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Passage Research

Deuteronomy 20 — Sermon Preparation

Before battle, the fearful and newly married may go home; distant cities may be offered terms of peace; Canaanite cities must be utterly destroyed to prevent Israel from learning their practices. Below is a research summary for Deuteronomy 20, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

20
verses
316 / 131
Hebrew words / lemmas
8
classic sermon excerpts
3
preachers & commentators

Deuteronomy 20 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

HebrewTransliterationStrong'sCountGlosses
מִלְחָמָהmilchâmâhH44218battle, engagement
עַםʻamH59718people, tribe
עִירʻîyrH58927city, waking
שֹׁטֵרshôṭêrH78603scribe, official superintendent
לֵבָבlêbâbH38244heart
אֹיֵבʼôyêbH3414hating, adversary
עֵץʻêtsH60864tree, wood

How preachers through history handled this text

8 public-domain excerpts on Deuteronomy 20, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Calvin4Matthew Henry3John Wesley1

“The Israelites are here directed about the nations on whom they made war. Let this show God's grace in dealing with sinners. He proclaims peace, and beseeches them to be reconciled. Let it also show us our duty in dealing with our brethren. Whoever are for war, we must be for peace. Of the cities given to Israel, none of their inhabitants must be left. Since it could not be expected that they should be cured of their idolatry, they would hurt Israel. These regulations are not the rules of our conduct, but Christ's law of love. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Deuteronomy 20:10–30 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Egypt— Deut 20:1

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