When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies. All the males of 20 years and upward were liable to serve, and during a campaign could not leave without an express permission from the commander. The following rules, although of course prospective in their obligation, were not a merely provisional or temporary arrangement in prospect of an impending war, but were to be of standing authority in Israel, after the people, having become settled in their possessions, should have begun to build houses, to plant vineyards, and to marry wives. In the approaching invasion of Canaan, or in any just and defensive war, the Israelites had reason to expect the presence and favour of God.