כִּֽי־תָצ֣וּר אֶל־עִיר֩ יָמִ֨ים רַבִּ֜ים לְֽהִלָּחֵ֧ם עָלֶ֣יהָ לְתָפְשָׂ֗הּ לֹֽא־תַשְׁחִ֤ית אֶת־עֵצָהּ֙ לִנְדֹּ֤חַ עָלָיו֙ גַּרְזֶ֔ן כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ תֹאכֵ֔ל וְאֹת֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִכְרֹ֑ת כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ עֵ֣ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָבֹ֥א מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃
Quando você cercar uma cidade por muitos dias, lutando contra ela para conquistá-la, você não destruirá suas árvores, golpeando-as com um machado, pois delas você comerá, e você não as cortará, pois o ser humano é como a árvore do campo, que deve permanecer diante de você durante o cerco.
Noda BiYehudah II
Furthermore, the main prohibition of bal tashhit, though rabbinic, is nevertheless rooted in the Torah’s prohibition of cutting down fruit trees. And there it is written: “For you shall eat it and not cut it down…” (Devarim 20:19). Thus, since whatever the rabbis instituted was modeled on Torah law, one may not destroy something that man can benefit from; one may not destroy and debase that benefit. Perhaps this even applies to something ownerless. However, bal tashhit does not apply to something whose loss that will not cause the loss of benefit to any man. Therefore, those animals of the forest, while they are alive, give benefit to no man. Their main benefit is in their death—through their pelts and meat. So how can we say that it is forbidden to kill them because of bal tashhit?