Deuteronomy 20:19 meaning and explanation
When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?
Deuteronomy 20:19, Berean Standard Bible
Explanation preview
Moses is instructing Israel on the conduct of war as they prepare to enter Canaan. Ancient siege warfare often stripped a region bare, cutting fruit trees for timber and to starve the defenders.
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