And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

And it shall be, when ye approach unto the battle, that the priest shall draw near and speak unto the people,

and it hath been, in your drawing near unto the battle, that the priest hath come nigh, and spoken unto the people,

And when you are on the point of attacking, let the priest come forward and say to the people,

Then, as the battle now draws near, the priest shall stand before the front ranks, and he shall speak to the people in this manner:

Et quum occurreritis ad praelium, accedet sacerdos ad populum,

And it shall be, when ye are come nigh. God commits the duty of exhortation to the priests, when the time of the conflict shall have arrived. But we gather from the expressions used that this passage is supplementary to the First Commandment, for it contains no more than that the priest should encourage the Israelites to confidence, the ground of which is declared to be the help of God in preserving and constantly protecting the Church, which He has once redeemed. Moreover, He forbids their fears not in one word only, but heaps many together, "let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified." By this we are reminded how difficult it is to cure that evil -- fear, which in so many different ways assails and disturbs our minds, that they should not rest in God. And surely we all experience that we are troubled by such various besetments, that we have need of manifold remedies for the establishment of our faith. We must observe, too, the familiar representation of the presence of God, that He should go together with His people, to save them, viz., if they should be exposed to danger not by their own fault, but by the unjust aggression of their enemies.

The priest - Not the high priest, but one appointed for the purpose, and called, according to the rabbis, "the anointed of the war": hence, perhaps the expression of Jeremiah 6:4, etc. "prepare ye" (literally consecrate) "war." Thus, Phinehas went with the warriors to fight against Midian (Numbers 31:6; compare 1-Samuel 4:4, 1-Samuel 4:11; 2-Chronicles 13:12).

The priest shall approach, and speak unto the people - The priest on these occasions was the representative of that God whose servant he was, and whose worship he conducted. It is remarkable that almost all ancient nations took their priests with them to battle, as they did not expect success without having the object of their adoration with them, and they supposed they secured his presence by having that of his representative.

When all things are preparing for it, and it seems unavoidable:
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people; not any priest, but one appointed for this service; who is called
the anointed of war, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, and concerning whom Maimonides (d) is more particular; he says,"they appoint a priest to speak to the people at the time of war, and they anoint him with the anointing oil, and he is called the anointed of war; twice the anointed of war speaks unto the people, once in a book at the time they go forth, before they set in battle array, he says to the people, "what man is there", &c. and when he has caused his words to be heard, he returns; at another time, when they are set in array, he says, "fear not", &c.''this man seems to be an emblem of Gospel ministers, who are anointed with the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, and whose business it is to encourage the people of God to fight the Lord's battles against sin, Satan, and the world, and not to be afraid of their spiritual enemies; directing them to take to them the whole armour of God, and to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, to follow him the captain of their salvation, assuring them of victory through him who makes them more than conquerors, and that their warfare is or shortly will be accomplished.
(d) Hilchot Melachim, c. 7. sect. 1, 2.

when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people--Jewish writers say that there was a war priest appointed by a special ceremonial to attend the army. It was natural that the solemn objects and motives of religion should have been applied to animate patriotism, and so give additional impulse to valor; other people have done this. But in the case of Israel, the regular attendance of a priest on the battlefield was in accordance with their theocratic government, in which everything was done directly by God through His delegated ministers. It was the province of this priest to sound the trumpets (Numbers 10:9; Numbers 31:6), and he had others under him who repeated at the head of each battalion the exhortations which he addressed to the warriors in general. The speech (Deuteronomy 20:3-4) is marked by a brevity and expressiveness admirably suited to the occasion, namely, when the men were drawn up in line.

Speak unto the people - Probably to one regiment of the army after another.