What Does Deuteronomy 20:9 Mean?

to exist, i.e., be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)

“have made an end”

to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume)

“And it shall be when the officers”

properly, a scribe, i.e., (by analogy or implication) an official superintendent or magistrate

“of speaking”

perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue

near, with or among; often in general, to

“the people”

a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock

“that they shall make”

to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit, etc

“captains”

a head person (of any rank or class)

“of the armies”

a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army); by implication, a campaign, literally or figuratively (speci

“to lead”

the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)

“the people”

a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock