Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7:1 “When Yahveh your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, and he drives out many nations before you — the Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you –

Deuteronomy 7:2 and when Yahveh your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely eliminate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

Deuteronomy 7:3 You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

Deuteronomy 7:4 because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then Yahveh’s nose will burn at you, and he will rapidly exterminate you.

Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their standing stones,[1] cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their carved images.

Deuteronomy 7:6 You see, you are a sacred[2] people to Yahveh your God. Yahveh your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 7:7 “Yahveh had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, because you were the fewest of all peoples.

Deuteronomy 7:8 But because Yahveh cared about you and kept the oath he swore to your fathers, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know that Yahveh, your God, is God, the faithful God who watches his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who care about him and keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 7:10 But he directly pays back and destroys those who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back directly the one who hates him.

Deuteronomy 7:11 So watch the commands—the prescriptions and rules—that I am commanding you to follow today.

Deuteronomy 7:12 “If you listen to and are careful to watch these rules, Yahveh your God will watch his covenant loyalty with you, as he swore to your fathers.

Deuteronomy 7:13 He will care about you, empower you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, and the produce of your land– your grain, new wine, and fresh oil– the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your fathers that he would give you.

Deuteronomy 7:14 You will be empowered above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock.

Deuteronomy 7:15 Yahveh will remove all sickness from you; he will not place on you all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples Yahveh your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods because that will be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 7:17 “If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I take possession from them?’

Deuteronomy 7:18 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what Yahveh, your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt:

Deuteronomy 7:19 the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which Yahveh your God brought you out. Yahveh, your God, will do the same to all the people you fear.

Deuteronomy 7:20 Yahveh, your God, will also send hornets against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed.

Deuteronomy 7:21 Don’t be terrified of them, because Yahveh your God, a great and awesome God, is among you.

Deuteronomy 7:22 Yahveh, your God, will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them rapidly; or else the wild animals will become too numerous for you.

Deuteronomy 7:23 Yahveh, your God, will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are exterminated.

Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will destroy their names under the sky. No one will be able to stand against you; you will exterminate them.

Deuteronomy 7:25 Burn up the carved images of their gods. Don’t crave the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is repulsive[3] to Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 7:26 Do not bring any repulsive thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to abhor and detest it utterly because it is set apart for destruction.

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[1]מַצֵּבָה  = “an unhewn, upright stone for cult, burial-marking, or memorial purposes” (Holladay). Deut. 7:5; 12:3; 16:22.

[2] קָדוֹשׁ= sacred. Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2, 21; 23:14; 26:19; 28:9; 33:3.

[3]תּוֹעֵבָה = repulsive. Deut 7:25-26; 12:31; 13:14; 14:3; 17:1, 4; 18:9, 12; 20:18; 22:5; 23:18; 24:4; 25:16; 27:15; 32:16.

Deuteronomy 7 quotes:

“In summary, when the Israelites conquered their new land, they were to destroy the old inhabitants, refusing to enter into any kind of treaty with them, either political or marital. Any kind of treaty would be a compromise and would lead to disaster; therefore the Israelites were to destroy systematically the physical religious “furniture” of their enemies, indicating thereby their complete lack of recognition for the gods of their enemies.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 177.

“Some persons, allowing themselves to be influenced by a morbid feeling^ and false sentimentality, rather than by an enlightened judgment, find difficulty in the directions given to Israel in reference to the Canaanites, in the opening of our chapter. It seems to them inconsistent with a benevolent Being to command His people to smite their fellow-creatures, and to show them nO’ mercy. They cannot understand how a merciful God could commission His people to slay women and children with the edge of the sword.

It is very plain that such persons could not adopt the language of Revelation xv. 3, 4. They are not prepared to say, “Just and true are Thy ways. Thou King of nations.” They cannot justify- God in all His ways ; nay, they are actually sitting in judgment upon Him. They presume to measure the actings of divine government by the standard of their own shallow thoughts — to scan the infinite by the finite ; in short, they measure God by themselves.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy.Vo. 3. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 2.

Deuteronomy 7 links:

checkmate
cleansing Canaan
destined to be destroyed
he watches, so watch
in retrospect- a greater GOD
Kriptonite
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 2, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, May 31, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 9, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, June 2, 2021
partnering with paganism
set apart for destruction
your God will do the same
your offspring and produce

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.