Now if the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
Parallel translations
- WEB If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it.
- KJV And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
- BSB But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.
- NASB However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
- NLT But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If a distant city refuses peace and makes war, Israel is to besiege it. Rejection of peace led to conflict.
Overview
When a city chose war over the offered peace, Israel was to lay siege to it. The terms gave the city a genuine choice, and the consequences followed from its own refusal. This sober reality underscores that the rejection of peace brings judgment, a pattern that warns against spurning God's offer of reconciliation.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 20:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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