Deuteronomy7

The LORD commands Israel to utterly destroy the seven nations in Canaan, their altars, and images, and to make no covenants or marriages with them, lest they be led to idolatry. This is because Israel is a holy people, chosen by God's love and faithfulness, not their own merit. Obedience to these commands will bring blessings and divine assistance in conquering the land, while disobedience will incur wrath.

Command to Destroy and Separate

1
"ADONAI your God is going to bring you into the land you will enter in order to take possession of it, and he will expel many nations ahead of you -the Hitti, Girgashi, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, seven nations bigger and stronger than you. ​
2
When he does this, when ADONAI your God hands them over ahead of you, and you defeat them, you are to destroy them completely! Do not make any covenant with them. Show them no mercy. ​
3
Don't intermarry with them -don't give your daughter to his son, and don't take his daughter for your son. ​
4
For he will turn your children away from following me in order to serve other gods. If this happens, the anger of ADONAI will flare up against you, and he will quickly destroy you.
5
No, treat them this way: break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, cut down their sacred poles and burn up their carved images completely. ​

Israel Chosen by God's Love

6
For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure. ​
7
ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. ​
8
Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ​
9
From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. ​
10
But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.
11
Therefore, you are to keep the mitzvot, laws and rulings which I am giving you today, and obey them.

Blessings for Covenant Obedience

12
"Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, ADONAI your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that he swore to your ancestors. ​
13
He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground - your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep - in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.
14
You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a sterile male or female among you, and the same with your livestock.
15
ADONAI will remove all illness from you - he will not afflict you with any of Egypt's dreadful diseases, which you have known; instead, he will lay them on those who hate you. ​
16
You are to devour all the peoples that ADONAI your God hands over to you - show them no pity, and do not serve their gods, because that will become a trap for you.

Confidence in Conquest

17
If you think to yourselves, 'These nations outnumber us; how can we dispossess them?' ​
18
nevertheless, you are not to be afraid of them; you are to remember well what ADONAI your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt - ​
19
the great ordeals which you yourself saw, and the signs, wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm by which ADONAI your God brought you out. ADONAI will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
20
Moreover, ADONAI your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and those who hide themselves perish ahead of you. ​
21
You are not to be frightened of them, because ADONAI your God is there with you, a God great and fearsome.
22
ADONAI your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little; you can't put an end to them all at once, or the wild animals will become too numerous for you. ​
23
Nevertheless, ADONAI your God will give them over to you, sending one disaster after another upon them until they have been destroyed.
24
He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven; none of them will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. ​
25
You are to burn up completely the carved statues of their gods. Don't be greedy for the silver or gold on them; don't take it with you, or you will be trapped by it; for it is abhorrent to ADONAI your God. ​
26
Don't bring something abhorrent into your house, or you will share in the curse that is on it; instead, you are to detest it completely, loathe it utterly; for it is set apart for destruction. ​

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 7

Verse 1

This verse lists the 'Seven Nations,' the traditional inhabitants of Canaan. Their greater number emphasizes that the victory will be divine, not merely military, reinforcing Israel’s reliance on Yahweh.

Verse 2

The command to 'utterly destroy them' (Hebrew: *herem*) signifies the dedication of the enemy and their possessions to God, prohibiting assimilation, treaty, or mercy to ensure Israel's ritual purity.

Verse 3

Intermarriage is highlighted as the primary danger, as it guarantees religious syncretism and the subsequent abandonment of Yahweh worship, leading to covenant violation.

Verse 5

This mandate emphasizes the destruction of religious artifacts (altars, images, groves) as the ultimate preventative measure, targeting the source of pagan influence rather than just the people.

Verse 6

The concept of Israel as a 'special people' (*segullah*) underscores their unique and exclusive relationship with Yahweh, demanding absolute loyalty and ritual holiness.

Verse 7

This verse powerfully counters any notion of Israelite superiority, stressing that election is based purely on God's sovereign and unmerited grace, a foundational principle of Deuteronomic theology.

Verse 8

God’s love and faithfulness to the ancestral oath (sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) are the twin motivations for the Exodus and the subsequent conquest of Canaan.

Verse 9

Yahweh is described as the 'faithful God,' emphasizing his reliability in both keeping promises (mercy to the obedient) and executing judgment (repayment to the disobedient).

Verse 12

This introduces the conditional nature of the covenant relationship: obedience triggers divine blessing, reinforcing the Deuteronomic framework of reward and consequence.

Verse 15

Deliverance from 'diseases of Egypt' refers to the plagues and sicknesses associated with the land of bondage, symbolizing comprehensive physical protection offered under the covenant.

Verse 17

Moses anticipates the people's natural fear when facing numerically or technologically superior enemies, establishing that the required response is faith based on past divine acts.

Verse 18

Memory of the Exodus events—God’s powerful intervention against Pharaoh—serves as the foundation for Israel's faith, proving God’s ability to overcome any obstacle in Canaan.

Verse 20

The 'hornet' (Hebrew *tzirah*) is a metaphor for divine panic or perhaps a literal agent used by God to weaken the enemy and clear the land before Israel's direct military engagement.

Verse 22

God promises gradual conquest, a pragmatic strategy intended to prevent the land from becoming desolate and subsequently overrun by wild animals, revealing divine providence in military timing.

Verse 24

To destroy the enemy’s 'name from under heaven' is a powerful ancient Near Eastern idiom signifying total eradication and ensuring no memory or claim to the land remains.

Verse 25

This prohibition against desiring the silver or gold from idols is crucial because the spoils are considered *herem* (accursed). Taking them would introduce the forbidden curse into the community (cf. the narrative of Achan in Joshua 7).

Verse 26

The warning against bringing an 'abomination' (*to'evah*) into the house extends the concept of holiness from the national level to the personal level, demanding absolute separation from pagan items.

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