Passage

Deuteronomy 20.10-11

Book: Deuteronomy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"8. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his heart. 9. And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint captains of hosts at the head of the people."

"10. When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found therein shall become tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee."

"12. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13. and when Jehovah thy God delivereth it into thy hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:" (Deuteronomy 20:8-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"8. The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.” 9. It shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people."

"10. When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. 11. It shall be, if it makes you answer of peace, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you."

"12. If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13. When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword;" (Deuteronomy 20:8-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"8. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. ^{faint: Heb. melt} 9. And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. ^{to lead: Heb. to be in the head of the people}"

"10. When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee."

"12. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13. And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:" (Deuteronomy 20:8-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"8. 'And the authorities have added to speak unto the people, and said, Who [is] the man that is afraid and tender of heart?, let him go and turn back to his house, and the heart of his brethren doth not melt like his heart; 9. and it hath come to pass as the authorities finish to speak unto the people, that they have appointed princes of the hosts at the head of the people."

"10. 'When thou drawest near unto a city to fight against it, then thou hast called unto it for Peace, 11. and it hath been, if Peace it answer thee, and hath opened to thee, then it hath come to pass, all the people who are found in it are to thee for tributaries, and have served thee."

"12. 'And if it doth not make peace with thee, and hath made with thee war, then thou hast laid siege against it, 13. and Jehovah thy God hath given it into thy hand, and thou hast smitten every male of it by the mouth of the sword." (Deuteronomy 20:8-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Canaanite Conquest Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.