Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 21:10
When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, establishing legal parameters for conduct during military campaigns. The verse introduces a conditional scenario regarding the handling of captives taken after divine victory.
The words — תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה (te.Tze' la.mil.cha.Mah) literally translates to "you will go out to war." The particle כִּי (ki) at the opening marks the passage as a hypothetical legal case rather than a direct command.
The thread — The framework of God delivering enemies into human hands appears in Deuteronomy 20:10 and finds historical fulfillment in Joshua 21:44. This motif anchors Israel's military actions within a pattern of divine provision rather than autonomous conquest.
Why it lands — The text states that victory precedes captivity, placing the initiative of deliverance with God before any human action. It requires the reader to recognize that wartime conduct must be governed by divine boundary rather than human ambition.
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
King James Version
When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 20:10 When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.
- Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.