Deuteronomy 20:19

If in war a town is shut in by your armies for a long time, do not let its trees be cut down and made waste; for their fruit will be your food; are the trees of the countryside men for you to take up arms against them?

Bible in Basic English

In The King James Version

When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life ) to employ them in the siege:

In Context

18So that you may not take them as your example and do all the disgusting things which they do in the worship of their gods, so sinning against the Lord your God.

20Only those trees which you are certain are not used for food may be cut down and put to destruction: and you are to make walls of attack against the town till it is taken.

Read all of Deuteronomy 20

Cross References

2 Kings 3:19And you are to put every walled town to destruction, cutting down every good tree, and stopping up every water-spring, and making all the good land rough with stones.

Matthew 3:10And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire.

Matthew 21:19And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead.

John 15:2He takes away every branch in me which has no fruit, and every branch which has fruit he makes clean, so that it may have more fruit.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 20:11-20

Proclamations of War; Directions Concerning War. ( b. c. 1451.) 10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13 And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 20:19