Midrash for Sanhedrin 104:18

הניחא למאן דאמר חנק קל אלא למ"ד חנק חמור מאי איכא למימר

We know this to be true of the inhabitants of a seduced city, because it is written, ['Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city] with the edge of the sword.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XIII, 18. ');">¹⁶</span>

Sifrei Devarim