Teks -- Deuteronomy 7:1-26 (NET)

The Dispossession of Nonvassals

7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you– Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you– 7:2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 7:4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 7:5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up their idols. 7:6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth.

The Basis of Israel’s Election

7:7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you– for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 7:8 Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 7:10 but who pays back those who hate him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 7:11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do.

Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience

7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you as he promised your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness among you or your livestock. 7:15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.

Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism

7:16 You must destroy all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I– how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power by which he brought you out– thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets among them until the very last ones who hide from you perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 7:22 He, the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 7:23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will throw them into a great panic until they are destroyed. 7:24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them. 7:25 You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. 7:26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath along with it. You must absolutely detest and abhor it, for it is an object of divine wrath.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Deu 7:1 - Seven nations

There were ten in Gen 15:19-21. But this being some hundreds of years after, it is not strange if three of them were either destroyed by foreign or domestick wars, or by cohabitation and marriage united with, and swallowed up in the rest.

Wesley: Deu 7:4 - To serve other Gods

That is, there is manifest danger of apostacy and idolatry from such matches. Which reason doth both limit the law to such of these as are unconverted (otherwise Salmon married Rahab, Mat 1:5) and enlarge it to other idolatrous nations, as appears from 1Ki 11:2; Ezr 9:2; Neh 13:23.

Wesley: Deu 7:5 - Their graves

Which idolaters planted about the temples and altars of their Gods. Hereby God designed to take away whatsoever might bring their idolatry to remembrance, or occasion the reviving of it.

Wesley: Deu 7:7 - The fewest

To wit, at that time when God first declared his choice of you for his peculiar people, which was done to Abraham. For Abraham had but one son concerned in this choice and covenant, namely, Isaac, and that was in his hundredth year; and Isaac was sixty years old ere he had a child, and then had only two children; and though Jacob had twelve sons, it was a long time before they made any considerable increase. Nor do we read of any great multiplication of them 'till after Joseph's death.

Wesley: Deu 7:8 - The Lord loved you

It was his free choice without any cause or motive on your part.

Wesley: Deu 7:10 - Them that hate him

Not only those who hate him directly and properly, (for so did few or none of the Israelites to whom he here speaks,) but those who hate him by construction and consequence; those who hate and oppose his people, and word, those who wilfully persist in the breach of God's commandments.

Wesley: Deu 7:10 - To their face

That is, openly, and so as they shall see it, and not be able to avoid it.

Wesley: Deu 7:10 - Slack

So as to delay it beyond the fit time or season for vengeance, yet withal he is long-suffering, and slow to anger.

Wesley: Deu 7:12 - The covenant and the mercy

That is, the covenant of mercy, which he out of his own mere grace made with them.

Wesley: Deu 7:13 - He will love thee

He will continue to love thee, and to manifest his love to thee.

Wesley: Deu 7:15 - The diseases of Egypt

Such as the Egyptians were infected with, either commonly, or miraculously. It seems to refer not only to the plagues of Egypt, but to some other epidemic disease, which they remembered to have prevailed among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins. Diseases are God's servants, which go where he sends them, and do what he bids them.

Wesley: Deu 7:19 - The temptations

The trials and exercises of thy faith and obedience to my commands.

Wesley: Deu 7:24 - No man shall stand

This promise is made upon condition of their performance of their duty, which they neglecting, justly lose the benefit of it.

Wesley: Deu 7:25 - The silver or gold

Wherewith the idols are covered or adorned, nor consequently any other of their ornaments. This he commands to shew his utter detestation of idolatry, and to cut off all occasions of it.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - the Hittites

This people were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan (Gen 10:15), and occupied the mountainous region about Hebron, in the south of Palestine.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - the Girgashites

Supposed by some to be the same as the Gergesenes (Mat 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.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - 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.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - 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.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - the Perizzites

That is, villagers, a tribe who were dispersed throughout the country and lived in unwalled towns.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - the Hivites

Who dwelt about Ebal and Gerizim, extending towards Hermon. They are supposed to be the same as the Avims.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - the Jebusites

Resided about Jerusalem and the adjacent country.

JFB: Deu 7:1 - seven nations greater and mightier than thou

Ten were formerly mentioned (Gen 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.

JFB: Deu 7:2-6 - 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.

JFB: Deu 7:5 - 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."

JFB: Deu 7:6-10 - 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.|| 05123||1||16||0||@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 Psa 144:12-15.

JFB: Deu 7:15 - the evil diseases of Egypt

(See Exo 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.

JFB: Deu 7:20 - Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them

(See on Jos 24:12 [and Exo 23:28]).

JFB: Deu 7:22 - lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee

(See on Exo 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.

Clarke: Deu 7:1 - Seven nations greater and mightier than thou

Seven nations greater and mightier than thou - In several places of the Hebrew text, each of these seven nations is not enumerated, some one or other being left out, which the Septuagint in general supply. How these nations were distributed over the land of Canaan previously to the entering in of the Israelites, the reader may see in the note on Jos 3:10 (note).

Clarke: Deu 7:2 - Thou shalt smite them, etc.

Thou shalt smite them, etc. - These idolatrous nations were to be utterly destroyed, and all the others also which were contiguous to the boundaries of the promised land, provided they did not renounce their idolatry and receive the true faith: for if they did not, then no covenant was to be made with them on any secular or political consideration whatever; no mercy was to be shown to them, because the cup of their iniquity also was now full; and they must either embrace, heartily embrace, the true religion, or be cut off.

Clarke: Deu 7:3 - Neither shalt thou make marriages, etc.

Neither shalt thou make marriages, etc. - The heart being naturally inclined to evil, there is more likelihood that the idolatrous wife should draw aside the believing husband, than that the believing husband should be able to bring over his idolatrous wife to the true faith.

Clarke: Deu 7:6 - Thou art a holy people

Thou art a holy people - And therefore should have no connection with the workers of iniquity

Clarke: Deu 7:6 - A special people

A special people - סגלה segullah , - Septuagint, λαον περιουσιον, - a peculiar people, a private property. The words as they stand in the Septuagint are quoted by the apostle, 1Pe 2:9.

Clarke: Deu 7:8 - But because the Lord loved you

But because the Lord loved you - It was no good in them that induced God to choose them at this time to be his peculiar people: he had his reasons, but these sprang from his infinite goodness. He intended to make a full discovery of his goodness to the world, and this must have a commencement in some particular place, and among some people. He chose that time, and he chose the Jewish people; but not because of their goodness or holiness.

Clarke: Deu 7:12 - The Lord - shall keep unto thee the covenant

The Lord - shall keep unto thee the covenant - So we find their continuance in the state of favor was to depend on their faithfulness to the grace of God. If they should rebel, though God had chosen them through his love, yet he would cast them off in his justice. The elect, we see, may become unfaithful, and so become reprobates. So it happened to 24,000 of them, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness because they had sinned; yet these were of the elect that came out of Egypt. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.

Clarke: Deu 7:22 - Put out those nations - by little and little

Put out those nations - by little and little - The Israelites were not as yet sufficiently numerous to fill the whole land occupied by the seven nations mentioned Deu 7:1. And as wild and ferocious animals might be expected to multiply where either there are no inhabitants, or the place is but thinly peopled, therefore God tells them that, though at present, by force of arms, they might be able to expel them, it would be impolitic so to do, lest the beasts of the field should multiply upon them.

Clarke: Deu 7:25 - Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them

Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them - Some of the ancient idols were plated over with gold, and God saw that the value of the metal and the excellence of the workmanship might be an inducement for the Israelites to preserve them; and this might lead, remotely at least, to idolatry. As the idols were accursed, all those who had them, or any thing appertaining to them, were accursed also, Deu 7:26.

Calvin: Deu 7:2 - Thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them

2.Thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them Those who think that there was cruelty in this command, usurp too great authority in respect to Him who is the judge of all. The objection is specious that the people of God were unreasonably imbued with inhumanity, so that, advancing with murderous atrocity, they should spare neither sex nor age. But we must first remember what we shall see hereafter, i.e., that when God had destined the land for His people, He was at liberty utterly to destroy the former inhabitants, so that its possession might be free for them. We must then go further, and say that He desired the just demonstration of His vengeance to appear upon these nations. Four hundred years before He had justly punished their many sins, yet had He suspended His sentence and patiently borne with them, if haply they might repent. That sentence ³⁰³ is well known, “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Gen 15:16.) After God had shewn His mercy for four centuries, and this clemency had increased both their audacity and madness, so that they had not ceased to provoke His wrath, surely it was no act of cruelty to compensate for the delay by the grievousness of the punishment. And hence appears the foul and detestable perversity of the human intellect. We are indignant if He does not smile at once; if He delays punishment our zeal accuses Him of slackness and want of energy; yet, when He comes forth as the avenger of guilt, we either call Him cruel, or at least complain of His severity. Yet His justice will always absolve Him; and our calumnies and detractions will recoil upon our own heads. He commanded seven nations to be utterly destroyed; that is to say, after they had added sin to sin for 400 years, so that their accumulation was immense, and experience had taught that they were obstinate and incurable. It will therefore be said elsewhere, that the land “spewed them out,” (Lev 18:28,) as if it had eased itself, when burdened by their filthiness. If impiety is intolerable to the lifeless element, why should we wonder that God in His character of Judge exercised extreme severity? But if God’s wrath was just, He might surely choose whatever ministers and executioners of it He pleased; and when He had given this commission to His people, it was not unreasonable that He should forbid them to pity those whom He had appointed for destruction. For what can be more preposterous than for men to vie with God in clemency? and when it pleases the Master to be severe, for the servants to assume to themselves the right of shewing mercy? Therefore God often reproves the Israelites for being improperly merciful. And hence it came to pass that the people, whom they ought to have destroyed, became as thorns and briars to prick them. (Jos 23:13, and throughout the book of Judges.) Away, then, with all temerity, whereby we would presumptuously restrict God’s power to the puny measure of our reason; and rather let us learn reverently to regard those works of His, whose cause is concealed from us, than wantonly criticise them. Especially when He declares to us the just grounds of His vengeance, let us learn to subscribe to His decrees with the humility and modesty that becomes us, rather than to oppose them in vain, and indeed to our own confusion.

Calvin: Deu 7:6 - For thou art a holy people

6.For thou art a holy people He explains more distinctly what we have lately seen respecting God’s gratuitous love; for the comparison of the fewness of the people with the whole world and all nations, illustrates in no trifling degree the greatness of God’s grace; and this subject is considerably enlarged upon. Almost the same expressions will very soon be repeated, and also in the Song of Moses; but there by way of reproof, whilst here it is directed to a different object, as is plain from the context, viz., that they might be, by so great a blessing, laid under obligation to devote themselves and their services to God. He begins by declaring the end of their election, viz., that God had deigned to bestow this peculiar honor upon them that He might acquire unto Himself a holy people, pure from all pollutions, and then, by adding the circumstance I have adverted to, he magnifies the excellence of the benefit. From his argument drawn from their dignity, that they ought therefore to labor after holiness, we gather, that in proportion to the abundance of grace with which any one is endued, he is solemnly bound to live piously and justly. For God does not wish the gifts he bestows upon us to lie idle, but to produce their appropriate fruits; and we must especially remember that when He adopts us, and gathers us into His Church, we are not “called to uncleanness,” but to purity of life, and to shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.” ( 1Th 4:7, and 1Pe 2:9.) The Hebrew word סגלה , segullah, which we translate “peculiaris,” special, some understand to mean a “treasure,” or a precious and desirable thing, as was stated on Exo 19:0. Undoubtedly it appears from many passages that gold, silver, pearls, and the like, are designated by this word; but substantially it is agreed that this title is given to the elect people, because God delights Himself in them; and herein His incomparable goodness shines forth, that He so highly esteems such miserable and worthless creatures, (homunciones.) Hence, too, it appears that by His holy calling He, as it were, creates out of nothing “things which are not,” that they may excel every earthly being.

