All the other people are allowed to live, but they become the slaves of the Israelites.

But the women and the little ones: the little ones were children, presumably including adolescent boys not yet old enough to fight. “Take the women and children as slaves” (Contemporary English Version) is a good model.

All its spoil: this includes everything in the town that the conquerors can make use of. The same holds true for booty, all the belongings of the inhabitants, which the Israelites will keep. For spoil and booty see 2.35.

Enjoy the spoil of your enemies: the verb enjoy is literally “to eat,” used in a figurative sense but easily understood. In a number of languages and everything else … the spoil of your enemies may be shortened to something like “Take everything else that belongs to your enemies and use it.”

Which the LORD your God has given you: the people are constantly reminded that it is God who wins the victory for them.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .