5 But thus shall ye deal H6213 with them; ye shall destroy H5422 their altars, H4196 and break down H7665 their images, H4676 and cut down H1438 their groves, H842 and burn H8313 their graven images H6456 with fire. H784
Ye shall utterly H6 destroy H6 all the places, H4725 wherein the nations H1471 which H834 ye shall possess H3423 served H5647 their gods, H430 upon the high H7311 mountains, H2022 and upon the hills, H1389 and under every green H7488 tree: H6086 And ye shall overthrow H5422 their altars, H4196 and break H7665 their pillars, H4676 and burn H8313 their groves H842 with fire; H784 and ye shall hew down H1438 the graven images H6456 of their gods, H430 and destroy H6 the names H8034 of them out of that place. H4725
And it came to pass the same night, H3915 that the LORD H3068 said H559 unto him, Take H3947 thy father's H1 young H6499 bullock, H7794 even the second H8145 bullock H6499 of seven H7651 years old, H8141 and throw down H2040 the altar H4196 of Baal H1168 that thy father H1 hath, and cut down H3772 the grove H842 that is by it: And build H1129 an altar H4196 unto the LORD H3068 thy God H430 upon the top H7218 of this rock, H4581 in the ordered place, H4634 and take H3947 the second H8145 bullock, H6499 and offer H5927 a burnt sacrifice H5930 with the wood H6086 of the grove H842 which thou shalt cut down. H3772
And he brought out H3318 the grove H842 from the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 without H2351 Jerusalem, H3389 unto the brook H5158 Kidron, H6939 and burned H8313 it at the brook H5158 Kidron, H6939 and stamped it small H1854 to powder, H6083 and cast H7993 the powder H6083 thereof upon the graves H6913 of the children H1121 of the people. H5971 And he brake down H5422 the houses H1004 of the sodomites, H6945 that were by the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 where the women H802 wove H707 hangings H1004 for the grove. H842 And he brought H935 all the priests H3548 out of the cities H5892 of Judah, H3063 and defiled H2930 the high places H1116 where the priests H3548 had burned incense, H6999 from Geba H1387 to Beersheba, H884 and brake down H5422 the high places H1116 of the gates H8179 that were in the entering in H6607 of the gate H8179 of Joshua H3091 the governor H8269 of the city, H5892 which were on a man's H376 left hand H8040 at the gate H8179 of the city. H5892 Nevertheless the priests H3548 of the high places H1116 came not up H5927 to the altar H4196 of the LORD H3068 in Jerusalem, H3389 but they did eat H398 of the unleavened bread H4682 among H8432 their brethren. H251 And he defiled H2930 Topheth, H8612 which is in the valley H1516 of the children H1121 H1121 of Hinnom, H2011 that no man H376 might make his son H1121 or his daughter H1323 to pass through H5674 the fire H784 to Molech. H4432 And he took away H7673 the horses H5483 that the kings H4428 of Judah H3063 had given H5414 to the sun, H8121 at the entering in H935 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 by the chamber H3957 of Nathanmelech H5419 the chamberlain, H5631 which was in the suburbs, H6503 and burned H8313 the chariots H4818 of the sun H8121 with fire. H784 And the altars H4196 that were on the top H1406 of the upper chamber H5944 of Ahaz, H271 which the kings H4428 of Judah H3063 had made, H6213 and the altars H4196 which Manasseh H4519 had made H6213 in the two H8147 courts H2691 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 did the king H4428 beat down, H5422 and brake them down H7323 from thence, and cast H7993 the dust H6083 of them into the brook H5158 Kidron. H6939 And the high places H1116 that were before H6440 Jerusalem, H3389 which were on the right hand H3225 of the mount H2022 of corruption, H4889 which Solomon H8010 the king H4428 of Israel H3478 had builded H1129 for Ashtoreth H6253 the abomination H8251 of the Zidonians, H6722 and for Chemosh H3645 the abomination H8251 of the Moabites, H4124 and for Milcom H4445 the abomination H8441 of the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 did the king H4428 defile. H2930 And he brake in pieces H7665 the images, H4676 and cut down H3772 the groves, H842 and filled H4390 their places H4725 with the bones H6106 of men. H120
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 7
Commentary on Deuteronomy 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
De 7:1-26. All Communion with the Nations Forbidden.
