Verses 52-57 speak of how the enemy will besiege the fortified towns and all other settlements in Israel, and what will happen when the people are under siege.

They shall besiege you: to besiege is to surround a town with enemy troops, thus preventing anyone from leaving or entering, in an attempt to get the people in the town to surrender. For a comment on the translation of besiege, see 20.12.

Your high and fortified walls: high walls surrounded fortified towns, with parapets on top from which the defending forces could shoot arrows at the enemy. Other ways to say this are “high and well-protected walls” or “high and strong walls, inside of which you feel safe.”

In which you trusted: but to no avail; the enemy will break through the walls.

Come down: this is the same verb translated as “fall” in 20.20. Contemporary English Version has “the enemy will tear them down.”

They shall besiege you: repeating the thought of the first part of the verse; this is now expanded to include all your towns throughout all your land.

Which the LORD your God has given you: as often stated in this book.

A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:

• All over the land that the LORD your God gave you, your enemies will surround all your towns. You may feel safe inside your high and strong walls, but your enemies will tear them down.

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 .