"But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee {for} an inheritance, thou shalt save alive not…" — Deuteronomy 20:16

Deuteronomy 20:16 · KJV

“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 20:16

Verse 15

Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities {which are} very far off from thee, which {are} not of the cities of these nations.

Verse 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 — Context

But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, {even} all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. {take: Heb. spoil}

Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities {which are} very far off from thee, which {are} not of the cities of these nations.

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:

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:

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.

Cross References

Joshua 11:14

And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.

Numbers 21:2-3

And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

Numbers 33:52

Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

Deuteronomy 7:1-4

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;

Joshua 6:17-21

And the city shall be accursed, {even} it, and all that {are} therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that {are} with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. {accursed: or, devoted}

Joshua 10:40

So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.

Exodus 23:31-33

And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

Joshua 11:11-12

And they smote all the souls that {were} therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying {them}: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire. {any...: Heb. any breath}