Deuteronomy 20:3

And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
say	וְאָמַ֤ר ve.'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Hear	שְׁמַ֣ע she.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
approach	קְרֵבִ֥ים ke.re.Vim	H7131	near · adjective, masculine plural absolute
day	הַיּ֛וֹם hai.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
battle	לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה la.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
enemies	אֹיְבֵיכֶ֑ם 'o.ye.vei.Khem	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
hearts	לְבַבְכֶ֗ם le.vav.Khem	H3824	the heart (as the most interior organ) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
faint	יֵרַ֣ךְ ye.Rakh	H7401	to soften (intransitively or transitively) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
fear	תִּֽירְא֧וּ ti.re.'U	H3372	to fear · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
tremble	תַּחְפְּז֛וּ tach.pe.Zu	H2648	properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
terrified	תַּֽעַרְצ֖וּ ta.'ar.Tzu	H6206	to awe or (intransitive) to dread · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
because	מִפְּנֵיהֶֽם mi.pe.nei.Hem	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 3:6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall…
Joshua 23:10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
Psalms 27:1-3 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Isaiah 8:12-13 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in…
Ephesians 6:11-18 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 20:1-9

Israel was at this time to be considered rather as a camp than as a kingdom, entering upon an enemy's country, and not yet settled in a country of their own; and, besides the war they were now entering upon in order to their settlement, even after their settlement they could neither protect nor enlarge their coast without hearing the alarms of war. It was therefore needful that they should have directions given them in their military affairs; and in these verses they are directed in managing, marshalling, and drawing up their own forces. And it is observable that the discipline of war here prescribed is so far from having any thing in it harsh or severe, as is usual in martial law, that the…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 20:2

when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people--Jewish writers say that there was a war priest appointed by a special ceremonial to attend the army. It was natural that the solemn objects and motives of religion should have been applied to animate patriotism, and so give additional impulse to valor; other people have done this. But in the case of Israel, the regular attendance of a priest on the battlefield was in accordance with their theocratic government, in which everything was done directly by God through His delegated ministers. It was the province of this priest to sound the trumpets (Num 10:9; Num 31:6), and he had others under him who…

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John Gill on Deuteronomy 20:3

And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel,.... Exciting their attention to what he was about to say, and which, as Jarchi observes, was spoken in the holy tongue, or in the Hebrew language: you approach this day unto battle against your enemies; were marching or ready to march, preparing to engage with them, and a battle seemed near at hand: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; many words are made use of to animate them against those fears which the strength, number, and appearance of their enemies, would be apt to cause in them. Jarchi observes, that here are four exhortations, answerable to four things which the kings of the nati…

Dictionary and topics

Booty — Captives or cattle or objects of value taken in war. In Canaan all that breathed were to be destroyed (Deut. 20: 16). The “pictures and images” of the Canaanites were to be destroyed also (Num.…
Priests · Services of: Encouraging the people when they went to war — Services of: Encouraging the people when they went to war
Protection · Is vouchsafed to saints in: Defending them against their enemies — Is vouchsafed to saints in: Defending them against their enemies

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Deuteronomy 20:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 20:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 20:2

John Gill on Deuteronomy 20:3

Dictionary and topics

Deuteronomy 20:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 20:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 20:2

John Gill on Deuteronomy 20:3

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Deuteronomy 20:1-4

Keil & Delitzsch on Deuteronomy 20:1-9

Rashi on Deuteronomy 20:3