as the Lord thy God commanded thee:

English Revised Version
but thou shalt utterly destroy them; the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Berean Standard Bible
For you must devote them to complete destruction-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites-as the LORD your God has commanded you,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
but thou schalt sle bi the scharpnesse of swerd; that is to seie, Ethei, and Ammorrey, and Cananei, Ferezei, Euey, and Jebusei, as `thi Lord God comaundide to thee;

Young's Literal Translation
for thou dost certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee,

Update Bible Version
but you shall completely destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Yahweh your God has commanded you;

Webster's Bible Translation
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:

World English Bible
but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Yahweh your God has commanded you;

New King James Version
but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you,

New Living Translation
You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.

New Life Bible
Destroy everything and everyone in them, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has told you.

New Revised Standard
You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But thou shalt devote them to destruction - the Hittites and the Amorites the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, - as Yahweh thy God hath commanded thee:

Douay-Rheims Bible
But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

Revised Standard Version
but you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Per'izzites, the Hivites and the Jeb'usites, as the LORD your God has commanded;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you,

Contextual Overview

¹⁰“When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace. ¹¹If it accepts 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. ¹²However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it. ¹³When the Lord your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword. ¹⁴But 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 the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁵This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations. ¹⁶However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. ¹⁷You must completely destroy them—the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite—as the Lord your God has commanded you, ¹⁸so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable acts they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God. 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 cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thou shalt: Isaiah 34:5, Isaiah 34:6, Jeremiah 48:10, Jeremiah 50:35-40, Ezekiel 38:21-23, Revelation 19:18

the Hittites: Deuteronomy 7:1

Reciprocal: Leviticus 27:28 - no devoted Deuteronomy 7:2 - utterly Deuteronomy 31:5 - according Joshua 6:21 - utterly Joshua 10:28 - them Joshua 11:12 - as Moses Joshua 11:20 - as the Lord 1 Chronicles 1:14 - Amorite Ezra 9:1 - of the Canaanites Psalms 106:34 - concerning Ezekiel 16:3 - Amorite

Cross-References

Genesis 20:7
Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”

Genesis 20:10
Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?”

Genesis 20:11
Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’

Genesis 20:12
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.

Ezra 6:10
so that they can offer sacrifices of pleasing aroma to the God of the heavens and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord,but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked,but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

Isaiah 45:11
This is what the Lord,the Holy One of Israel and its Maker, says:“Ask me what is to happen to my sons,and instruct me about the work of my hands.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But thou shalt utterly destroy them,.... Men, women, and children: some think this is to be understood only of such cities which did not accept of terms of peace; for they are of opinion that Joshua made proclamation of peace to all the cities of Canaan; which being not complied with, he destroyed them as they fell into his hands; and they suppose that the Gibeonites had not heard of such a proclamation, and therefore were spared; and it is certain that there were many who were suffered to live among them, who it may be thought were allowed on their becoming proselytes, which was one of the terms of peace, as Rahab and her household did, and which is the sense of some of the Jewish writers. Jarchi on the following verse observes, that if they repented, and became proselytes, they might be received: namely,

the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; one of the seven nations is here omitted, the Girgashites, as they are also in Exodus 23:23. It is said b, that

"Joshua sent three letters into the land of Israel before they went into it; in the first, whoever would turn (and flee) might; in the second, whoever would make peace might; in the third, whoever would make war might: the Girgashites, believing God, went to Africa, according to Isaiah 36:17, the land there is Africa; the Gibeonites made peace and dwelt in the land; thirty one kings made war, and fell:''

as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; Deuteronomy 7:1.

b T. Hieros. Shebiith, fol. 37. 3. Debarim Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 241. 2. Vid. Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 6. sect. 5. & Migdol Oz in ib.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Directions intended to prevent wanton destruction of life and property in sieges.

Deuteronomy 20:16

Forbearance, however, was not to be shown toward the Canaanite nations, which were to be utterly exterminated (compare Deuteronomy 7:1-4). The command did not apply to beasts as well as men (compare Joshua 11:11, Joshua 11:14).

Deuteronomy 20:19

The parenthesis may he more literally rendered “for man is a tree of the field,” i. e., has his life from the tree of the field, is supported in life by it (compare Deuteronomy 24:6). The Egyptians seem invariably to have cut down the fruit-trees in war.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 20:17. But thou shalt utterly destroy them — The above reasoning will gain considerable strength, provided we could translate כי החרם תחרימם hi 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. Probably this was so understood by the Gibeonites, viz., that they either must be slain or utterly leave the land, which last was certainly in their power, and therefore, by a stratagem, they got the princes of Israel to make a league with them. When the deceit was discovered, the Israelites, though not bound by their oath, because they were deceived by the Gibeonites, and therefore were under no obligation to fulfil their part of the covenant; yet, though they had this command before their eyes, did not believe that they were bound to put even those deceivers to death; but they destroyed their political existence, by making them hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation; i. e., slaves to the Israelites. (See Joshua 9:23) Rahab and her household also were spared. So that it does not appear that the Israelites believed that they were bound to put every Canaanite to death. Their political existence was under the anathema, and this the Hebrews annihilated.

That many of the Canaanites continued in the land even to the days of Solomon, we have the fullest proof; for we read, 2 Chronicles 8:7: "All the people of the land that were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were left in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute to this day." Thus Solomon destroyed their political existence, but did not consider himself bound by the law of God to put them to death.