Bible Commentary

Deuteronomy 20:4

Deuteronomy 20:4

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain

For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you,.... To battle, and therefore they had no reason to fear and be dismayed, to be fainthearted, terrified, and tremble:fear not, I am with thee,.... , this, according to the Misnah , respects the ark, and so Jarchi, which was a symbol of the divine Presence, and went with them to battle; see Jos 6:4to fight for you against your enemies, to save you; to annoy and destroy the one, and to protect and save the other; thus far the anointed priest addressed the people in an oration to this purpose: the account Maimonides gives of it is, that"when they have set their ranks, and are near to a battle, the anointed of war stands on an high place, and all the ranks before him, and says to them in the holy tongue, "hear, O Israel", &c.

unto to save you; and then another priest under him causes it to be heard by all the people with an high voice ;''he repeated what the anointed of war had said, and expressed it with a loud voice, that all might hear.

Ut supra. (Misn. Sotab, c. 8. sect. 1.) Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect.

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