Calvin: Deu 7:7 - The Lord did not set his love upon you

7.The Lord did not set his love upon you He proves it to be of God’s gratuitous favor, that He has exalted them to such high honor, because He had passed over all other nations, and deigned to embrace them alone. For an equal distribution of God’s gifts generally casts obscurity upon them in our eyes; thus the light of the sun, our common food, and other things, which all equally enjoy, either lose their value, or, at any rate, do not obtain their due honor; whilst what is peculiar is more conspicuous. Moreover, Moses takes it for granted, that there was nothing naturally in the people to cause their condition to be better or more distinguished; and hence infers, that there was no other reason why God should choose them, except His mere choice of them. We have elsewhere observed, that by this His love, whatever men would bring of their own is excluded or annihilated. It follows, therefore, that the Israelites could never be sufficiently grateful to God, since they had been thus liberally dealt with by Him, without any desert of their own.

Calvin: Deu 7:8 - Because he would keep the oath

8.Because he would keep the oath The love of God is here referred back from the children to the fathers; for he addressed the men of his own generation, when he said that they were therefore God’s treasure, because He loved them; now he adds that God had not just begun to love them for the first time, but that He had originally loved their fathers, when He chose to adopt Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But although he more clearly proves that the descendants of Abraham had deserved nothing of the kind, because they are God’s peculiar people only by right of inheritance, still it must be remarked that God was induced to be kind to Abraham by no other cause than mere generosity. A little further on, therefore, he will say that those who then survived were dear to God, because He had already loved their fathers. But now he still further commends the goodness of God, because He had handed down His covenant from the fathers to the children, to shew that He is faithful and true to His promises. At the end of the verse, he teaches that the deliverance of the people was both an effect and a testimony of that grace.

Calvin: Deu 7:9 - Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God

9.Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God. The verb ²²⁰ might have been as properly translated in the future tense; and, if this be preferred, an experimental knowledge, as it is called, is referred to, as if he had said that God would practically manifest how faithful a rewarder He is of His servants. But if the other reading is rather approved, Moses exhorts the people to be assured that God sits in heaven as the Judge of men, so that they may be both alarmed by the fear of His vengeance, and also attracted by the hope of reward. This declaration, however, ²²¹ was appended to the Second Commandment, and there expounded; for since it is comprehended in the Decalogue, it was not right to separate it from thence; but since it is now repeated in confirmation of the whole Law, it is fitly inserted in this place. It will not be amiss, nevertheless, slightly to advert to what I there more fully explained. The promise stands first, because God chooses rather to invite His people by kindness than to compel them to obedience from terror. The word mercy is coupled with the covenant, that we may know that the reward which believers must expect, does not depend on the merit of their works, since they have need of God’s mercy. We may, however, thus resolve the phrase — keeping the covenant of mercy — or the covenant founded on mercy — or the mercy which He covenanted.

When it is required of believers that they should love God before they keep His Commandments, we are thus taught that the source and cause of obedience is the love wherewith we embrace God as our Father. With respect to the “thousand generations,” it is better that we should refer to the Second Commandment, because it is a point which cannot be hurried over in a few words.

Calvin: Deu 7:10 - And repayeth them that hate him

10.And repayeth them that hate him. There is no mention here made of the vengeance “unto the third and fourth generation? ²²²

Those who expound the passage that God confers kindnesses on the wicked, whilst they are living in this world, ²²³ that He may at length destroy them in final perdition, wrest the words too violently. Nor is the opinion of others probable, that God repays the wicked with the reward of hatred, in His face, or anger. I therefore interpret it to mean the face of those to whose disobedience God opposes Himself when He humbles their arrogance; for He alludes to their pride and audacity, because they do not hesitate to provoke God, as if He were without the courage or the power to contend with them. He declares, then, that their impudence and brazen front shall avail them nothing, but that He will cast down the impertinence of their countenance, and the insolence of their forehead; and signifies that they shall as certainly feel the judgment which they despise, as if He presented it before their eyes. He adds, moreover, that He will not deal towards the wicked with the clemency which he uses towards His children; for He so chastises them that His correction is always profitable for their salvation, whilst He denounces deadly punishment against the former; for although He seems to deal alike with both, when He inflicts temporal punishment, still, that which is but a medicine for believers, is to the reprobate a foretaste of their eternal destruction. What He says, however, as to taking vengeance without delay, does not seem to accord with other passages of Scripture, in which He declares Himself to be slow to anger, kind, and long-suffering. Besides, it seems also to be contradicted by experience, since He does not immediately hasten to inflict punishment, but proceeds slowly, so as to compensate by His severity for the slowness with which He acts. But we must remember what He says in Psa 90:4, that a thousand years in His sight are but as a single day; and consequently, when we think that He delays, He is, in His infinite wisdom, hastening as much as is necessary. He seems, indeed, to take no notice for a time, that He may thus invite men to repent; but still He declares that He will not delay, but that He will come suddenly, like a whirlwind, to hasten His judgments, lest the ungodly should grow drowsy from their security. Let us, therefore, learn quietly and patiently to wait for the fit season of His vengeance.

Calvin: Deu 7:12 - Wherefore it shall come to pass

12.Wherefore it shall come to pass. God appears so to act according to agreement, as to leave (His people) no hope of His favor, unless they perform their part of it; and undoubtedly this is the usual form of expression in the Law, in which the condition is inserted, that God will do good to His people if they have deserved it by their obedience. Still we must remember what we have elsewhere seen, that, after God has so covenanted with them, He Himself, in order that His promise may not be made of none effect, descends to the gratuitous promise of pardon, whereby He reconciles the unworthy to Himself. Thus the original covenant only avails to man’s condemnation. But when salvation is offered to them gratuitously, their works at the same time become pleasing to God. Inasmuch, however, as the cause of reward is unconnected with men and their works, all calculation of merit is out of the question: still it is profitable to believers that a reward should be promised them if they walk in the commandments of God; since, in His inestimable liberality, He deals with them as if they did something to deserve it.

In conclusion, Moses enumerates some of the proofs of God’s favor, such as fecundity, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. It is questionable whether by what is added at the end respecting the diseases of Egypt, he means the boils which were generated by the scattered ashes, (Exo 9:8,) or the lice which infested both man and beast, (Exo 8:17,) or whether he extends them to those diseases which had prevailed long before the departure of the people. I am disposed to embrace the latter opinion; ²²⁴ for in Deu 28:27, after mentioning “the botch of Egypt,” he adds “emerods, and the scab, and the itch:” it is, therefore, probable that the Egyptians were subject to various maladies, from which Moses declares that the people should be free by special privilege, if only they obeyed God’s Law.

Calvin: Deu 7:16 - And thou shalt consume all the people

16.And thou shalt consume all the people It is plain from the second part of the verse wherefore He commands the people of Canaan to be destroyed, when He forbids their gods to be worshipped. This precept, therefore, corresponds with the others, where He dooms in like manner these nations to utter destruction. I now pass over what I have explained elsewhere, i.e., that the vengeance which God exercised against these obstinate and ten-times lost people cannot be ascribed to cruelty. For since 400 years ago it had been said to Abraham that their iniquity was not yet full, they could not be treated with severity equal to their deserts, when they had so licentiously and wickedly abused God’s long-suffering. But we must take notice of God’s design in so particularly enjoining on the Israelites utterly to destroy whatever should be found there; for besides that He had once doomed them all to the destruction they merited, He would have the land also, in which His name was to be invoked, purged from all pollutions. Now, if any of the old inhabitants had survived, they would soon have endeavored to revive their corruptions, and since the Israelites were otherwise more disposed than enough to superstition, they would easily have been attracted to the worship of idols. This, then, is the reason why God forbids them to shew these people any humanity or clemency, as I have reminded you to be clear from the context; for these things stand in connection, that they should not spare the nations nor worship their gods. The reason which is subjoined, “for it will be a snare or stumblingblock to you,” must be extended to the whole context, viz., that it would be fatal to the Jews if they should spare the nations which would allure them to impiety.

Calvin: Deu 7:17 - If thou shalt say in thine heart

17.If thou shalt say in thine heart Since it was a matter of great difficulty to destroy such a multitude of men, and despair itself would drive them to madness, so that it would be frivolous for the Israelites to cut off all hope of mercy, God anticipates their fear, and exhorts them to the strenuous execution of His sentence. From whence we gather some useful instruction; whenever God commands anything which exceeds our power, we must still obey and boldly break through whatever obstacles present themselves to impede us. In all arduous matters, therefore, let this doctrine come to our aid, that whatever is contrary to God’s will may easily be annihilated by His almighty power. But since terror, presented to our eyes, immediately so lays hold of all our senses that we lie as it were torpid, God recalls to the recollection of the Israelites what abundant grounds of confidence He had supplied them with. For all the miracles He had wrought were so many proofs of His invincible power; and hence they should conclude that nothing was to be dreaded, provided God should go before them, and that, therefore, being assured of victory, they should not descend to any treaties.

Calvin: Deu 7:20 - Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet

20.Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet Since the destruction of their enemies might seem long, if they were only to be slain by their hands and weapons, and again, because it was scarcely credible that, without defending themselves, they would voluntarily stretch forth their own throats, God promises that in another way also He would supply the means of their conquest. Therefore, lest the Israelites, imagining that their enemies would be prompt and vigorous in resistance, should be alarmed or affrighted, God declares that other forces should be at hand, for that hornets or other poisonous insects should destroy all the fugitives. The same declaration is found in Exo 23:0; and what God had promised, Joshua relates that He performed. (Jos 24:12.) But inasmuch as these nations were not to be destroyed in a moment, lest the people should therefore grow weary or become inactive, God anticipates this, and reminds them that this delay would be advantageous, for when all the inhabitants were exterminated, the wild beasts would occupy the empty land. The prolongation of the war, therefore, ought not to trouble them, for by it God provided for His people’s welfare, since, if the men were speedily destroyed, they should have to contend with wild beasts. But though the passage which I have quoted from Exodus is similar in terms, yet I have designedly placed it under another head; for God here refers to the extermination of the Gentile nations with another object, i.e., lest any of the ancient pollutions should remain in the land, and lest the Israelites should mingle with the ungodly, by whose arts they might at length be drawn away to spurious religions.

