An Overview of Deuteronomy Chapters 20-24 Answers

1. What comfort did the children of Israel have when they went into battle?

• “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people

more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land

of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak

unto the people, 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” (Deuteronomy

20:1-4).

2. Who could be “excused” from battle?

• One who has not dedicated his house to the Lord (Deuteronomy 20:5).

• A man who has a newly planted vineyard he’s not eaten the fruit of (Deuteronomy 20:6).

• A man betrothed to a woman he has not taken (Deuteronomy 20:7). We will see later a qualification to

a newly married man [in the first year] as well (Deuteronomy 24:5).

• A man that feared, lest he cause others to do the same (Deuteronomy 20:8).

• Some of these excuses were made by Jews to escape the work of our Lord (Luke 14:15-24).

3. What difference was there in war against some people, versus war with the people of the land God was giving the
children of Israel for an inheritance?

• “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it

make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall

be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war

against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou

shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle,

and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of

thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very

far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people, which the Lord

thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly

destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the

Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee” (Deuteronomy 20:10-17).

4. Why were the children of Israel to kill everyone in the land which they were to inherit?

• “That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so

should ye sin against the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 20:18).

5. What was to be done if a person was murdered and no one knew what occurred?

• “If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and

it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure

unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain

man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not

drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither

eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: And the priests the sons of Levi shall

come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord;

and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: And all the elders of that city, that are

next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: And they shall

answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord,

unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's

charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among

you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 21:1-9).

6. Outside of the land inherited by the children of Israel wherein all were to be killed, what would a man of Israel do if
he wanted a wife of a conquered land?

• “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, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a

desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and

she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and

shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in

unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife” (Deuteronomy 21:10-13).

7. If a man took a woman of a land Israel conquered to be his wife, did he have to keep her as his wife if he had no
delight in her?

• No, but he could not sell her either (Deuteronomy 21:14).

8. Could a man have more than one wife under the Law of Moses?

• Yes, (Deuteronomy 21:15).

• Such is not the case today (I Corinthians 7:2).

9. If a man had two wives and hated one, could he dismiss a son from that relationship by withholding that boy’s
inheritance?

• No, he should get double portion (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).

10. What was done to a stubborn and rebellious son in Israel?

• “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of

his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his

mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they

shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a

glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put

evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. And if a man have committed a sin worthy of

death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the

tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be

not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 21:18-23).

11. Was the idea of “if I find it, I keep it” lawful amongst the children of Israel?

• No, (Deuteronomy 22:1-4).

12. Should a man or woman try to dress themselves to look as the opposite sex?

• No, it’s an abomination to the Lord (Deuteronomy 22:5).

13. Why were the children of Israel instructed to construct the roofs of their houses with safety in mind?

• Yes, (Deuteronomy 22:8). A battlement [parapet] is a low wall or railing to protect the edge of a

platform, roof, or bridge.

14. Did God try to instruct His children not to mix things which do not belong together?

• Yes, He told them not to mix seeds, plow with an ox and ass together, and not to wear different types of

garments together (Deuteronomy 20:9-11; cf. Leviticus 19:19).

15. What would occur if a man took a wife and charged her as not being a virgin?

• “If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her,

and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a

maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's

virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my

daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her,

saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they

shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and

chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the

damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may

not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her

with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so

shalt thou put evil away from among you” (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).

16. What was the punishment of adultery?

• Death (Deuteronomy 22:22).

17. What was the difference between the punishments of a betrothed virgin having a consensual sexual relationship
with another man and her being forced into a sexual encounter with another man?

• Both die if consensual whereas the only the man dies if it is rape (Deuteronomy 22:25-27).

18. What was expected of a male and female who had “premarital” sex wherein the woman was not betrothed to
another?

• “If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and

they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and

she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days” (Deuteronomy 22:

28-29; cf. Exodus 22:16).

19. What did a Eunuch, Bastard, Ammonite, and Moabite have in common?

• They were not permitted in the congregation of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:1-3).

20. Why were the Edomite and Egyptian not to be abhorred by the children of Israel?

• “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou

wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the

Lord in their third generation” (Deuteronomy 23:7-8).

21. Was it okay to be a whore or a sodomite?

• No, there were to be none among Israel (Deuteronomy 23:17).

22. Could the children of Israel take as much as they wanted from each other’s vineyard’s and crops?

• They could eat of them, but not gather them up (Deuteronomy 23:24-25).

23. Could a man put away his wife and take her back later at his will?

• No, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his

eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it

in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be

another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her

hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former

husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is

abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for

an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

• One should note that Moses gave a rather loose law of divorce because of the hard hearts in Israel,

while our Lord set that aside for what began with Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:3-9).

24. Why were the children told to remember Miriam?

• She was an example of what God does with disobedience (Deuteronomy 24:8-9; cf. Numbers 12:1-10).

25. Were children considered guilty for the sins of their fathers?

• No, (Deuteronomy 24:16).

26. Were the children of Israel expected to be considerate for the strangers, widows, and the fatherless?

• Yes, (Deuteronomy 24:20-22).

• Keep in mind that strangers dwelt among them and were subject to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:26).

Having A Basic Understanding of Some Old Testament Truths
Part 27 Instructions Concerning War Through Being Considerate – (Deuteronomy 20-24)

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