1. the Hittites—This people were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan (Ge 10:15), and occupied the mountainous region about Hebron, in the south of Palestine.
the Girgashites—supposed by some to be the same as the Gergesenes (Mt 8:28), who lay to the east of Lake Gennesareth; but they are placed on the west of Jordan (Jos 24:11), and others take them for a branch of the large family of the Hivites, as they are omitted in nine out of ten places where the tribes of Canaan are enumerated; in the tenth they are mentioned, while the Hivites are not.
the Amorites—descended from the fourth son of Canaan. They occupied, besides their conquest on the Moabite territory, extensive settlements west of the Dead Sea, in the mountains.
the Canaanites—located in Phœnicia, particularly about Tyre and Sidon, and being sprung from the oldest branch of the family of Canaan, bore his name.
the Perizzites—that is, villagers, a tribe who were dispersed throughout the country and lived in unwalled towns.
the Hivites—who dwelt about Ebal and Gerizim, extending towards Hermon. They are supposed to be the same as the Avims.
the Jebusites—resided about Jerusalem and the adjacent country.
seven nations greater and mightier than thou—Ten were formerly mentioned (Ge 15:19-21). But in the lapse of near five hundred years, it cannot be surprising that some of them had been extinguished in the many intestine feuds that prevailed among those warlike tribes. It is more than probable that some, stationed on the east of Jordan, had fallen under the victorious arms of the Israelites.
2-6. thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them—This relentless doom of extermination which God denounced against those tribes of Canaan cannot be reconciled with the attributes of the divine character, except on the assumption that their gross idolatry and enormous wickedness left no reasonable hope of their repentance and amendment. If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, as incorrigible sinners who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, it mattered not to them in what way the judgment was inflicted; and God, as the Sovereign Disposer, had a right to employ any instruments that pleased Him for executing His judgments. Some think that they were to be exterminated as unprincipled usurpers of a country which God had assigned to the posterity of Eber and which had been occupied ages before by wandering shepherds of that race, till, on the migration of Jacob's family into Egypt through the pressure of famine, the Canaanites overspread the whole land, though they had no legitimate claim to it, and endeavored to retain possession of it by force. In this view their expulsion was just and proper. The strict prohibition against contracting any alliances with such infamous idolaters was a prudential rule, founded on the experience that "evil communications corrupt good manners" [1Co 15:33], and its importance or necessity was attested by the unhappy examples of Solomon and others in the subsequent history of Israel.
5. thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, &c.—The removal of the temples, altars, and everything that had been enlisted in the service, or might tend to perpetuate the remembrance, of Canaanite idolatry, was likewise highly expedient for preserving the Israelites from all risk of contamination. It was imitated by the Scottish Reformers, and although many ardent lovers of architecture and the fine arts have anathematized their proceedings as vandalism, yet there was profound wisdom in the favorite maxim of Knox—"pull down the nests, and the rooks will disappear."
6-10. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God—that is, set apart to the service of God, or chosen to execute the important purposes of His providence. Their selection to this high destiny was neither on account of their numerical amount (for, till after the death of Joseph, they were but a handful of people); nor because of their extraordinary merits (for they had often pursued a most perverse and unworthy conduct); but it was in consequence of the covenant or promise made with their pious forefathers; and the motives that led to that special act were such as tended not only to vindicate God's wisdom, but to illustrate His glory in diffusing the best and most precious blessings to all mankind.
11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day—In the covenant into which God entered with Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings so long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly King. He pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be exerted for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil to which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to that obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful illustration of this in Ps 144:12-15.
15. the evil diseases of Egypt—(See Ex 15:26). Besides those with which Pharaoh and his subjects were visited, Egypt has always been dreadfully scourged with diseases. The testimony of Moses is confirmed by the reports of many modern writers, who tell us that, notwithstanding its equal temperature and sereneness, that country has some indigenous maladies which are very malignant, such as ophthalmia, dysentery, smallpox, and the plague.
20. Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them—(See on Jos 24:12 [and Ex 23:28]).
22. lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee—(See on Ex 23:29). The omnipotence of their Almighty Ruler could have given them possession of the promised land at once. But, the unburied corpses of the enemy and the portions of the country that might have been left desolate for a while, would have drawn an influx of dangerous beasts. This evil would be prevented by a progressive conquest and by the use of ordinary means, which God would bless.