Calvin: Deu 7:25 - The graven images of their gods

25.The graven images of their gods He again impresses upon them the object of the destruction of the nations, but he goes further than before. He had before forbidden them to worship their gods. He now commands them to consume their graven images with fire, for since the people were prone to superstition, such snares might easily have alienated them from God’s pure worship. Nor does he command them merely to melt the gold and silver so as to alter its shape, but he altogether interdicts its use, since it would be a contagious plague; for he shews how greatly God abominates idols, inasmuch as whosoever should touch the materials of which they were molten, would contract pollution and become accursed. This great severity might indeed seem to condemn the metals which were created for man’s use, as if they were impure, and as if the perfectness of natural things was liable to be corrupted by man. But in this way idolaters would contaminate the sun and moon, when falsely regarding them as objects of corrupt worship; and it must be answered that the gold and silver itself was by no means polluted by this impious abuse; but that, although free from all stain in itself, it was polluted in respect to the people. Such was the uncleanness of animals, not that they had in themselves any pollution, but because God had interdicted their being eaten. The pollution therefore which is now mentioned arises from a similar prohibition; for otherwise the ignorant people could not be restrained, and hence God would have that to be abominable which in itself was pure. Still this was a political precept, and only given temporarily to the ancient people; yet we gather from it how detestable idolatry is, which even infects the works of God themselves with its own filthiness.

Defender: Deu 7:6 - special people unto himself

This is perhaps the clearest statement of the election of the children of Israel as God's chosen people, clearly stating it was not because of human merit but because of His promise to their fathers. As the Israelites entered Canaan, they would encounter "seven nations greater and mightier than thou" (Deu 7:1), yet God promised to "deliver them before thee" (Deu 7:2)."

Defender: Deu 7:15 - none of the evil diseases

The Lord's protection of Israel from the ravages of disease, even in the harsh environment in which they lived for forty years, was no doubt providentially miraculous. It was also partially assured, however, by the divinely given laws of diet, cleanliness, sanitation, etc., which were incorporated in the Mosaic laws (Leviticus 11-15)."

Defender: Deu 7:25 - burn with fire

The burning of the images may seem extreme at first, especially in view of the intrinsic value of the gold or other materials used in making the image. It must be remembered that the worship of idols actually involved demon-worship (1Co 10:19, 1Co 10:20), and the apparently lifeless image might well be "possessed" by a very real demonic spirit. This may be relevant today to the careless purchase of pagan religious objects which are actually replicas of objects of pagan worship in pantheistic religions."

Defender: Deu 7:26 - abomination

The Bible often applies the term "abomination" to idols or idolatry. If such artifacts are kept in one's house, even merely as a decoration, God warns that those in the house could be "snared therein" and even become "a cursed thing like it.""

TSK: Deu 7:1 - the Lord // the Hittites // greater

the Lord : Deu 4:38, Deu 6:1, Deu 6:10, Deu 6:19, Deu 6:23, Deu 9:1, Deu 9:4, Deu 11:29, Deu 31:3, Deu 31:20; Exo 6:8, Exo 15:7; Num 14:31; Psa 44:2, Psa 44:3, Psa 78:55

the Hittites : With respect to the situation of these nations in the land of Canaan, Calmet remarks, that the Canaanites chiefly inhabited Phoenecia; the Hittites, the mountains south of the promised land; the Hivites, mount Ebal, and Gerizim, and towards Hermon; the Girgashites, beyond Jordan, towards the lake of Gennesareth, the Jebusistes, about Jerusalem; the Amorites, the mountains west of the Dead Sea, and part of the land of Moab; and that the Perizzites were probably not a distinct nation, but villagers scattered through the country. Gen 15:18-21; Exo 23:28, Exo 33:2

greater : Deu 4:38, Deu 4:1-3, Deu 20:1

TSK: Deu 7:2 - deliver // utterly // make no

deliver : Deu 7:23, Deu 7:24, Deu 3:3, Deu 23:14; Gen 14:20; Jos 10:24, Jos 10:25, Jos 10:30, Jos 10:32, Jos 10:42, Jos 21:44; Jdg 1:4

utterly : Deu 20:16, Deu 20:17; Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29; Num 33:52; Jos 6:17-25, Jos 8:24, Jos 9:24, Jos 10:28, Jos 10:40; Jos 11:11, Jos 11:12

make no : Deu 20:10, Deu 20:11; Exo 23:32, Exo 23:33, Exo 34:12-16; Jos 2:14, Jos 9:18-21; Jdg 1:24, Jdg 2:2; 2Sa 21:2

TSK: Deu 7:3

Gen 6:2, Gen 6:3; Exo 34:15, Exo 34:16; Jos 23:12, Jos 23:13; Jdg 3:6, Jdg 3:7; 1Ki 11:2; Ezr 9:1, Ezr 9:2; Neh 13:23-27; 2Co 6:14-17

TSK: Deu 7:4 - so will

so will : Deu 6:15, Deu 32:16, Deu 32:17; Exo 20:5; Jdg 2:11, Jdg 2:20, Jdg 3:7, Jdg 3:8, Jdg 10:6, Jdg 10:7

TSK: Deu 7:5 - destroy // images // and cut // burn

destroy : Deu 12:2, Deu 12:3; Exo 23:24, Exo 34:13; 2Ki 23:6-14

images : Heb. statues, or pillars, Deu 16:22; Lev 26:1

and cut : Jdg 6:25, Jdg 6:26

burn : Deu 7:25, Deu 9:21; Exo 32:20

TSK: Deu 7:6 - an holy // to be a special

an holy : Deu 14:2, Deu 26:19, Deu 28:9; Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6; Psa 50:5; Jer 2:3; Amo 3:2; 1Co 6:19, 1Co 6:20; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9

to be a special : Mal 3:17; Tit 2:14

TSK: Deu 7:7 - The Lord // ye were

The Lord : Psa 115:1; Rom 9:11-15, Rom 9:18, Rom 9:21, Rom 11:6; 1Jo 3:1, 1Jo 4:10

ye were : Deu 10:22; Isa 51:2; Mat 7:14; Luk 12:32; Rom 9:27-29

TSK: Deu 7:8 - because // oath // Lord brought

because : Deu 4:37, Deu 9:4, Deu 9:5, Deu 10:15; 1Sa 12:22; 2Sa 22:20; Psa 44:3; Isa 43:4; Jer 31:3; Zep 3:17; Mat 11:26; Eph 2:4, Eph 2:5; 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14; Tit 3:3-7; 1Jo 4:19

oath : Gen 22:16-18; Exo 32:13; Psa 105:8-10, Psa 105:42; Luk 1:55, Luk 1:72, Luk 1:73; Heb 6:13-17

Lord brought : Deu 4:20, Deu 4:34; Exo 12:41, Exo 12:42, Exo 13:3, Exo 13:14, Exo 20:2

TSK: Deu 7:9 - the faithful // which keepeth // a thousand

the faithful : Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7; Psa 119:75, Psa 146:6; Isa 49:7; Lam 3:23; 1Co 1:9, 1Co 10:3; 2Co 1:18; 1Th 5:24; 2Th 3:3; 2Ti 2:13; Tit 1:2; Heb 6:18, Heb 10:23; Heb 11:11; 1Jo 1:9

which keepeth : Deu 5:10; Gen 17:7; Exo 20:6; Neh 1:5; Dan 9:4; Rom 8:28; 1Co 8:3; Jam 1:12

a thousand : 1Ch 16:15

TSK: Deu 7:10 - repayeth // slack // hateth

repayeth : Deu 7:9, Deu 32:35, Deu 32:41; Psa 21:8, Psa 21:9; Pro 11:31; Isa 59:18; Nah 1:2; Rom 12:19

slack : Deu 32:25; 2Pe 3:9, 2Pe 3:10

hateth : Exo 20:5; Joh 15:23-24

TSK: Deu 7:11

Deu 4:1, Deu 5:32; Joh 14:15

TSK: Deu 7:12 - if // Lord

if : Heb. because, Deu 28:1; Lev 26:3

Lord : Deu 7:9; Psa 105:8-10; Mic 7:20; Luk 1:55, Luk 1:72, Luk 1:73

TSK: Deu 7:13 - he will love // he will also

he will love : Deu 7:7, Deu 28:4; Exo 23:25; Psa 1:3, Psa 11:7, Psa 144:12-15; Joh 14:21, Joh 15:10, Joh 16:27

he will also : Deu 28:3-5, Deu 28:11, Deu 28:15-18; Job 42:12; Pro 10:22; Mal 3:10, Mal 3:11; Mat 6:33

TSK: Deu 7:14 - blessed // male or

blessed : Deu 33:29; Psa 115:15, Psa 147:19, Psa 147:20

male or : Deu 28:4, Deu 28:11; Exo 23:26-33; Lev 26:9; Psa 127:3

TSK: Deu 7:15 - will put none // will put none

will put none : The Israelites, if obedient, would have been subject to no maladies but those common to fallen man, and generally very healthy and long lived; being exempted from pestilential diseases, which have often most tremendously scourged guilty nations; and from such maladies in particular, as they had witnessed in Egypt, by which God afflicted their cruel oppressors (Exo 15:26). This must be referred to the national covenant; for though godliness often secures the most solid temporal advantages, yet temporal blessings were not, even among them, uniformly dispensed to individuals according to their obedience; but they were to the nation, with an exactness which is not observed towards any other people. Lev 26:3, Lev 26:4

will put none : Deu 28:27, Deu 28:60; Exo 9:11, Exo 15:26; Psa 105:36, Psa 105:37

TSK: Deu 7:16 - consume // thine eye // for that will

consume : Deu 7:2

thine eye : Deu 13:8, Deu 19:13, Deu 19:21, Deu 25:12; Jer 21:7

for that will : Deu 12:30, Deu 12:31; Exo 23:33, Exo 34:12-16; Num 33:55; Jos 23:13-16; Jdg 2:3, Jdg 2:12; Jdg 3:6, Jdg 8:27; Psa 106:36; 1Co 15:33

TSK: Deu 7:17 - thou shalt // These nations

thou shalt : Deu 8:17, Deu 15:9, Deu 18:21; Isa 14:13, Isa 47:8, Isa 49:21; Jer 13:22; Luk 9:47

These nations : Num 13:32, Num 33:53; Jos 17:16-18

TSK: Deu 7:18 - shalt not // remember

shalt not : Deu 1:29, Deu 3:6, Deu 31:6; Psa 27:1, Psa 27:2, Psa 46:1, Psa 46:2; Isa 41:10-14

remember : Exod. 7:1-14:31; Jdg 6:13; Psa 77:11, Psa 78:11, Psa 78:42-51, Psa 105:5, Psa 105:26-36; Psa 135:8-10, Psa 136:10-15; Isa 51:9, Isa 51:10, Isa 63:11-15

TSK: Deu 7:19 - great // so shall

great : Deu 4:34, Deu 11:2-4, Deu 29:3; Neh 9:10, Neh 9:11; Jer 32:20, Jer 32:21; Eze 20:6-9

so shall : Jos 3:10

TSK: Deu 7:20 - the hornet

the hornet : Exo 23:28-30; Jos 24:12

TSK: Deu 7:21 - the Lord // a mighty God

the Lord : Num 9:20, Num 14:9, Num 14:14, Num 14:42, Num 16:3, Num 23:21; Jos 3:10; 2Ch 32:8; Psa 46:5, Psa 46:7, Psa 46:11; Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10; Zec 2:10, Zec 2:11; 1Co 14:25

a mighty God : Deu 10:17, Deu 25:8; 1Sa 4:8; Neh 1:5, Neh 4:14, Neh 9:32; Zec 12:2-5

