Shoftim 20:19 · unit 5

TT #327 · Parashas Shoftim · Seventh Aliyah · Passuk 20:19

The Complete Passuk

כִּֽי־תָצ֣וּר אֶל־עִיר֩ יָמִ֨ים רַבִּ֜ים לְֽהִלָּחֵ֧ם עָלֶ֣יהָ לְתׇפְשָׂ֗הּ לֹֽא־תַשְׁחִ֤ית אֶת־עֵצָהּ֙ לִנְדֹּ֤חַ עָלָיו֙ גַּרְזֶ֔ן כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ תֹאכֵ֔ל וְאֹת֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִכְרֹ֑ת כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ עֵ֣ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָבֹ֥א מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃

When you besiege a city for many days to fight against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them, for from them you may eat, and you shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field a man, to come before you in the siege?

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Bava Kamma 91b.

TT lemma: לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ.

Sefaria — Bava Kamma 91b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ – מִכָּאן שֶׁאָסוּר לְהַשְׁחִית דָּבָר שֶׁרָאוּי לַהֲנָאָה.

English: ‘You shall not destroy its trees’ – from here that it is forbidden to destroy anything fit for benefit.

On the daf / in context: The verse is a source for the broader principle of bal tashchit.

Type of Learning

Derash expanding to a general principle (Bavli) — the specific case generates a wider prohibition of wanton destruction.

What Is Learned

From the prohibition against destroying fruit trees in a siege, the Sages derive a general ban on needless destruction of useful things.