Deuteronomy 20 · Verse 17

Deuteronomy 20:17

But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:
Deuteronomy 20:17, King James Version

Deuteronomy 20:17 in other translations

BSBFor you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you,
WEBbut you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you;
ASVbut thou shalt utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;
YLTfor thou dost certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee,
DARBYbut shalt utterly devote them to destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;
BBEGive them up to the curse; the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has given you orders:
WebsterBut thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

What does Deuteronomy 20:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 20:10-20

10-20. When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it--An important principle is here introduced into the war law of Israel regarding the people they fought against and the cities they besieged. With "the cities of those people which God doth give thee" in Canaan, it was to be a war of utter extermination (De 20:17, 18). But when on a just occasion, they went against other…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 20:10-20 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them - The above reasoning will gain considerable strength, provided we could translate כי החרם תחרימם ki hacharem tacharimem, thou shalt utterly subdue them - slaying them if they resist, and thus leaving nothing alive that breathed; or totally expel them from the land, or reduce them to a state of slavery in it, that they might no longer exist as a people. This certainly made them an anathema as a nation, wholly destroying their political existence. Probably this was so understood by the Gibeonites, viz., that they either must be slain or utterly leave the land, which last was certainly in their power, and therefore, by a stratagem, they got the princes of Israel to make a league with them. When the deceit was discovered, the Israelites, though not bound by their oath, because they were deceived by the Gibeonites, and therefore were under no obligation to fulfill their part of the covenant; yet, though they had this command before their eyes, did not believe that they were bound to put even those deceivers to death; but they destroyed their political existence, by making them hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation; i. e., slaves to the Israelites. (See Joshua 9). Rahab and her household also were spared. So that it does not appear that the Israelites believed that they were bound to put every Canaanite to death. Their political existence was under the anathema, and this the Hebrews annihilated. That many of the Canaanites continued in the land even to the days of Solomon, we have the fullest proof; for we read, 2Chr 8:7 : "All the people of the land that were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were left in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute to this day." Thus Solomon destroyed their political existence, but did not consider himself bound by the law of God to put them to death.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Deuteronomy 20:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
הַחֲרֵ֣םha.cha.Remcertainly <to totally destroy>H2763
תַּחֲרִימֵ֗םta.cha.ri.Memyou will totally destroy themH2763
הַחִתִּ֤יha.chi.Tithe Hittite[s]H2850
וְהָאֱמֹרִי֙ve.ha.'e.mo.Riand the Amorite[s]H567
הַכְּנַעֲנִ֣יha.ke.na.'a.Nithe Canaanite[s]H3669
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔יve.hap.pe.ri.Ziand the Perizzite[s]H6522
הַחִוִּ֖יha.chi.Vithe Hivite[s]H2340
וְהַיְבוּסִ֑יve.hay.vu.Siand the Jebusite[s]H2983
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka.'a.Sherjust asH834
צִוְּךָ֖tzi.ve.Khahe commanded youH6680
יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ\׃'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 20:17

  • Isaiah 34:5-6

    For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

  • Jeremiah 50:35-40

    A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. …

  • Deuteronomy 7:1-2

    When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

  • Ezekiel 38:21-23

    And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 48:10

    Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

  • Revelation 19:18

    That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thou shalt.
Isa 34:5,6; Jer 48:10; 50:35-40; Eze 38:21-23; Re 19:18
the Hittites.
7:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 20:16

    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:

  • Deuteronomy 20:17

    But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

  • Deuteronomy 20:18

    That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

Read all of Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy 20:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Antes del todo los destruirás: al Hetheo, y al Amorrheo, y al Cananeo, y al Pherezeo, y al Heveo, y al Jebuseo; como Jehová tu Dios te ha mandado:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		car tu les détruiras entièrement comme un anathème; le Héthien et l’Amoréen, le Cananéen et le Phérézien, le Hévien et le Jébusien, comme l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, te l’a commandé,
German
Elberfelder 1871		sondern du sollst sie gänzlich verbannen: die Hethiter und die Amoriter, die Kanaaniter und die Perisiter, die Hewiter und die Jebusiter, wie Jehova, dein Gott, dir geboten hat;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		sed interficies in ore gladii, Hethæum videlicet, et Amorrhæum, et Chananæum, Pherezæum, et Hevæum, et Jebusæum, sicut præcepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus: