Deuteronomy 20:15

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite host on the plains of Moab, issuing military statutes immediately prior to the Jordan crossing. He delineates wartime protocol to distinguish between external territories and the specific nations designated for inheritance.

The words — כֵּן (ken) means "thus" or "in this manner," and רְחֹקֹת (re.cho.Kot) means "distant." These terms establish the conditional scope that governs the subsequent treatment of foreign urban centers.

The thread — The clause operates as the central pivot in a three-part legal sequence, directly connected to the plunder regulations in Deuteronomy 20:14 and the annihilation mandate in Deuteronomy 20:16. It does not appear as an independent category elsewhere in the supplied context.

Why it lands — The text requires strict classification of target cities based on distance and political allegiance. It demands that readers apply different wartime standards to distant cities, which permit regulated spoil, versus nearby nations, which face total destruction.

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.