TSK: Deu 7:22 - put out // thou mayest

put out : Heb. pluck off

thou mayest : As the Israelites were not yet sufficiently numerous to fill the whole land occupied by these nations; and as wild and ferocious animals might be expected to multiply where the place was but thinly peopled, therefore God informs them that their extermination from before them should be gradual. Haynes says, ""The approaching to Cana, at the close of the day, as we did, is at once terrifying and dangerous. The surrounding country swarms with wild beasts, such as tigers, leopards, jackals, etc., whose cries and howling, I doubt not, would strike the boldest traveller, who had not been frequently in a like situation, with the deepest sense of horror.""Exo 23:29, Exo 23:30; Jos 15:63

TSK: Deu 7:23 - the Lord // unto thee // shall destroy

the Lord : Deu 7:2

unto thee : Heb. before thy face, Deu 9:3

shall destroy : Deu 2:15, Deu 8:20; Isa 13:6; Jer 17:18; Joe 1:15; 2Th 1:9

TSK: Deu 7:24 - he shall // their name // there shall

he shall : Jos 10:24, Jos 10:25, Jos 10:42, Jos 12:1-6

their name : Deu 9:14, Deu 25:19, Deu 29:20; Exo 17:14; Psa 9:5; Pro 10:7; Jer 10:11; Zep 1:4

there shall : Deu 11:25; Jos 1:5, Jos 10:8, Jos 23:9; Isa 54:17; Rom 8:37; 1Co 15:57

TSK: Deu 7:25 - graven // thou shalt // snared // an abomination

graven : Deu 7:5, Deu 12:3; Exo 32:20; 1Ch 14:12; Isa 30:22

thou shalt : Jos 7:1, Jos 7:21

snared : Jdg 8:24-27; Zep 1:3; 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10

an abomination : Deu 17:1, Deu 23:18; Rev 17:5

TSK: Deu 7:26 - shalt // but thou shalt

shalt : Deu 13:17; Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29; Jos 6:17-24, 7:1-25, 11-26; Eze 14:7; Hab 2:9-11; Zec 5:4

but thou shalt : Isa 2:20, Isa 30:22; Eze 11:18; Hos 14:8; Rom 2:22

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Deu 7:2 - No covenant with them

No covenant with them to spare them, or permit them to dwell with thee in the land. Other nations had more favour, but these were for their great wickedness, and for the good of Israel, devoted to utter destruction.

Poole: Deu 7:4

i.e. There is manifest danger of apostacy and idolatry from such matches; which reason doth both limit the law to such of these as were unconverted, otherwise Salmon married Rahab, Mat 1:5 , and enlarge it to other idolatrous nations, as appears from 1Ki 11:2 Ezr 9:2 Neh 13:23 .

Poole: Deu 7:5

Idolaters planted groves about the temples and altars of their gods. Hereby God designed to take away whatsoever might bring their idolatry to remembrance, or occasion the reviving of it.

Poole: Deu 7:7

To wit, at that time when God first declared his love to you, and choice of you for his peculiar people, which was done to Abraham. For Abraham had but one son concerned in this choice and covenant, to wit, Isaac, and that was in his hundredth year; and Isaac was sixty years old ere he had a child, and then they had only two children; and though Jacob had twelve sons, yet it was a long time ere they made any considerable increase. Nor do we read of any great multiplication of them till after Joseph’ s death, Exo 1:6,7 .

Poole: Deu 7:8 - Because the Lord loved you

Because the Lord loved you i.e. because it pleased him to love you; it was his free choice, without any cause or motive on your part. Compare Deu 10:15 1Sa 12:22 Psa 44:3 .

Poole: Deu 7:9 - The faithful God

The faithful God true to his word, and constant in performing all his promises.

Poole: Deu 7:10 - Them that hate him // He will not be slack

Them that hate him not only those who hate him directly and properly, (for so did few or none of the Israelites, to whom he here speaks,) but those who hate him by construction and consequence; those who hate and oppose his people, and word, and image, those who presumptuously and wilfully persist in the breach of God’ s commandments, as appears from Deu 7:9 , where the love of God, to which this hatred is opposite, is described and expressed by the keeping of his commandments. To their face , i.e. openly, and so as they shall see it, and not be able to avoid it.

He will not be slack to wit, so as some men count slackness , 2Pe 3:9 , so as to delay it beyond the fit time or season for vengeance; yet withal he is long-suffering, and slow to anger, as that and other places inform us.

Poole: Deu 7:12

i.e. The covenant of mercy or grace, which he out of his own mere grace made with them. A figure called hendiaduo .

Poole: Deu 7:13 - He will love thee

He will love thee he will continue to love thee, and to manifest his love to thee, he will not repent of his love to thee.

Poole: Deu 7:15 - The evil diseases of Egypt

The evil diseases of Egypt such as the Egyptians were infested with, either commonly, as that botch, Deu 28:27 ; or miraculously and extraordinarily, from the hand of the Lord, as Exo 9:10,15 . Compare Exo 23:25 Psa 105:37 .

Poole: Deu 7:16

An occasion of sin and utter destruction. See Exo 23:33 34:12 Jud 2:3 .

Poole: Deu 7:18 - Well remember

Well remember Heb. remembering remember , i.e. remember it frequently, considerately, practically, and for thy encouragement; for men are said to forget those things which they do not remember to good purpose.

Poole: Deu 7:19 - The great temptations // So shall the Lord do

The great temptations the trials and exercises of thy faith and obedience to my call and commands.

So shall the Lord do so as he did to Pharaoh and his people, mentioned Deu 7:18 .

Poole: Deu 7:20 - The hornet

The hornet of which see on Exo 23:28 .

Poole: Deu 7:22

Or, thou shalt not be able to consume them at once , i.e. in an instant. I will not assist thee with my omnipotency, to crush them in a moment, but will bless thee in the use of ordinary means, and destroy them successively by several battles.

Poole: Deu 7:24

This promise is made upon condition of their performance of their duty, which they neglecting, they justly lose the benefit of it, as we see, Jud 2:1-3 .

Poole: Deu 7:25 - That is on them

That is on them wherewith the idols are covered or adorned, nor consequently any other of their ornaments. This he commands to show his utter detestation of idolatry, and to cut off all occasions of it.

Poole: Deu 7:26 - A cursed thing

A cursed thing i.e. devoted to utter destruction, as that was. See Jos 7:11,21,24 , &c.

Haydock: Deu 7:1 - Graven things // Made

Graven things. Idols, so called by contempt. (Challoner) ---

Made. Hebrew, "gold (plates) on them," to cover the wood, &c. See ver. 5.

Haydock: Deu 7:1 - Destroyed // Seven

Destroyed. So the Vulgate often expresses the Hebrew term, which signifies, "to cast out." ---

Seven. Ten are mentioned, Genesis xv. 9; but some of the less powerful nations were either mixed with the others, or were exterminated. The Hevites are omitted in the passage of Genesis, and sometimes no notice is taken of the Gergezite or the Pherezite. The latter had been already conquered by Moses, as well as the Raphaim and Amorrhites, over whom Og and Sehon ruled, chap. iii. 5. (Calmet) ---

It seems, however, that some of the same nations, on the other side of the Jordan, remained to be subdued, and that any one of them was naturally too strong for the Hebrews, ver. 7. Hence the latter might be convinced, that their victories were to be attributed to God.

Haydock: Deu 7:2 - League // Them

League. Yet Josue, (ix. 3,) by mistake, entered into one with the Gabaonites, and observed it; (Haydock) whence we may conclude, that only such leagues are forbidden as would leave these nations in possession of their lands and idols, chap. xx. 10., and xxiii. 6. With foreign nations it was lawful to make leagues defensive and offensive, as David, Asa, and the Machabees did with Hiram, Benadad, and the Romans, 3 Kings xv. 18, &c. If the Hebrews were so hostile to the nations of Chanaan, it was in execution of God's decree, who had sentenced them to die; and Tacitus hence unjustly inferred, that they hated all but their own nation. See Grotius, Jur. ii. 15. ---

Them. This was ill executed. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] xiii. 13.) (Judges i.) (Menochius)

Haydock: Deu 7:3 - Marriages

Marriages. Some believe that it was unlawful to marry the people of Chanaan, if they were even converted, and also those of other nations, as we find that Esdras (1 Esdras x. 2, 12,) ordered such strange wives to be sent away. But the context shews, as well as the practice of most pious Hebrews, that it was only forbidden to marry with those who adhered to their idolatry, ver. 4. Salmon took to wife Rahab, of Jericho; Mahalon and Booz successively married Ruth, the Moabitess, and Moses himself allows the Hebrews to espouse their captives, and to preserve the lives of women and children, chap. xx. 14., and xxi. 11. (Calmet) See Exodus xxxiv. 15. ---

Hence all the Chanaanites were not necessarily to be slain. The few exceptions did not hinder the rule from being general. See ver. 16., and Numbers xiv. 23.

Haydock: Deu 7:4 - Gods

Gods. So great is the natural tendency to evil, that though a woman be generally inclined to follow the inclinations and religion of her husband, yet, when his method of living is more repugnant to flesh and blood, she is but to apt to influence him to glide smoothly with her down the hill of pleasure, into the very abyss of dissolution. The prediction, she will turn, &c., is so often verified, that those who marry with unbelievers ought to tremble. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 7:5 - Things

Things. This was to be done with regard to the idols of Chanaan, when it was first conquered, ver. 25. Afterwards David made no scruple in wearing a crown, which had been taken from the spoils of Melchon, the idol of the Ammonites, 1 Paralipomenon xx. 2. (Calmet)

Haydock: Deu 7:6 - Peculiar

Peculiar. Hebrew sogula, laid up like something most precious and desirable. (Menochius) ---

God seemed to have abandoned other nations to the corruption of their own heart. "This was, by a particular mystery, a prophetical nation." (St. Augustine, ep. cii.) (Exodus xix. 5.) (Calmet) ---

Therefore must they destroy every idol in their land, to set a pattern to all other less favoured nations how they ought also to treat them.

Haydock: Deu 7:7 - Joined

Joined. Hebrew, "has set his love upon you." God is the most disinterested lover. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 7:9 - Strong

Strong. Hebrew el, means also God. He requires us to imitate his perfections as much as we are able. Being faithful, he will comply with his covenant exactly, and will punish those who neglect it. (Calmet)

Haydock: Deu 7:10 - Deserve

Deserve. Hebrew, "he will repay to his face," or "he will punish immediately the person who hateth him to his face." God does not always defer the correction of the wicked till their death. (Calmet) ---

But this seems to be spoken principally of those who have engaged in the covenant, 2 Machabees vi. 12. (Du Hamel) ---

Thus he immediately chastised those who adored the calf, Core, Mary [Miriam], &c., (Menochius) and he does not dissemble the faults even of his chosen servants. (Tirinus) ---

The Chaldean and some Rabbins give another interpretation. "The Lord rewards his enemies for the good works which they perform in this life, reserving their judgment till the life to come. He does not delay to reward was good they do, but he will punish them (for their crimes) in another world." (Calmet)

Haydock: Deu 7:12 - If

If. The promises of God to the Hebrews were conditional. (Worthington)

Haydock: Deu 7:13 - Womb

Womb. He will grant thee many children. (Menochius) ---

This was esteemed a very great blessing, at a time when they might hope to give birth to the Messias. (Calmet)

Haydock: Deu 7:14 - Cattle

Cattle. This shews, that no precept to marry is here given, but only a blessing. Even men cannot be commanded not to be barren, as that is not in their own power. It was, however, deemed a mark of some secret transgression when married people had no children. (Vasques.) (Tirinus)

Haydock: Deu 7:15 - Sickness

Sickness, sent in punishment of sin, (Haydock) like the plagues of Egypt, Exodus ix. (Menochius) ---

Egypt was afflicted with some peculiar disorders, such as the leprosy, called Elephantiasis. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxvi. 1.) The people were also much troubled with sore eyes, or blindness, and with ulcers upon their legs. (Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 91.) One-fourth of the inhabitants of Grand Cairo have sore eyes, or are blind. (Brun.) ---

Joinville speaks of the diseases which attacked the army of St. Louis in Egypt, preying chiefly upon the legs and gums, and causing them to putrify. (Calmet)

Haydock: Deu 7:16 - Consume

Consume. Kill the inhabitants, plunder their effects, (Menochius) destroy their idols.

