Deuteronomy 20:4

Deu 20:4 For the LORD your God [is] he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Ver. 5. And hath not dedicated it.] By prayers, hymns, and other holy solemnities then usual; {Neh 12:27 Psa 30:1 title} that "the house of David might be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them." {Zec 12:8}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:4 He will fight for you: This promise affirms that God initiates wars, carries them out, and brings them to successful conclusion against his enemies. The purpose of war initiated by God was to eradicate hopelessly unrepentant enemies and prevent them from contaminating his people (see 1:30).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Is present to defend you with his grace and power.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you--According to Jewish writers, the ark was always taken into the field of combat. But there is no evidence of this in the sacred history; and it must have been a sufficient ground of encouragement to be assured that God was on their side.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(4) For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you.—“They come in the might of flesh and blood; but ye come in the might of the Eternal” (Rashi). So David to Goliath: “Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (1Sa_17:45). And so the Psalmist: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psa_20:7).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. to save you] Better, to give you the victory.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you,.... To battle, and therefore they had no reason to fear and be dismayed, to be fainthearted, terrified, and tremble:

fear not, I am with thee,.... Isa 41:10, this, according to the Misnah (f), respects the ark, and so Jarchi, which was a symbol of the divine Presence, and went with them to battle; see Jos 6:4.

to fight for you against your enemies, to save you; to annoy and destroy the one, and to protect and save the other; thus far the anointed priest addressed the people in an oration to this purpose: the account Maimonides gives of it is, that"when they have set their ranks, and are near to a battle, the anointed of war stands on an high place, and all the ranks before him, and says to them in the holy tongue, "hear, O Israel", &c. unto to save you; and then another priest under him causes it to be heard by all the people with an high voice (g);''he repeated what the anointed of war had said, and expressed it with a loud voice, that all might hear.

(f) Ut supra. (Misn. Sotab, c. 8. sect. 1.) (g) Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

God. All must be done in his name, by the direction of his ministers. The Jews pretend that the ark was carried in the midst of the army. But this does not seem to have been generally the case. (Calmet) --- Of you. "We must co-operate, being assisted" by God, as St. Augustine (q. 30,) observes, in our spiritual conflicts. (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

כי ה׳ אלהיכם וגו׳ FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD [IS HE WHO GOETH WITH YOU] — They come to war relying on the conquering strength of human beings (lit., flesh and blood) but you come relying on the strength of the Omnipresent God! The Philistines once came to war relying on the strength of Goliath — what was his end? He fell and they fell with him (Sotah 42a).

ההלך עמכם [FOR THE LORD THY GOD] GOETH WITH THEE — this refers to the camp of the Holy Ark (the camp that has the Holy Ark in its midst, i.e. the camp of the Levites) (Sotah 42a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.