Deuteronomy 20:19

20:19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, 1  you must not chop down its trees, 2  for you may eat fruit 3  from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it! 4 

Deuteronomy 22:21

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing 5  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge 6  evil from among you.

1 tn Heb “to fight against it to capture it.”

2 tn Heb “you must not destroy its trees by chopping them with an iron” (i.e., an ax).

3 tn Heb “you may eat from them.” The direct object is not expressed; the word “fruit” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Heb “to go before you in siege.”

5 tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

6 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.