What Does Deuteronomy 20:10 Mean in the King James?
When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The call toward wholeness comes while you are still approaching the city to fight.
THE MEANING
Conflict can be at hand while a call toward wholeness is still spoken before force begins. The call comes from within the threat itself, so its presence does not erase the violence or guarantee acceptance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that speaking peace proves there is no threat: the verse places the approach to fight and the proclamation of peace in the same sentence.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
To be whole or complete; to make complete.
“peace” in this verse is shalom. The city is called toward wholeness, not merely quiet. That call is spoken while the threat of violence is already present, so the word holds an offer of wholeness inside an encounter that remains dangerous.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, intact.
שָׁלֵם
This related form makes the sense of shalom as wholeness visible beneath the English word peace.
shillem: To repay or make restitution.
שִׁלֵּם
This related form shows the root can describe making good what is owed, adding a dimension of restored completeness without implying that the conflict here is already resolved.
וְקָרָאתָ
veqarata
GROWS FROM
קרא
To call out or summon.
“proclaim” in this verse is veqarata. The action is a call addressed outward to the city, not a private feeling of peace. The word makes the offer public and direct, spoken to the very place being approached in hostility.
ALSO GROWS
qeri'ah: A calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
It keeps the focus on peace being voiced and heard, rather than remaining an unspoken intention.
miqra: A reading or summoned gathering.
מִקְרָא
This related form carries the sense of a public summons, echoing the outward address to the city.
THE PATTERN
Peace is spoken before its reception or the encounter’s outcome is settled.
And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.THE THREAD
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.The word translated “peace” is shalom, the same word used in this verse. Here the same wholeness is something pursued, opening the proclamation to the city as an active call rather than a settled condition.
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