Deu 20:19 | NASB2020 | STEP | “When you besiege a city for a long time , to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down . For is the tree of the field a human , that it should be besieged by you?

Deuteronomy 20:19

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down. For ^{▼▼Read as interrogative with ancient versions; MT the tree of the field is man}is the tree of the field a human, that it should ^{▼▼Lit come before you in the siege}be besieged by you?