Deuteronomy 13:15

Deuteronomy 13:15

Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

a. NASB 1995: You shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, [fn]utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. YLT: 'Thou dost surely smite the inhabitants of that city by the mouth of the sword; devoting it, and all that is in it, even its cattle, by the mouth of the sword;  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly and all who are in it and its beasts with the edge of the sword.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary [Deuteronomy 13:15 in our Bible is Deuteronomy 13:16 in the Jewish Bible]:You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword; lay it waste and everything that is in it, and its animals, with the edge of the sword.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: You shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

a. [Thou shalt] surely [Strong: 5221 nâkâh, naw-kaw'; a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively):—beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), × go forward, × indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, × surely, wound.]

b. smite [Strong: 5221 nâkâh, naw-kaw'; a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively):—beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), × go forward, × indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, × surely, wound.]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [the] inhabitants [Strong: 3427 yâshab, yaw-shab'; a primitive root; properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry:—(make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, × fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, × marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(-tle), (down-) sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.]

e. [of] that [Strong: 1931 hûwʼ, hoo; of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא hîyʼ; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular; he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:—he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

f. city [Strong: 5892 ʻîyr, eer; or (in the plural) עָר ʻâr; or עָיַר ʻâyar; (Judges 10:4), from H5782 a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post):—Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.]

g. [with the] edge [Strong: 6310 peh, peh; from H6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according to:—accord(-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command(-ment), × eat, edge, end, entry, file, hole, × in, mind, mouth, part, portion, × (should) say(-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, × spoken, talk, tenor, × to, two-edged, wish, word.]

h. [of the] sword [Strong: 2719 chereb, kheh'-reb; from H2717; drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement:—axe, dagger, knife, mattock, sword, tool.]

i. destroying…utterly [Strong: 2763 châram, khaw-ram'; a primitive root; to seclude; specifically (by a ban) to devote to religious uses (especially destruction); physical and reflexive, to be blunt as to the nose:—make accursed, consecrate, (utterly) destroy, devote, forfeit, have a flat nose, utterly (slay, make away).]

j. it [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

k. and [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

l. all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

m. that [is therein] [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

n. and [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

o. [the] cattle [Strong: 929 bᵉhêmâh, be-hay-maw'; from an unused root (probably meaning to be mute); properly, a dumb beast; especially any large quadruped or animal (often collective):—beast, cattle.]

p. [with the] edge [Strong: 6310 peh, peh; from H6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according to:—accord(-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command(-ment), × eat, edge, end, entry, file, hole, × in, mind, mouth, part, portion, × (should) say(-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, × spoken, talk, tenor, × to, two-edged, wish, word.]

q. [of the] sword [Strong: 2719 chereb, kheh'-reb; from H2717; drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement:—axe, dagger, knife, mattock, sword, tool.]

1). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities.—The only case of this kind is the case of Gibeah. We may fairly assume the abominations done there to have been connected with idolatry, from the allusions in Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9. But the outrage rather than the idolatry seems to have excited the indignation of Israel (see Judges 20, 21). It is noticeable that in the remonstrance with the Benjamites at Gibeah—(Judges 20:13): “Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel”—there seems to be an allusion to the language of this chapter in Deuteronomy 13:5; Deuteronomy 13:11.