The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.”
Parallel Translations
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The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.”
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And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.
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And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say: 'What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his heart.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 20:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 7:3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
- Deuteronomy 1:28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’ ”
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Acts 15:37-38 Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also. But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them to do the work.
- Numbers 32:9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them.
- Deuteronomy 23:9 When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing.
- Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom.”
- Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
- Numbers 13:31–14:3 But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?”
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
- Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 20:8 And the officers shall speak further unto…
Deu 20:8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man [is there that is] fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.
Ver. 9. Captains of the armies to lead the people.] As Hannibal did, of whom Livy {a} reports, that Princeps proelium inibat, ultimus, conserto proelio, excedebat; he was first in the battle, and last out. And the same is storied of Albert, marquess of Brandenburg: In congressibus prior pugnam iniit, victor h praelio excessit ultimus. {b}
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{a} Decad. iii. lib. i.
{b} Bucholc.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the officers shall speak further unto the people,....…
And the officers shall speak further unto the people,.... According to Maimonides (n), the priest the anointed of war spoke to the end of Deu 20:7 and which the officers repeated after him to the people aloud, as before observed; and then after that an officer speaks of himself, or in his own words, and not in those of the priest, as follows:
what man that is fearful, &c. and then another officer causes all the people to hear it:
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and they shall say, what man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? that has not courage to face his enemies, to whom the terrors of war, and especially of death, are dreadful; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"because of his sin;''whose sins stare him in the face, and lie heavy on his conscience; so that he is afraid he shall die in battle, and in his sins, and suffer divine vengeance; both these senses are observed in the Misnah (y). According to R. Akiba, a fearful and fainthearted man is one"that cannot stand in battle array, or behold a drawn sword; but R. Jose the Galilean says, he is one that is afraid of the transgressions he has committed; and therefore the law joins to this all those things for which a man may return;''as having built a new house, planted a vineyard, and betrothed a wife; that so it might be thought it was on account of one or other of these that he returned, and not through faintheartedness, either because of the terrors of war, or of his own conscience for his sins:
let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart; lest, by his pale looks and trembling joints, his fainting fits and swoons, he discourage the rest in the same company with him, and by his example make them unfit for war also.
(n) Ut supra. (Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 3.) (y) Misn. Sotah, c. 8. sect. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. What man is there that is fearful…
Verse 8. What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted?] The original רך rach, signifies tender or soft-hearted. And a soft heart the man must have who, in such a contest, after such a permission, could turn his back upon his enemies and his brethren. However, such were the troops commanded by Gideon in his war against the Midianites; for after he gave this permission, out of 32,000 men only 10,000 remained to fight! Jdg 7:3. There could be no deception in a business of this kind; for the departure of the 22,000 was the fullest proof of their dastardliness which they could possibly give.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Fear. Such often occasion the loss of battles. Alexander…
Fear. Such often occasion the loss of battles. Alexander sent away all who had not courage to follow him in his expeditions. (Curtius x.) The Rabbins condemn these faint-hearted soldiers to carry water, &c., for the army, to prepare the roads and places for encampments. (Calmet) --- But this seems contrary to the intention of the lawgiver, who sends them back to their houses.
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Fearful and fainthearted — These were to leave…
8. Fearful and fainthearted — These were to leave the army. Only the valorous were to constitute the force that was to go forth to battle.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. shall speak further] The change in the formula…
8. shall speak further] The change in the formula is no proof that this is a later addition to the law (as Steuern. avers).
fearful and fainthearted] It is true that such were also supposed to be possessed by evil spirits (Schwally). For a Celtic analogy see Scott’s Fair Maid of Perth, in which Conacher’s timidity is attributed by his foster-father to possession. But there is no evidence of such a superstition here. The rule is rather in sympathy with this Book’s constant insistence upon whole-hearted devotion in the service of God. In no direction of life is He content with less. Cp. Jdg_7:3.
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lest his brethren’s heart, etc.] ‘Fear is catching.’ (M. Henry.)
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The shoterim were also to allow any that were…
The shoterim were also to allow any that were naturally timid and fainthearted to return to their homes, lest, if they remained with the host, others, infected by them, should lose courage and become unfit for service. His brethren"s heart faint; literally, flow down or melt (cf. Jos_7:5) in Deu_1:28, this verb is rendered by "discouraged."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues describing situations that allow a man to leave the military.
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What man is there who is fearful or fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house
"If any soldier here is afraid and not brave, he should go back to his house"
fearful or fainthearted
Both of these words mean basically the same thing. AT: "afraid to fight in battle" (See: Doublet)
his brother's heart does not melt like his own heart
This is an idiom. AT: "another Israelite does not become afraid like he is afraid" (See: Idiom)
brother's heart ... his own heart
Here "heart" represents a person's courage. (See: Metonymy)
they must appoint commanders over them
"the officers must appoint people to be commanders and to lead the people of Israel"
translationWords
brother
heart
appoint
commander
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.