Deuteronomy 20:12 describes what Israel was to do when a distant city refused to make peace and chose war instead: they were to surround it and lay siege. The verse is part of Moses’ instructions to the people as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan, speaking to the Israelite nation through the voice of God’s law.
If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it.
Deuteronomy 20:12 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 20:12 Means
The verse begins with a conditional: “if it will make no peace with you.” Before any fighting, Israel was first to offer terms of peace. Only when the city rejected that offer did the verse’s second clause apply, the command “make war against you” describing the city’s choice, not Israel’s first move. The phrase “then you shall besiege it” tells Israel to encircle the city and cut it off, a slow, wearing kind of warfare rather than an immediate assault.
What the verse does not do is describe a free-for-all. It sets out a sequence: offer peace, and only if peace is refused, press the siege. It also does not promise that God would always grant victory in every siege, nor does it tell modern readers how to handle conflict in their own lives. It records a specific legal instruction given to a specific nation at a specific moment in its history.
The Context of Deuteronomy 20:12
Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell address, delivered on the plains of Moab just before Israel crossed the Jordan. Tradition attributes the book to Moses, and its audience is the new generation of Israelites who had grown up in the wilderness. The laws in chapter 20 concern warfare, and they appear alongside instructions about military officers, exemptions from fighting, and the rules for dealing with cities far away.
The verses just before and after Deuteronomy 20:12 matter here. Verses 10 and 11 describe the offer of peace and what happens if a city accepts it, namely that its people become forced laborers. Verses 13 through 15 describe what follows if the city falls and how it is to be treated. Read in this sequence, verse 12 is the hinge: it marks the point where a city has refused peace and the nation must act. The verse is one step in a larger legal framework, not a stand-alone call to aggression.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 20:12
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
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Paul urges believers to live at peace with everyone as far as it depends on them. This pairs naturally with Deuteronomy 20:12, since both place the initiative for peace on the person seeking to live rightly, while acknowledging that the other side may still refuse.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
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Jesus blesses the peacemakers, calling them children of God. Read alongside Deuteronomy 20:12, this verse shows how the New Testament carries forward a deep concern for peace, moving it from the battlefield into the everyday work of reconciling people.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 20:12
Lord, you know the conflicts I carry, the people I have stopped speaking to and the tensions I would rather avoid. Give me the courage to offer peace first, honestly and without pride. Where I have assumed refusal too quickly, soften my heart and open my eyes. Where a situation truly cannot be resolved, grant me wisdom to act with justice and restraint, trusting that you see what I cannot. Keep me from using conflict as an excuse for harshness. Teach me to pursue peace wherever it is possible, and to leave the outcome in your hands. Amen.
