What Does Deuteronomy 20:2 Mean?
And it shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,THE KEY
You draw near to the battle, and then the priest draws near to you, conflict is met by a second approach.
THE MEANING
As you come close to conflict, someone comes toward you and speaks before the battle begins. The moment before impact already contains nearness and a voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must face the threshold of conflict alone loses its footing here: the priest comes near and speaks before battle.
THE ROOT
קָרַב
qarab
GROWS FROM
קרב
Draw near, approach, bring close.
“draw near” in this verse is qarab. The English phrase can sound like mere distance, but this root also carries the act of bringing something near. Its branch qorban names an offering brought near, so the verse’s approach belongs to a wider language of drawing close.
ALSO GROWS
qarov: Near, close.
קָרוֹב
This branch names the nearness the people enter as they come toward the battle.
qorban: Offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
The same root links approaching the battle with the movement of bringing an offering near.
נִגַּשׁ
nigash
GROWS FROM
נגשׁ
Draw near, approach; in a causative form, bring near or present.
The priest’s approach uses a different Hebrew root from the people’s coming near. The verse thus gives the same moment two movements: the people advance toward the battle, and the priest advances toward them.
ALSO GROWS
nagash: Approach, draw near.
נָגַשׁ
This is the root behind the priest coming toward the people.
higgish: Bring near, present.
הִגִּישׁ
This related form makes the root’s sense of closing distance active: someone brings something forward.
THE PATTERN
As conflict approaches, a word reaches people before its outcome is visible.
And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, take your stand, and see the deliverance of the LORD, which he will do for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again for the ages.And he said, Hear and respond, all Judah, and you who settle in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat. Thus says the LORD to you, Do not fear, nor be shattered from the face of this great multitude, for the war is not yours, but God's.These things have I spoken to you, so that in me you may have wholeness. In the world you have pressure, but take heart; I have overcome the world.THE THREAD
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If anyone of you brings near a drawing near to the LORD, you shall bring near your drawing near from the cattle, from the herd and from the flock.Deuteronomy’s “come nigh” is qarab; Leviticus uses a form of the same root in “bring an offering,” alongside qorban, the thing brought near. In both verses, the root gives approach a concrete shape: near battle, a priest comes close; near the altar, an offering is brought close.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us