Haydock: Deu 7:19 - Plagues

Plagues. Hebrew, "trials." God manifested by this means the latent dispositions of the Egyptians, while he punished their wickedness at the same time. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 7:20 - Hornets

Hornets. Abenezra understands the leprosy, which the Hebrew may also signify. But hornets and such like insects are very destructive in hot countries; and Pausanias informs us that the Minsiens were driven out of their country by them. (Calmet) ---

God destroyed the army of Sapor II, the Persian king, by sending an army of gnats, at the prayer of St. James of Nisibis, A.D. 350. "Lord, said the saint, thou art able by the weakest means to humble the pride of thy enemies, defeat these multitudes by an army of gnats." (Butler, Lives of the Saints, July 11.) ---

We may, therefore, explain this text in a literal sense. (Calmet) (Wisdom xii. 8., and xvi. 9., and Josue xxiv. 12.)

Haydock: Deu 7:21 - Fear

Fear. Septuagint, "be wounded." In the war with the Madianites, not one was killed, (Numbers xxxi. 49,) as Josephus ([Antiquities?] iii. 2) informs us, was also the case when king Amalec and his people attacked the Hebrews, Exodus xvii. 13. The people seem to have expected such a miraculous interference of Providence in their favour; and hence, when 36 were slain at the siege of Hai, all were greatly dejected, Josue vii. 5. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 7:22 - Thee

Thee. Three millions of people not being sufficient to cultivate the land, Exodus xxiii. 29. (Menochius) ---

God could easily have destroyed those mighty nations at once; but he would not give the Israelites any occasion of boasting. (Du Hamel) ---

If they never succeeded to expel them entirely out of the country, they might attribute it to their own negligence and other sins. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 7:26 - An anathema // Like it

An anathema. That is, a thing devoted to destruction; and which carries along with it a curse. (Challoner) ---

Like it. The curse rested upon those who kept any of the spoils. This brought death upon Achan, (Josue vii. 1,) and upon some of the soldiers of Judas the Machabee, who had secreted some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews, 2 Machabees xii. 40. (Calmet)

Gill: Deu 7:1 - When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it // and hath cast out many nations before thee // the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites // seven nations greater and mightier than thou

When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it,.... The land of Canaan they were just now going into to take possession of; their introduction into which is here, as in many other places, ascribed not to themselves, or their leaders, but to the Lord as their covenant God:

and hath cast out many nations before thee; even all that were in it, the seven following:

the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; the Canaanites were a particular nation in the land of Canaan, which had their name from Canaan himself; the rest were called from different sons of his; see Gen 10:15, the country of the Gergesenes, the same with the Girgashites, continued its name unto the times of Christ, Mat 8:28,

seven nations greater and mightier than thou; more in number, and more robust in body, some being of a gigantic stature; there were ten of these nations in Abraham's time, three of them were since sunk or swallowed up among the rest, the Kenites, and Kenizires, and the Rephaim; for instead of the Kadmonites the Hivites are here put, which seem to be the same.

Gill: Deu 7:2 - And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee // thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them // thou shalt make no covenant with them // nor show mercy unto them

And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee,.... Into their hands:

thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; men, women, and children; which was ordered not merely to make way and room for the people of Israel to inherit their land, but as a punishment for capital crimes they had been guilty of, such as idolatry, incest, murder, &c. wherefore though they were reprieved for a while for Israel's sake, till their time was come to possess the land, they were at length righteously punished; which observed, abates the seeming severity exercised upon them:

thou shalt make no covenant with them; to dwell in their cities and houses, and enjoy their lands and estates, on any condition whatever; and though they did make a league with the Gibeonites, that was obtained by fraud, they pretending not to be of the land of Canaan, but to come from a very distant country:

nor show mercy unto them; by sparing their lives, bestowing any favours upon them, or giving them any help and assistance when in distress: the Jews extend this to all other Heathen nations besides these seven; wherefore, if an Israelite, as Maimonides ^z says, should see a Gentile perishing, or plunged into a river, he may not take him out, nor administer medicine to a sick person. Hence Juvenal ^a the poet upbraids them with their unkindness and incivility; and says that Moses delivered it as a Jewish law, in a secret volume of his, perhaps referring to this book of Deuteronomy, that the Jews might not direct a poor traveller in his way unless he was one of their religion, nor one athirst to a fountain of water; and which led Tacitus ^b, the Heathen historian, to make this remark upon them, that they entertained an hostile hatred against all other people.

Gill: Deu 7:3 - Neither shalt thou make marriages with them // thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them,.... Unless they became proselytes, as Rahab, who was married by Salmon, and so those of other nations, as Ruth the Moabitess, and so any captive taken in war; otherwise it was not lawful, bad consequences have followed upon it, which it is the design of this law to prevent; that is, being snared and drawn aside into idolatry, which was the case of Solomon:

thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son; for, according to the Targum of Jonathan, whosoever marries with them, it is as if he married with their idols: and this law, according to the Jewish writers ^c, is binding with respect to other nations besides the seven; and whosoever marries any Heathen, of whatsoever nation, is to be beaten.

Gill: Deu 7:4 - For they will turn away thy son from following me // that they may serve other gods // so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly

For they will turn away thy son from following me,.... From the pure worship of God, his word, statutes, and ordinances:

that they may serve other gods; worship their idols; that is, the daughters of Heathens, married to the sons of Israelites, would entice them from the worship of the true God to idolatry; so the Targum of Jonathan; as Solomon's wives drew him aside: or "he will turn away thy son" ^d; meaning, as Jarchi observes, that the son of an Heathen, that marries the daughter of an Israelite, will turn away the son born of her to idolatry, called here the grandfather's son; though Aben Ezra says this respects the son mentioned in the preceding verse, that is, the son married to an Heathen woman, and not to a son born in such marriage:

so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly; by some immediate judgment striking dead at once; there being nothing more provoking to God than idolatry, that being directly contrary to his being, nature, perfections, honour, and glory, of which he is jealous.

Gill: Deu 7:5 - But thus shall ye deal with them // ye shall destroy their altars // and break down their images // and cut down their groves // and burn their graven images with fire

But thus shall ye deal with them,.... The inhabitants of the land of Canaan:

ye shall destroy their altars; on which they sacrificed to their idols:

and break down their images; of their gods, and the statues and pillars erected to the honour of them:

and cut down their groves; sacred to idols, which were usually planted on hills, and about Heathen temples, and under which idols were placed to be worshipped. The Targum of Jonathan calls them trees of their adoration, under which they worshipped; though there was a worship paid to them, not indeed directly to them, or for their sakes, but for the sake of the idols they were sacred to, or were placed under them; so Maimonides ^e says, a tree which at first was planted to be worshipped is forbidden of any use (or profit); and this is the אשרה, or "grove", spoken of in the law, a tree planted and lopped, of which a graven image is made for an idol; and so the tree that has been worshipped, though the body of it is, not forbidden, all the shoots and leaves, and the branches, and the fruits it produces all the time it is worshipped, are forbidden to be used: though the word here used sometimes seems to signify, not a grove of trees, but some image itself, since we read of it in the temple, 2Ki 21:7,

and burn their graven images with fire; distinguished from their molten images, which may be meant in a preceding clause, and which are particularly mentioned as to be destroyed as well as these, Num 33:52.

Gill: Deu 7:6 - For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God // the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,.... Not sanctified in a spiritual sense, or having principles of grace and holiness in them, from whence holy actions sprang, at least not all of them; but they were separated from all other people in the world to the pure worship and service of God in an external manner, and therefore were to avoid all idolatry, and every appearance of it:

the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth; for special service and worship, and to enjoy special privileges and benefits, civil and religious; though they were not chosen to special grace here, and eternal glory hereafter; at least not all of them, only a remnant, according to the election of grace; yet they were typical of the chosen people of God in a special sense; who are chosen out of the world to be a peculiar people, to be holy here and happy hereafter; to enjoy communion with God in this life and that to come, as well as to serve and glorify him now and for evermore.

Gill: Deu 7:7 - The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you // because ye were more in number than any people // for ye were the fewest of all people

The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you,.... He had done both, and the one as the effect and evidence of the other; he loved them, and therefore he chose them; but neither of them:

because ye were more in number than any people; not for the quantity of them, nor even for the quality of them:

for ye were the fewest of all people; fewer than the Egyptians, from whence they came, and than the Canaanites they were going to drive out and inherit their land, Deu 7:1. Those whom God has loved with an everlasting love, and as a fruit of it has chosen them in Christ before the world began to grace and glory, holiness and happiness, are but a small number, a little flock; though many are called, few are chosen; nor are they better than others, being by nature children of wrath even as others, and as to their outward circumstances the poor of this world.

Gill: Deu 7:8 - But because the Lord loved you // and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers // hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand // and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen // from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt

But because the Lord loved you,.... With an unmerited love; he loved them, because he loved them; that is, because he would love them; his love was not owing to any goodness in them, or done by them, or any love in them to him, but to his own good will and pleasure:

and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers; the promise he had made, confirmed by an oath:

hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand; out of the land of Egypt:

and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen; where they were bondmen to the Egyptians:

from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; who detained them, and refused to let them go.

Gill: Deu 7:9 - the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy // with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations

The only true and living God, and not the idols of the Gentiles, who are false and lifeless ones, and therefore not the proper objects of adoration:

the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy; as appeared by fulfilling the promise made to their fathers, in bringing them out of Egypt, and now them to the borders of the land of Canaan given them for an inheritance:

with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations; see Exo 20:6 which are not the causes or conditions of his covenant and mercy, nor of his keeping them, but descriptive of the persons that enjoy the benefit thereof.

Gill: Deu 7:10 - And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them // he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face

And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them,.... Openly, publicly, and at once, they not being able to make any resistance. Onkelos interprets it in their lifetime, and so Jarchi which agrees with the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem: "or to his face"; ^f the face of God; that is, he will punish them that hate him to his face, who are audacious, bold, impudent sinners; sinners before the Lord, as the men of Sodom were, Gen 13:13,

he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face; not defer the execution of his judgment and vengeance, which may seem to slumber and linger, but will quickly and openly bring it upon the sinner; this also the Chaldee paraphrases explain as before.

Gill: Deu 7:11 - Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments // which I command thee this day, to do them

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,.... The laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, urged thereunto both by promises and threatenings, in hopes of reward, and through fear of punishment:

which I command thee this day, to do them; in the name of the Lord, and by his authority; by virtue of which he made a new declaration of them to put them in mind of them in order to observe them.

