2 Kings 3:18,19

Didn’t Israel violate the law of warfare by destroying fruit trees?

PROBLEM: Moses had commanded the armies of Israel about their enemy’s land saying, “You shall not destroy its trees” (Deuteronomy 20:19). However, here in 2 Kings they were instructed to “cut down every good tree.”

SOLUTION: Some scholars believe that the Deuteronomy law applies only to using fruit trees for siege-works, since it says “do not cut them down to use in the siege” (Deuteronomy 20:19). This fits with the fact that Deuteronomy explicitly states that the reason for not destroying fruit trees was that “the tree of the field is man’s food” (Deuteronomy 20:19).