8 But because the LORD H3068 loved H160 you, and because he would keep H8104 the oath H7621 which he had sworn H7650 unto your fathers, H1 hath the LORD H3068 brought you out H3318 with a mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and redeemed H6299 you out of the house H1004 of bondmen, H5650 from the hand H3027 of Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt. H4714
To perform G4160 the mercy G1656 promised to G3326 our G2257 fathers, G3962 and G2532 to remember G3415 his G846 holy G40 covenant; G1242 The oath G3727 which G3739 he sware G3660 to G4314 our G2257 father G3962 Abraham, G11
For G1063 when God G2316 made promise G1861 to Abraham, G11 because G1893 he could G2192 swear G3660 by G2596 no G3762 greater, G3187 he sware G3660 by G2596 himself, G1438 Saying, G3004 Surely G2229 G3375 blessing G2127 I will bless G2127 thee, G4571 and G2532 multiplying G4129 I will multiply G4129 thee. G4571 And G2532 so, G3779 after he had patiently endured, G3114 he obtained G2013 the promise. G1860 For G1063 men G444 verily G3303 swear G3660 by G2596 the greater: G3187 and G2532 an oath G3727 for G1519 confirmation G951 is to them G846 an end G4009 of all G3956 strife. G485 Wherein G1722 G3739 God, G2316 willing G1014 more abundantly G4054 to shew G1925 unto the heirs G2818 of promise G1860 the immutability G276 of his G846 counsel, G1012 confirmed G3315 it by an oath: G3727
For G1063 we ourselves G2249 also G2532 were G2258 sometimes G4218 foolish, G453 disobedient, G545 deceived, G4105 serving G1398 divers G4164 lusts G1939 and G2532 pleasures, G2237 living G1236 in G1722 malice G2549 and G2532 envy, G5355 hateful, G4767 and hating G3404 one another. G240 But G1161 after G3753 that the kindness G5544 and G2532 love G5363 of God G2316 our G2257 Saviour G4990 toward man G5363 appeared, G2014 Not G3756 by G1537 works G2041 of G1722 righteousness G1343 which G3739 we G2249 have done, G4160 but G235 according to G2596 his G846 mercy G1656 he saved G4982 us, G2248 by G1223 the washing G3067 of regeneration, G3824 and G2532 renewing G342 of the Holy G40 Ghost; G4151 Which G3739 he shed G1632 on G1909 us G2248 abundantly G4146 through G1223 Jesus G2424 Christ G5547 our G2257 Saviour; G4990 That G2443 being justified by G1344 his G1565 grace, G5485 we should be made G1096 heirs G2818 according to G2596 the hope G1680 of eternal G166 life. G2222
But G1161 we G2249 are bound G3784 to give thanks G2168 alway G3842 to God G2316 for G4012 you, G5216 brethren G80 beloved G25 of G5259 the Lord, G2962 because G3754 God G2316 hath G138 from G575 the beginning G746 chosen G138 you G5209 to G1519 salvation G4991 through G1722 sanctification G38 of the Spirit G4151 and G2532 belief G4102 of the truth: G225 Whereunto G1519 G3739 he called G2564 you G5209 by G1223 our G2257 gospel, G2098 to G1519 the obtaining G4047 of the glory G1391 of our G2257 Lord G2962 Jesus G2424 Christ. G5547
But G1161 God, G2316 who is G5607 rich G4145 in G1722 mercy, G1656 for G1223 his G846 great G4183 love G26 wherewith G3739 he loved G25 us, G2248 Even G2532 when we G2248 were G5607 dead G3498 in sins, G3900 hath quickened us together with G4806 Christ, G5547 (by grace G5485 ye are G2075 saved;) G4982
And said, H559 By myself have I sworn, H7650 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 for because H3282 H834 thou hast done H6213 this thing, H1697 and hast not H3808 withheld H2820 thy son, H1121 thine only H3173 son: That in blessing H1288 I will bless H1288 thee, and in multiplying H7235 I will multiply H7235 thy seed H2233 as the stars H3556 of the heaven, H8064 and as the sand H2344 which is upon the sea H3220 shore; H8193 and thy seed H2233 shall possess H3423 the gate H8179 of his enemies; H341 And in thy seed H2233 shall all the nations H1471 of the earth H776 be blessed; H1288 because H834 H6118 thou hast obeyed H8085 my voice. H6963
He hath remembered H2142 his covenant H1285 for ever, H5769 the word H1697 which he commanded H6680 to a thousand H505 generations. H1755 Which covenant he made H3772 with Abraham, H85 and his oath H7621 unto Isaac; H3446 And confirmed H5975 the same unto Jacob H3290 for a law, H2706 and to Israel H3478 for an everlasting H5769 covenant: H1285
Speak H559 not thou in thine heart, H3824 after that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath cast them out H1920 from before H6440 thee, saying, H559 For my righteousness H6666 the LORD H3068 hath brought me in H935 to possess H3423 this land: H776 but for the wickedness H7564 of these nations H1471 the LORD H3068 doth drive them out H3423 from before H6440 thee. Not for thy righteousness, H6666 or for the uprightness H3476 of thine heart, H3824 dost thou go H935 to possess H3423 their land: H776 but for the wickedness H7564 of these nations H1471 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 doth drive them out H3423 from before H6440 thee, and that he may perform H6965 the word H1697 which the LORD H3068 sware H7650 unto thy fathers, H1 Abraham, H85 Isaac, H3327 and Jacob. H3290
And it came to pass at the end H7093 of the four H702 hundred H3967 H8141 and thirty H7970 years, H8141 even the selfsame H6106 day H3117 it came to pass, that all the hosts H6635 of the LORD H3068 went out H3318 from the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 It is a night H3915 to be much observed H8107 unto the LORD H3068 for bringing H3318 them out from the land H776 of Egypt: H4714 this is that night H3915 of the LORD H3068 to be observed H8107 of all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 in their generations. H1755
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.