Gill: Deu 7:12 - Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them // that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers

Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them,.... Attentively listen to the declaration made of them, and be careful to observe them:

that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers; to bring them into the land of Canaan, and continue them in it; yea, to send the Messiah to them, and bring him the salvation of Israel out of Zion; see Luk 1:68.

Gill: Deu 7:13 - And he will love thee // and bless thee, and multiply thee // he will also bless the fruit of thy womb // and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil // the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep

And he will love thee,.... As he has done, and rest in his love, and give further instances and proofs of it:

and bless thee, and multiply thee; that is bless thee with a multiplication of offspring, which was what was often promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, the dust of the earth, and the sand of the sea:

he will also bless the fruit of thy womb; not only give strength to conceive, but carry on the pregnancy, preserve the foetus, and prevent miscarrying:

and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil; which were the principal produce of it:

the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep: their larger and lesser cattle, oxen and sheep: in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee; the land of Canaan, given in promise, and that established by an oath.

Gill: Deu 7:14 - Thou shalt be blessed above all people // there shall not be male or female barren among you // or among your cattle

Thou shalt be blessed above all people,.... Even with temporal blessings, besides those of a religious kind; they having the oracles of God, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, Rom 3:1,

there shall not be male or female barren among you; which to be was reckoned a reproach, and the contrary a blessing, Luk 1:25 Psa 128:3.

or among your cattle; the Targum of Jonathan is, nor thy beasts barren of wool, and milk, and lambs.

Gill: Deu 7:15 - And will take away from thee all sickness // and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee // but will lay them upon all them that hate thee

And will take away from thee all sickness,.... Bodily sickness and diseases, prevent the coming of them, or remove them when come:

and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee; meaning either the plagues that were inflicted upon them to oblige them to let the Israelites go, of which they had perfect knowledge; or else some noxious and nauseous diseases, which were common among, and peculiar to, the Egyptians, particularly what is called the botch of Egypt; see Exo 15:26, likewise the leprosy; See Gill on Lev 13:2; see Gill on Deu 28:27.

but will lay them upon all them that hate thee; with which God sometimes punishes his and his people's enemies; see Jdg 5:9.

Gill: Deu 7:16 - And thou shall consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee // thine eye shall have no pity upon them // neither shall thou serve their gods, for that will be a snare unto thee

And thou shall consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee,.... All the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, which the Lord should deliver into their hands; them they were not to spare, but utterly destroy men, women, and children:

thine eye shall have no pity upon them; See Gill on Deu 7:2,

neither shall thou serve their gods, for that will be a snare unto thee; which will bring into utter ruin and destruction; see Exo 23:33.

Gill: Deu 7:17 - If thou shall say in thine heart // these nations are more than I // how can I dispossess them

If thou shall say in thine heart,.... Should have secret thoughts arise in the heart, misgivings of heart, fears and doubts there, which, though not outwardly expressed, might be inwardly retained:

these nations are more than I; seven to one, and perhaps anyone of them as powerful as Israel:

how can I dispossess them? of the land they inherit, and take possession of it.

Gill: Deu 7:18 - Thou shalt not be afraid of them // but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt

Thou shalt not be afraid of them,.... Neither on account of their number, nor their strength:

but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; a people more numerous and potent than the Canaanites, among whom the Lord wrought such wonderful things by his power, which obliged them to let Israel go; and his power was now the same, he could do as great things to the Canaanites as he had to the Egyptians; and as he had delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians, he could as easily deliver the Canaanites into their hands, and put them into the possession of their country.

Gill: Deu 7:19 - The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders // and the mighty hand, and stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out // so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid

The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders,.... The miracles wrought in Egypt; see Deu 4:34.

and the mighty hand, and stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out; that is, out of Egypt, which was an instance and proof of his almighty power:

so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid; not perform the same miraculous operations among them, but exert the same power in the destruction of them, and in dispossessing them of their land, as in destroying the Egyptians, and delivering Israel from among them.

Gill: Deu 7:20 - Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them // until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed

Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them,.... Not a single one, but several of them, and which may be understood of creatures so called, which resemble wasps, only twice as large, an insect very bold and venomous; see Exo 23:28. Aben Ezra interprets it of the leprosy:

until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed; such of the Canaanites who escaped the sword of the Israelites, and hid themselves in holes and caverns of the earth; these the hornets would find out and sting them to death, until they were all destroyed. Thus God can make use of small creatures, even insects, to destroy nations the most populous and mighty.

Gill: Deu 7:21 - Thou shall not be affrighted at them // for the Lord thy God is among you // a mighty God and terrible

Thou shall not be affrighted at them,.... At their numbers, nor at their gigantic stature:

for the Lord thy God is among you: in the tabernacle, in the holy of holies, which was in the midst of them, and besides would give proof of his powerful presence among them, in protecting them, and destroying their enemies:

a mighty God and terrible; mighty to save his people, and terrible to others.

Gill: Deu 7:22 - And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little // thou mayest not consume them at once // lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee

And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little,.... Which is observed for their encouragement, who seeing that all were not destroyed at once, might fear the work would never be thoroughly accomplished; see Exo 23:30,

thou mayest not consume them at once; though it was in the power of their hands to do it, there being some wise reasons for sparing them awhile, at least for not cutting them off all at once, and one follows:

lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee; through so many places being waste without inhabitants, and there being none to destroy these creatures; and who therefore in course would become more numerous, and so more troublesome and distressing to the Israelites. The Targum of Jonathan adds, by way of explanation,"when they shall come to devour their carcasses,''the carcasses of the slain Canaanites; who, if destroyed at once, would be so many, that they would lie unburied, which would invite the beasts of the field to come out of their lurking places to feed upon them, and which might lead them on to mischief among the Israelites.

Gill: Deu 7:23 - But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee

But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee,.... Gradually, by little and little, until at length they should all come into their hands: and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction until they be destroyed; even all of them.

Gill: Deu 7:24 - And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand // thou shall destroy their name from under heaven // there shall no man be able to stand before thee

And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand,.... Who were very numerous, for though there were but seven nations, there were more kings, even one and thirty, Jos 12:9,

thou shall destroy their name from under heaven; not only destroy the name of the reigning kings, so as that they should not be remembered and made mention of any more, but put an end to the name and race of kings among them, so that they should never have any more, as they never had:

there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them; the nations and their kings.

Gill: Deu 7:25 - The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire // thou shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them // nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein // for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire,.... Which is repeated from Deu 7:5, that it might be the more observed and strictly performed, and which unless done, they could not expect the utter destruction of their enemies, who were left in the land to try and prove them with respect to this very thing:

thou shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them: the raiment of gold or silver with which they were bedecked, or the plates of gold and silver with which they were covered, or any ornament about them, as chains and the like, that were of either of these metals; see Eze 16:16,

nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; nor take it into their possession, or bring it into their houses, as in the next verse, lest they should be under a temptation to worship it, or keep it as a superstitious relic:

for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God; not only the idol itself, being put in the place of God, and so derogatory to his honour and glory, but the gold and silver on it, being devoted to a superstitious and idolatrous use; and even the taking of it, and appropriating it to a man's own use, was an abomination, and resented by the Lord as such.

Gill: Deu 7:26 - Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thy house // lest thou be a cursed thing like it // and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing

Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thy house,.... An idol, so the Targum of Jonathan, the abominations of idols and their utensils, or what is ministered to them, with anything that appertains to them, or is used in the service of them, as well as the gold and silver upon them; this care was taken as much as possible to prevent idolatry, and all appearance of it, and to show what might lead on and be a temptation to it:

lest thou be a cursed thing like it; as an idol is, and so is everyone that worships it; for what more exposes to the curse of God than idolatry, a breach of the first table of the law? and therefore subjects a man to the curse of it; nay, the bringing of an idol into a man's house brings a curse into it, and makes him liable thereunto; for if the curse enters into the house of the thief or perjurer, much more into the house of a man guilty of idolatry in any degree of it; see Zec 5:3 but thou shalt utterly detest it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, as the pollution of an abominable thing:

and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing; devoted to destruction; and to have anything to do with it is the way to entail a curse, and bring to everlasting ruin and destruction; see Rev 21:8.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki

NET Notes: Deu 7:1

¹ sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

² sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).

³ sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

⁴ sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

⁵ sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

⁶ sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

⁷ sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).

⁸ sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.

NET Notes: Deu 7:2

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

² tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”

³ tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:5

¹ sn Sacred pillars. The Hebrew word (מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the Lord (Gen 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14; Exod 24:4), these pillars were usually associated with pagan cults and rituals (Exod 23:24; 34:13; Deut 12:3; 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 17:10; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Jer 43:13).

² sn Sacred Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

NET Notes: Deu 7:6

¹ tn That is, “set apart.”

² tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

³ tn Or “treasured” (so NIV, NRSV); NLT “his own special treasure.” The Hebrew term סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah) describes Israel as God’s choice people, those whom he elected and who are most precious to him (cf. Exod 19:4-6; Deut 14:2; 26:18; 1 Chr 29:3; Ps 135:4; Eccl 2:8 Mal 3:17). See E. Carpenter, NIDOTTE 3:224.

NET Notes: Deu 7:8

¹ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

² tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

³ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

⁴ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

⁶ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

⁷ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

⁸ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

NET Notes: Deu 7:9

¹ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

² tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

NET Notes: Deu 7:10

¹ tn For the term “hate” as synonymous with rejection or disobedience see note on the word “reject” in Deut 5:9 (cf. NRSV “reject”).

² tn Heb “he will not hesitate concerning.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:12

¹ tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.

² tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:13

¹ tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Deu 7:14

¹ sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.

NET Notes: Deu 7:16

¹ tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”

² tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Deu 7:18

¹ tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:19

¹ tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.

² tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.

³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

NET Notes: Deu 7:20

¹ tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).

² tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:22

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 7:19.

NET Notes: Deu 7:23

¹ tn Heb “he will confuse them (with) great confusion.” The verb used here means “shake, stir up” (see Ruth 1:19; 1 Sam 4:5; 1 Kgs 1:45; Ps 55:2); the accompanying cognate noun refers to confusion, unrest, havoc, or panic (1 Sam 5:9, 11; 14:20; 2 Chr 15:5; Prov 15:16; Isa 22:5; Ezek 7:7; 22:5; Amos 3:9; Zech 14:13).

NET Notes: Deu 7:24

¹ tn Heb “you will destroy their name from under heaven” (cf. KJV); NRSV “blot out their name from under heaven.”

NET Notes: Deu 7:25

¹ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abhorrent; detestable”) describes anything detestable to the Lord because of its innate evil or inconsistency with his own nature and character. Frequently such things (or even persons) must be condemned to annihilation (חֵרֶם, kherem) lest they become a means of polluting or contaminating others (cf. Deut 13:17; 20:17-18). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:315.

NET Notes: Deu 7:26

¹ tn Heb “come under the ban” (so NASB); NRSV “be set apart for destruction.” The same phrase occurs again at the end of this verse.

sn The Hebrew word translated an object of divine wrath (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to persons or things placed under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction. See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.

² tn Or “like it is.”

