and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
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Deuteronomy 20:3-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
Parallel Translations
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and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;
for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
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And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Show all 3 translations
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and shall say unto them: 'Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your heart faint; fear not, nor be alarmed, neither be ye affrighted at them;
for the LORD your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (33)
- Exodus 14:14 (v4) Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”
- Joshua 23:10 (vv3–4) One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.
- Deuteronomy 1:30 (v4) Yahweh your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
- Deuteronomy 3:22 (v4) You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God himself fights for you.”
- Deuteronomy 11:25 (v4) No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on,…
Show all 32 cross-references
- Romans 8:37 (v4) No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- Psalms 3:6 (v3) I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me on every side.
- Psalms 144:1-2 (v4) Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle: my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my…
- Hebrews 13:6 (v3) So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
- Deuteronomy 32:30 (v4) How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
- 2 Chronicles 13:12 (v4) Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t…
- Revelation 2:10 (v3) Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be…
- 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (v4) “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude who is with him; for there…
- Psalms 27:1-3 (v3) Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers came…
- Isaiah 8:12-13 (v3) “Don’t say, ‘A conspiracy!’ concerning all about which this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’ neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.…
- Joshua 10:42 (v4) Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
- Matthew 10:28 (v3) Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body…
- Ephesians 6:11-18 (v3) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and…
- 1 Timothy 6:12 (v3) Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight…
- Hebrews 12:12-13 (v3) Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be…
- Matthew 10:31 (v3) Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
- Isaiah 28:16 (v3) Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure…
- Isaiah 35:3-4 (v3) Strengthen the weak hands, and make the feeble knees firm. Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your…
- Isaiah 41:10-14 (v3) Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will…
- Isaiah 57:7-8 (v3) On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice. You have set up your memorial behind the…
- Matthew 8:26 (v3) He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
- Matthew 10:16 (v3) “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Mark 16:6 (v3) He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place…
- Mark 16:18 (v3) they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will…
- Acts 18:9-10 (v3) The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack…
- Acts 27:24 (v3) saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
- 1 Thessalonians 5:15 (v3) See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all.
32 distinct cross-references across this passage (33 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 Is present to defend you with his grace and…
Is present to defend you with his grace and power.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Deu 20:3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O…
Deu 20:3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
Ver. 4. For the Lord your God is he.] Quid metuit homo in sinu Dei positus, Deo armatus? Creatures of an inferior nature will be courageous in the presence of their masters: and shall not men, when they have God with them? Xerxes was wont to pitch his tent on high, and stand looking on his army when in fight, to encourage them. So God.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v3 Faint, Heb. be soft or tender. Softness or tenderness…
Faint, Heb. be soft or tender. Softness or tenderness of heart towards God is commended, 2Ki 22:19, but towards enemies it is condemned, here and Deu 20:8; Lev 26:36; 2Ch 13:7; Isa 7:4.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–4 And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel,.... Exciting…
And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel,.... Exciting their attention to what he was about to say, and which, as Jarchi observes, was spoken in the holy tongue, or in the Hebrew language:
you approach this day unto battle against your enemies; were marching or ready to march, preparing to engage with them, and a battle seemed near at hand:
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let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; many words are made use of to animate them against those fears which the strength, number, and appearance of their enemies, would be apt to cause in them. Jarchi observes, that here are four exhortations, answerable to four things which the kings of the nations do (in order to inject terror into their enemies); they shake their shields, to clash them one against another, that hearing their noise they may be afraid of them and flee; they prance their horses, and make them neigh, to cause the noise of the hoofs of their horses to be heard; they shout with their voices, and blow with their trumpets: and accordingly these several clauses are so interpreted in the Misnah (e)""and let not your hearts faint"; at the neighing of the horses, and the brightness of swords: "fear not"; at the clashing of shields: "and do not tremble"; at the sound of trumpets: "neither be ye terrified" at the voice of shouting;''and no doubt but it takes in everything that has a tendency to cause fear, faintness, and dismay, which they are cautioned against.
(e) Misn. Sotah, c. 8. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Back. Hebrew, "do not quake," (Haydock) or fall into…
Back. Hebrew, "do not quake," (Haydock) or fall into disorder, hurry, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v4 your God is he that goeth with you, to…
your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you--According to Jewish writers, the ark was always taken into the field of combat. But there is no evidence of this in the sacred history; and it must have been a sufficient ground of encouragement to be assured that God was on their side.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–4 3. fear not, etc.] neither the standing phrase of…
3. fear not, etc.] neither the standing phrase of Pl. nor that of Sg.: see on Deu_1:29.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–4 (3) Let not your hearts faint, fear not.—In these…
(3) Let not your hearts faint, fear not.—In these words Isaiah strengthened Ahaz (Deu_7:4): “fear not, neither be faint-hearted.”
Tremble.—As in the Margin, “make haste.” (Comp. 2Sa_4:4, and 2Ki_7:15.)
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Be ye terrified.—A strong word. The idea is, “do not even be unnerved, much less alarmed, at the sight of them.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 20:4 He will fight for you: This promise affirms…
20:4 He will fight for you: This promise affirms that God initiates wars, carries them out, and brings them to successful conclusion against his enemies. The purpose of war initiated by God was to eradicate hopelessly unrepentant enemies and prevent them from contaminating his people (see 1:30).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.