This is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.
Parallel translations
- WEB Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
- KJV Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
- BSB This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
- NKJV Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
- NLT “But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter.
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
These rules of offered peace and limited destruction apply to distant cities, not the Canaanite nations. A different standard governed the land's own peoples.
Overview
This verse clarifies that the preceding merciful war policy applied to cities far off, outside Canaan. The nations within the promised land were under a distinct command, explained next. This distinction shows that the harsher treatment of Canaan was a specific, limited act of divine judgment, not a general pattern.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 20:15 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.