³ tn This Hebrew verb (שָׁקַץ, shaqats) is essentially synonymous with the next verb (תָעַב, ta’av; cf. תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah; see note on the word “abhorrent” in v. 25), though its field of meaning is more limited to cultic abomination (cf. Lev 11:11, 13; Ps 22:25).

⁴ tn Heb “detesting you must detest and abhorring you must abhor.” Both verbs are preceded by a cognate infinitive absolute indicating emphasis.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:2

And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them ^{( a )} before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

^{( a )} Into thy power.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:5

But thus shall ye deal with them; ^{( b )} ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

^{( b )} God would have his service pure without idolatrous ceremonies and superstitions. (Deu 12:3).

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:8

But because the LORD ^{( c )} loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

^{( c )} Freely, finding no cause in you more than in others so to do.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:9

Know therefore ^{( d )} that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

^{( d )} And so put difference between him and idols.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:10

And repayeth ^{( e )} them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

^{( e )} Meaning revealed, or in this life.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:12

Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the ^{( f )} mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

^{( f )} This covenant is grounded in his free grace: therefore in recompensing their obedience, he respects his mercy and not their merits.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:16

And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; ^{( g )} thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that [will be] a snare unto thee.

^{( g )} We should not be merciful when God commands severity.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:20

Moreover the LORD thy God will send the ^{( h )} hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

^{( h )} There is not a creature so small, that I will not arm it to fight on your side against them.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:22

And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the ^{( i )} beasts of the field increase upon thee.

^{( i )} It is to your advantage that God does not accomplish his promise as soon as you would wish.

Geneva Bible: Deu 7:25

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou ^{( k )} be snared therein: for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God.

^{( k )} And be enticed to idolatry.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Rentang Ayat

Maclaren: Deu 7:9 - God's Faithfulness

Deut. 7:9

Faithful,' like most Hebrew words, has a picture in it. It means something that can be

(1) leant on, or

(2) builded on.

This leads to a double signification

(1) trustworthy, and that because

(2) rigidly observant of obligations.

So the word applies to a steward, a friend, or a witness. Its most wonderful and sublime application is to God. It presents to our adoring love--

I. God As Coming Under Obligations To Us.

A marvelous and blessed idea. He limits His action, regards Himself as bound to a certain line of conduct.

1. Obligations From His Act Of Creation.

A faithful Creator,' bound to take care of those whom He has made. To supply their necessities. To satisfy their desires. To give to each the possibility of discharging its ideal.

2. Obligations From His Past Self.

God is faithful by whom ye were called,' therefore He will do all that is imposed on Him by His act of calling.

He cannot begin without completing. There are no abandoned mines. There are no half-hewn stones in His quarries, like the block at Baalbec. And this because the divine nature is inexhaustible in power and unchangeable in purpose.

3. Obligations From His Own Word.

A revelation is presupposed by the notion of faithfulness. It is not possible in heathenism. Dumb idols,' which have given their worshippers no promises, cannot be thought of as faithful. By its grand conception of Jehovah as entering into a covenant with Israel, the Old Testament presents Him to our trust as having bound Himself to a known line of action. Thereby He becomes, if we may so phrase it, a constitutional monarch.

That conception of a Covenant is the negation of caprice, of arbitrary sovereignty, of mystery. We know the principles of His government. His majestic I wills' cover the whole ground of human life and needs for the present and the future. We can go into no region of life but we find that God has defined His conduct to us there by some word spoken to our heart and binding Him.

4. Obligations From His New Covenant And Highest Word In Jesus Christ.

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.'

II. God As Recognizing And Discharging These Obligations.

That He will do so comes from His very nature. With Him there is no change of disposition, no emergence Of unseen circumstances, no failure or exhaustion of power.

That He does so is matter of fact. Moses in the preceding context had pointed to facts of history, on which he built the know therefore' of the text. On the broad scale the whole world's history is full of illustrations of God's faithfulness to His promises and His threats. The history of Judaism, the sorrows of nations, and the complications of national events, all illustrate this fact.

The personal history of each of us. The experience of all Christian souls. No man ever trusted in Him and was ashamed. He wills that we should put Him to the proof.

III. God As Claiming Our Trust.

He is faithful, worthy to be trusted, as His deeds show. Faith is our attitude corresponding to His faithfulness. Faith is the germ of all that He requires from us. How much we need it! How firm it might be! How blessed it would make us!

The thought of God as faithful' is, like a precious stone, turned in many directions in Scripture, and wherever turned it flashes light. Sometimes it is laid as the foundation for the confidence that even our weakness will be upheld to the end, as when Paul tells the Corinthians that they will be confirmed to the end, because God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son' (1 Cor. 1:9). Sometimes there is built on it the assurance of complete sanctification, as when he prays for the Thessalonians that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord,' and finds it in his heart to pray thus because Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it' (1 Thess. 5:24). Sometimes it is presented as the steadfast stay grasping which faith can expect apparent impossibilities, as when Sara judged Him faithful who had promised' (Heb. 11:11). Sometimes it is adduced as bringing strong consolation to souls conscious of their own feeble and fluctuating faith, as when Paul tells Timothy that If we are faithless, He abideth faithful; for He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Sometimes it is presented as an anodyne to souls disturbed by experience of men's unreliableness, as when the apostle heartens the Thessalonians and himself to bear human untrustworthiness by the thought that though men are faithless, God is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil' (2 Thess. 3:2-3). Sometimes it is put forward to breathe patience into tempted spirits, as when the Corinthians are comforted by the assurance that God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able' (1 Cor. 10:13). Sometimes it is laid as the firm foundation for our assurance of pardon, as when John tells us that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins' (1 John 1:9). And sometimes that great attribute of the divine nature is proposed as holding forth a pattern for us to follow, and the faith in it as tending to make us in a measure steadfast like Himself, as when Paul indignantly rebuts his enemies' charge of levity of purpose and vacillation, and avers that as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay' (2 Cor. 1:18).

MHCC: Deu 7:1-11

Here is a strict caution against all friendship and fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those who are in communion with God, must have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this into a precedent. A proper understanding of the evil of sin, and of the mystery of a crucified Saviour, will enable us to perceive the justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and eternal. We must deal decidedly with our lusts that war against our souls; let us not show them any mercy, but mortify, and crucify, and utterly destroy them. Thousands in the world that now is, have been undone by ungodly marriages; for there is more likelihood that the good will be perverted, than that the bad will be converted. Those who, in choosing yoke-fellows, keep not within the bounds of a profession of religion, cannot promise themselves helps meet for them.

MHCC: Deu 7:12-26

We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those who do such works. Whatever brings us into a snare, brings us under a curse. Let us be constant to our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God's mercy. Diseases are God's servants; they go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies, thoroughly to mortify the sin of our souls; which is our rule of duty. Yet sin is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful and diligent. In all this the Lord acts according to the counsel of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms no excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in no degree the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of the church, and the destruction of the enemies of the soul, are not done immediately, therefore they will never be done. God will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but at length there will be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us.

Matthew Henry: Deu 7:1-11

Here is, I. A very strict caution against all friendship and fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those that are taken into communion with God must have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. These things they are charged about for the preventing of this snare now before them.

1. They must show them no mercy, Deu 7:1, Deu 7:2. Bloody work is here appointed them, and yet it is God's work, and good work, and in its time and place needful, acceptable, and honourable.

(1.) God here engages to do his part. It is spoken of as a thing taken for granted that God would bring them into the land of promise, that he would cast out the nations before them, who were the present occupants of that land; no room was left to doubt of that. His power is irresistible, and therefore he can do it; his promise is inviolable, and therefore he will do it. Now, [1.] These devoted nations are here named and numbered (Deu 7:1), seven in all, and seven to one are great odds. They are specified, that Israel might know the bounds and limits of their commission: hitherto their severity must come, but no further; nor must they, under colour of this commission, kill all that came in their way; no, here must its waves be stayed. The confining of this commission to the nations here mentioned plainly intimates that after-ages were not to draw this into a precedent; this will not serve to justify those barbarous laws which give no quarter. How agreeable soever this method might be, when God himself prescribed it, to that dispensation under which such multitudes of beasts were killed and burned in sacrifice, now that all sacrifices of atonement are perfected in, and superseded by, the great propitiation made by the blood of Christ, human blood has become perhaps more precious than it was, and those that have most power yet must not be prodigal of it. [2.] They are here owned to be greater and mightier than Israel. They had been long rooted in this land, to which Israel came strangers; they were more numerous, had men much more bulky and more expert in war than Israel had; yet all this shall not prevent their being cast out before Israel. The strength of Israel's enemies magnifies the power of Israel's God, who will certainly be too hard for them.

(2.) He engages them to do their part. Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them, Deu 7:2. If God cast them out, Israel must not take them in, no, not as tenants, nor tributaries, nor servants. Not covenant of any kind must be made with them, no mercy must be shown them. This severity was appointed, [1.] By way of punishment for the wickedness they and their fathers had been guilty of. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, and the longer it had been in the filling the sorer was the vengeance when it came at last. [2.] In order to prevent the mischiefs they would do to God's Israel if they were left alive. The people of these abominations must not be mingled with the holy seed, lest they corrupt them. Better that all these lives should be lost from the earth than that religion and the true worship of God should be lost in Israel. Thus we must deal with our lusts that was against our souls; God has delivered them into our hands by that promise, Sin shall not have dominion over you, unless it be your own faults; let not us them make covenants with them, nor show them any mercy, but mortify and crucify them, and utterly destroy them.

2. They must make no marriages with those of them that escaped the sword, Deu 7:3, Deu 7:4. The families of the Canaanites were ancient, and it is probable that some of them were called honourable, which might be a temptation to the Israelites, especially those of them that were of least note in their tribes, to court an alliance with them, to ennoble their blood; and the rather because their acquaintance with the country might be serviceable to them in the improvement of it: but religion, and the fear of God, must overrule all these considerations. To intermarry with them was therefore unlawful, because it was dangerous; this very thing had proved of fatal consequence to the old world (Gen 6:2), and thousands in the world that now is have been undone by irreligious ungodly marriages; for there is more ground of fear in mixed marriages that the good will be perverted than of hope that the bad will be converted. The event proved the reasonableness of this warning: They will turn away thy son from following me. Solomon paid dearly for his folly herein. We find a national repentance for this sin of marrying strange wives, and care taken to reform (Ezr 9:1-15, 10; and Neh. 13), and a New Testament caution not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2Co 6:14. Those that in choosing yokefellows keep not at least within the bounds of a justifiable profession of religion cannot promise themselves helps meet for them. One of the Chaldee paraphrases adds here, as a reason of this command (Deu 7:3), For he that marries with idolaters does in effect marry with their idols.

3. They must destroy all the relics of their idolatry, Deu 7:5. Their altars and pillars, their groves and graven images, all must be destroyed, both in a holy indignation against idolatry and to prevent infection. This command was given before, Exo 23:24; Exo 34:13. A great deal of good work of this kind was done by the people, in their pious zeal (2Ch 31:1), and by good Josiah (2Ch 34:3, 2Ch 34:7), and with this may be compared the burning of the conjuring books, Act 19:19.

