Deuteronomy 20:12

But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite forces before they enter Canaan, establishing procedural rules for siege warfare against hostile cities.

The words — `mil.cha.Mah` (war) and `ve./tzar.Ta` (you will lay siege) mark the conditional trigger for military escalation.

The thread — The sequence opens with a peace offer in Deuteronomy 20:11 and closes with the execution of males in Deuteronomy 20:13, positioning this verse as the required tactical intermediate step.

Why it lands — The text commands a conditional response: verify the city's stance, apply siege tactics if warfare is declared, and await divine delivery before proceeding to the next stage.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if לֹ֤אlo'not תַשְׁלִים֙tash.Limit will make peace עִמָּ֔ךְ'i.Ma/khwith/ you וְעָשְׂתָ֥הve./'a.se.Tahand/ it will make עִמְּךָ֖'i.me./Khawith/ you מִלְחָמָ֑הmil.cha.Mahwar וְצַרְתָּ֖ve./tzar.Taand/ you will lay siege עָלֶֽיהָ׃'a.Lei./haon/ it

King James Version

And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: