And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.

And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his heart.

After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and shall say, What man is there that is timid and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as well as his heart.

And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart melt as his heart.

And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren's heart should faint as well as his heart.

And the authorities have added to speak unto the people, and said, Who is the man that is afraid and tender of heart?, let him go and turn back to his house, and the heart of his brethren doth not melt like his heart;

And let the overseers go on to say to the people, If there is any man whose heart is feeble with fear, let him go back to his house before he makes the hearts of his countrymen feeble.

After these things have been declared, they shall add the remainder, and shall say to the people: 'What man is there who is overwhelmed by fear and is fainthearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he cause the hearts of his brothers to fear, just as he himself has been thoroughly stricken with fear.'

Addent praefecti alloqui populum, dicendo, Quis est vir timidus et mollis corde? abeat, et revertatur domum suam, ne dissolvatur cor fratrum ejus, sicut cor illius.

What man is there that is fearful and faint - hearted? - The original רך rach, signifies tender or soft-hearted. And a soft heart the man must have who, in such a contest, after such a permission, could turn his back upon his enemies and his brethren. However, such were the troops commanded by Gideon in his war against the Midianites; for after he gave this permission, out of 32,000 men only 10,000 remained to fight! Judges 7:3. There could be no deception in a business of this kind; for the departure of the 22,000 was the fullest proof of their dastardliness which they could possibly give.

And the officers shall speak further unto the people,.... According to Maimonides (n), the priest the anointed of war spoke to the end of Deuteronomy 20:7 and which the officers repeated after him to the people aloud, as before observed; and then after that an officer speaks of himself, or in his own words, and not in those of the priest, as follows:
what man that is fearful, &c. and then another officer causes all the people to hear it:
and they shall say, what man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? that has not courage to face his enemies, to whom the terrors of war, and especially of death, are dreadful; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"because of his sin;''whose sins stare him in the face, and lie heavy on his conscience; so that he is afraid he shall die in battle, and in his sins, and suffer divine vengeance; both these senses are observed in the Misnah (y). According to R. Akiba, a fearful and fainthearted man is one"that cannot stand in battle array, or behold a drawn sword; but R. Jose the Galilean says, he is one that is afraid of the transgressions he has committed; and therefore the law joins to this all those things for which a man may return;''as having built a new house, planted a vineyard, and betrothed a wife; that so it might be thought it was on account of one or other of these that he returned, and not through faintheartedness, either because of the terrors of war, or of his own conscience for his sins:
let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart; lest, by his pale looks and trembling joints, his fainting fits and swoons, he discourage the rest in the same company with him, and by his example make them unfit for war also.
(n) Ut supra. (Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 3.) (y) Misn. Sotah, c. 8. sect. 5.

The first intention only existed in the case of the timid (the soft-hearted or despondent). ימּס ולא, that the heart of thy brethren "may not flow away," i.e., may not become despondent (as in Genesis 17:15, etc.).