However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
Parallel translations
- WEB But of the cities of these peoples, that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;
- KJV But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
- NKJV “But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive,
- NASB Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive.
- NLT In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing.
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
In the Canaanite cities God gives as inheritance, nothing that breathes is to be left alive. This unique command was God's judgment on entrenched wickedness.
Overview
The peoples of Canaan were placed under total devotion to destruction, a severe and exceptional command. This was not ethnic hatred but God's righteous judgment on cultures saturated with idolatry and abominations like child sacrifice. It reflects the holiness of God against deep-seated evil and serves as a sober warning about the wages of sin, themes faithful readers approach with reverence and care.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Josh 11:14The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.
- Num 21:2–3So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
- Num 33:52you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Josh 6:17–21Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
- Deut 7:1–4When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
- Num 21:35So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.
- Deut 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Josh 10:40So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
- Josh 10:28On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and put it to the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
- Exod 23:31–33And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
- Josh 11:11–12The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.
- Josh 9:27On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- Josh 9:24The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:16 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.