_A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451._
The exhortation of the priest to them who were going to battle,
Deuteronomy 20:1. The dismission of them who were engaged in business,
or faint-hearted, Deuteronomy 20:5. How they were to treat distant
cities, Deuteronomy 20:10. The cities of the Canaanites, Deuteronomy
20:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies_ The land of
Canaan being to be gained by conquest, in a war of God's special
appointment; and the Israelites, after their settlement in it, being
likely to be exposed to invasions from, or quarrels with the
neighbouring nations, Moses judged it n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The priest shall approach_ The Jews say there was a priest anointed
for the purpose, whose office, as we may gather from Numbers 31:6, was
to blow with the trumpet when they were preparing for battle. _And_
shall _speak to the people_ Probably exhorting them, in the most
persuasive manner, to a cou... [ Continue Reading ]
_What man is there_ This and the following exceptions are to be
understood only of a war allowed by God, not in a war commanded by
God, not in the approaching war with the Canaanites, from which even
the bridegroom was not exempt, as the Jewish writers note. _Hath
planted a vineyard_ This and the fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hath betrothed a wife_ The time allowed in this case was a year,
Deuteronomy 24:5. This was a law of great humanity, that conjugal love
might not be disturbed, but have time to knit into a firm and lasting
affection. _What man is fearful and faint-hearted_ This fearfulness is
to be understood, say... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall make captains_ Or rather, as the Hebrew is, _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. It is not likely they had their
captain to make when they... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt save alive nothing_ No human creature; for the beasts,
some few excepted, were given for a prey. This slaughter of all the
people is to be understood only in case they did not surrender when
summoned, but rejected the conditions of peace when offered them. In
which case their condition w... [ Continue Reading ]
_That they teach you not to do after all their abominations_ Here is
the great reason for the aforesaid severe execution; they were most
abominable idolaters, who offered their children to Moloch; they were
_magicians, wizards, necromancers_, and guilty of all those
abominations and filthy lusts men... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not destroy the trees_ Which is to be understood of a
general destruction of them, not of cutting down some few of them, as
the convenience of the siege might require. _Man's life_ The
sustenance or support of his life.... [ Continue Reading ]