What Does Deuteronomy 20:15 Mean in the King James?

Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

Deuteronomy 20:15 · KJV

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

Here, distance is not background scenery; it draws the line between which rule of war applies.

THE MEANING

The verse addresses its “thou” with a boundary: the preceding rule applies to cities described as very far away and outside the named nations. That rule first offers peace; if the city refuses, the text proceeds to siege, killing the captured city’s males, and taking its women, children, and goods (vv. 10–14). Distance does not soften the violence; it determines which cities receive this rule.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that the preceding war rule applies uniformly to every city: the text explicitly bounds this procedure by distance and by whether a city belongs to the named nations.

THE ROOT

הָרְחֹקֹת

hāreḥōqōt

GROWS FROM

רחק

To be distant; to move or put something far away.

English can make “far off” sound like a simple map description, but ⁨רחק⁩ (r-ḥ-q) also names the act of putting something at a distance. Here, distance sorts the cities and defines which ones receive the preceding rule, making this spatial word consequential to the violence.

ALSO GROWS

rāḥōq: Far away or remote.

רָחוֹק

This is the adjective at the heart of the verse’s boundary: the rule applies to cities described as very distant.

rāḥaq: To be or become far away.

רָחַק

The root can describe distance as a condition, not just a measurement on a map.

hirḥîq: To place something at a distance or remove it far away.

הִרְחִיק

This form shows the root can also describe making distance; the verse uses distance to set the reach of a command.

THE PATTERN

Scripture marks the reach of a rule by defining who stands inside or outside its stated boundary.

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:

Deuteronomy 20:16 · KJVThe verse draws a different boundary around the cities of these peoples and assigns them a different, lethal rule.

Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 24:22 · KJVHere the named boundary between stranger and native is crossed by an explicitly shared rule.

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

Romans 2:12 · KJVThe verse distinguishes people by their relation to the law and describes how that boundary governs judgment.

THE THREAD

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

Exodus 8:28 · KJV

“Very far away” uses the same ⁨רחק⁩ (r-ḥ-q, “be distant” or “put far away”) root as “far off” here. In Exodus, Pharaoh permits departure but tries to limit how far it reaches; in Deuteronomy, distance marks the scope of a rule.

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