Deuteronomy 20:19-20
New English Translation
19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it,[a] you must not chop down its trees,[b] for you may eat fruit[c] from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it![d] 20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food,[e] and you may use it to build siege works[f] against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.
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- Deuteronomy 20:19 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”
- Deuteronomy 20:19 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).
- Deuteronomy 20:19 tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 20:19 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”
- Deuteronomy 20:20 tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”
- Deuteronomy 20:20 tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.
Deuteronomy 20:19-20
Common English Bible
19 Now if you have been attacking a city for some time, fighting against it and trying to conquer it, don’t destroy its trees by cutting them down with axes. You can eat from those trees; don’t cut them down! Do you think a tree of the field is some sort of warrior to be attacked by you in battle? 20 That said, if you know that a tree is not a food-producing tree, you are allowed to destroy it, cutting it down and using it in the siege against the city that is fighting against you until it falls.
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