II. Here are very good reasons to enforce this caution.

1. The choice which God had made of this people for his own, Deu 7:6. There was such a covenant and communion established between God and Israel as was not between him and any other people in the world. Shall they by their idolatries dishonour him who had thus honoured them? Shall they slight him who had thus testified his kindness for them? Shall they put themselves upon the level with other people, when God had thus dignified and advanced them above all people? Had God taken them to be a special people to him, and no other but them, and will not they take God to be a special God to them, and no other but him?

2. The freeness of that grace which made this choice. (1.) There was nothing in them to recommend or entitle them to this favour. In multitude of the people is the king's honour, Pro 14:28. But their number was inconsiderable; they were only seventy souls when they went down into Egypt, and, though greatly increased there, yet there were many other nations more numerous: You were the fewest of all people, Deu 7:7. The author of the Jerusalem Targum passes too great a compliment upon his nation in his reading this, You were humble in spirit, and meek above all people; quite contrary: they were rather stiff-necked and ill-natured above all people. (2.) God fetched the reason of it purely from himself, Deu 7:8. [1.] He loved you because he would love you. Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy eyes. All that God loves he loves freely, Hos 14:4. Those that perish perish by their own merits, but all that are saved are saved by prerogative. [2.] He has done his work because he would keep his word. "He has brought you out of Egypt in pursuance of the oath sworn to your fathers."Nothing in them, or done by them, did or could make God a debtor to them; but he had made himself a debtor to his own promise, which he would perform notwithstanding their unworthiness.

3. The tenour of the covenant into which they were taken; it was in short this, That as they were to God so God would be to them. They should certainly find him, (1.) Kind to his friends, Deu 7:9. "The Lord thy God is not like the gods of the nations, the creatures of fancy, subjects fit enough for loose poetry, but no proper objects of serious devotion; no, he is God, God indeed, God alone, the faithful God, able and ready not only to fulfil his own promises, but to answer all the just expectations of his worshippers, and he will certainly keep covenant and mercy,"that is, "show mercy according to covenant, to those that love him and keep his commandments "(and in vain do we pretend to love him if we do not make conscience of his commandments); "and this"(as is here added for the explication of the promise in the second commandment) "not only to thousands of persons, but to thousands of generations - so inexhaustible is the fountain, so constant are the streams!"(2.) Just to his enemies: He repays those that hate him, Deu 7:10. Note, [1.] Wilful sinners are haters of God; for the carnal mind is enmity against him. Idolaters are so in a special manner, for they are in league with his rivals. [2.] Those that hate God cannot hurt him, but certainly ruin themselves. He will repay them to their face, in defiance of them and all their impotent malice. His arrows are said to be made ready against the face of them, Psa 21:12. Or, He will bring those judgments upon them which shall appear to themselves to be the just punishment of their idolatry. Compare Job 21:19, He rewardeth him, and he shall know it. Though vengeance seem to be slow, yet it is not slack. The wicked and sinner shall be recompensed in the earth, Pro 11:31. I cannot pass the gloss of the Jerusalem Targum upon this place, because it speaks the faith of the Jewish church concerning a future state: He recompenses to those that hate him the reward of their good works in this world, that he may destroy them in the world to come.

Matthew Henry: Deu 7:12-26

Here, I. The caution against idolatry is repeated, and against communion with idolaters: "Thou shalt consume the people, and not serve their gods."Deu 7:16. We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those that do those works. Here is also a repetition of the charge to destroy the images, Deu 7:25, Deu 7:26. The idols which the heathen had worshipped were an abomination to God, and therefore must be so to them: all that truly love God hat what he hates. Observe how this is urged upon them: Thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; such a holy indignation as this must we conceive against sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. They must not retain the images to gratify their covetousness: Thou shalt not desire the silver nor gold that is on them, nor think it a pity to have that destroyed. Achan paid dearly for converting that to his own use which was an anathema. Nor must they retain them to gratify their curiosity: "Neither shalt thou bring it into thy house, to be hung up as an ornament, or preserved as a monument of antiquity. No, to the fire with it, that is the fittest place for it."Two reasons are given for this caution: - 1. Lest thou be snared therein (Deu 7:25), that is, "Lest thou be drawn, ere thou art aware, to like it and love it, to fancy it and pay respect to it"2. Lest thou be a cursed thing like it, Deu 7:26. Those that make images are said to be like the, stupid and senseless; here they are said to be in a worse sense like them, accursed of God and devoted to destruction. Compare these two reasons together, and observe that whatever brings us into a snare brings us under a curse.

II. The promise of God's favour to them, if they would be obedient, is enlarged upon with a most affecting copiousness and fluency of expression, which intimates how much it is both God's desire and our own interest that we be religious. All possible assurance is here given them,

1. That, if they would sincerely endeavour to do their part of the covenant, God would certainly perform his part. He shall keep the mercy which he swore to thy fathers, Deu 7:12. Let us be constant in our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God's mercy.

2. That if they would love God and serve him, and devote themselves and theirs to him, he would love them, and bless them, and multiply them greatly, Deu 7:13, Deu 7:14. What could they desire more to make them happy? (1.) " He will love thee. "He began in love to us (1Jo 4:10), and, if we return his love in filial duty, then, and then only, we may expect the continuance of it, Joh 14:21. (2.) "He will bless thee with the tokens of his love above all people."If they would distinguish themselves from their neighbours by singular services, God would dignify them above their neighbours by singular blessings. (3.) "He will multiply thee. "Increase was the ancient blessing for the peopling of the world, once and again (Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1), and here for the peopling of Canaan, that little world by itself. The increase both of their families and of their stock is promised: they should neither have estates without heirs nor heirs without estates, but should have the complete satisfaction of having many children and plentiful provisions and portions for them.

3. That, if they would keep themselves pure from the idolatries of Egypt, God would keep them clear form the diseases of Egypt, Deu 7:15. It seems to refer not only to those plagues of Egypt by the force of which they were delivered, but to some other epidemical country disease (as we call it), which they remembered the prevalency of among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins. Diseases are God's servants; they go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies to mortify the sin of our souls.

4. That, if they would cut off the devoted nations, they should cut them off, and none should be able to stand before them. Their duty in this matter would itself be their advantage: Thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee - this is the precept (Deu 7:16); and the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them - this is the promise, Deu 7:23. Thus we are commanded not to let sin reign, not to indulge ourselves in it nor give countenance to it, but to hate it and strive against it; and then God has promised that sin shall not have dominion over us (Rom 6:12, Rom 6:14), but that we shall be more than conquerors over it. The difficulty and doubtfulness of the conquest of Canaan having been a stone of stumbling to their fathers, Moses here animates them against those things which were most likely to discourage them, bidding them not to be afraid of them, Deu 7:18, and again, Deu 7:21. (1.) Let them not be disheartened by the number and strength of their enemies: Say not, They are more than I, how can I dispossess them? Deu 7:17. We are apt to think that the most numerous must needs be victorious: but, to fortify Israel against this temptation, Moses reminds them of the destruction of Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt, Deu 7:18, Deu 7:19. They had seen the great temptations, or miracles (so the Chaldee reads it), the signs and wonders, wherewith God had brought them out of Egypt, in order to his bringing them into Canaan, and thence might easily infer that God could dispossess the Canaanites (who, though formidable enough, had not such advantages against Israel as the Egyptians had; he that had done the greater could do the less), and that he would dispossess them, otherwise his bringing Israel out of Egypt had been no kindness to them. He that begun would finish. Thou shalt therefore well remember this, Deu 7:18. The word and works of God are well remembered when they are improved as helps to our faith and obedience. That is well laid up which is ready to us when we have occasion to use it. (2.) Let them not be disheartened by the weakness and deficiency of their own forces; for God will send them in auxiliary troops of hornets, or wasps, as some read it (Deu 7:20), probably larger than ordinary, which would so terrify and molest their enemies (and perhaps be the death of many to them) that their most numerous armies would become an easy prey to Israel. God plagued the Egyptians with flies, but the Canaanites with hornets. Those who take not warning by less judgments on others may expect greater on themselves. But the great encouragement of Israel was that they had God among them, a mighty God and terrible, Deu 7:21. And if God be for us, if God be with us, we need not fear the power of any creature against us. (3.) Let them not be disheartened by the slow progress of their arms, nor think that the Canaanites would never be subdued if they were not expelled the first year; no, they must be put out by little and little, and not all at once, Deu 7:22. Note, We must not think that, because the deliverance of the church and the destruction of its enemies are not effected immediately, therefore they will never be effected. God will do his own work in his own method and time, and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but that judgment will at length be brought forth into a complete victory. The reason here given (as before, Exo 23:29, Exo 23:30) is, Lest the beast of the field increase upon thee. The earth God has given to the children of men; and therefore there shall rather be a remainder of Canaanites to keep possession till Israel become numerous enough to replenish it than that it should be a habitation of dragons, and a court for the wild beasts of the desert, Isa 34:13, Isa 34:14. Yet God could have prevented this mischief from the beasts, Lev 26:6. But pride and security, and other sins that are the common effects of a settled prosperity, were enemies more dangerous than the beasts of the field, and these would be apt to increase upon them. See Jdg 3:1, Jdg 3:4.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:1-4

As the Israelites were warned against idolatry in Deu 6:14, so here are they exhorted to beware of the false tolerance of sparing the Canaanites and enduring their idolatry. - Deu 7:1, Deu 7:5. When the Lord drove out the tribes of Canaan before the Israelites, and gave them up to them and smote them, they were to put them under the ban (see at Lev 27:28), to make no treaty with them, and to contract no marriage with them. נשׁל , to draw out, to cast away, e.g., the sandals (Exo 3:5); here and Deu 7:22 it signifies to draw out, or drive out a nation from its country and possessions: it occurs in this sense in the Piel in 2Ki 16:6. On the Canaanitish tribes, see at Gen 10:15. and Deu 15:20-21. There are seven of them mentioned here, as in Jos 3:10 and Jos 24:11; on the other hand, there are only six in Deu 20:17, as in Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 23:23, and Exo 33:2, the Girgashites being omitted. The prohibition against making a covenant, as in Exo 23:32 and Exo 34:12, and that against marrying, as in Exo 34:16, where the danger of the Israelites being drawn away to idolatry is mentioned as a still further reason for these commands. יסיר כּי , " for he (the Canaanite) will cause thy son to turn away from behind me ,"i.e., tempt him away from following me, "to serve other gods." Moses says "from following me ,"because he is speaking in the name of Jehovah. The consequences of idolatry, as in Deu 6:15; Deu 4:26, etc.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:5

The Israelites were rather to destroy the altars and idols of the Canaanites, according to the command in Exo 34:13; Exo 23:24.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:6-8

They were bound to do this by virtue of their election as a holy nation, the nation of possession, which Jehovah had singled out from all other nations, and brought out of the bondage of Egypt, not because of its greatness, but from love to them, and for the sake of the oath given to the fathers. This exalted honour Israel was not to cast away by apostasy from the Lord. It was founded upon the word of the Lord in Exo 19:5-6, which Moses brought to the recollection of the people, and expressly and emphatically developed. " Not because of your multitude before all nations (because ye were more numerous than all other nations) hath Jehovah turned to you in love ( חשׁק , to bind oneself with, to hang upon a person, out of love), for ye are the littleness of all nations "(the least numerous). Moses could say this to Israel with reference to its descent from Abraham, whom God chose as the one man out of all the world, whilst nations, states, and kingdoms had already been formed all around ( Baumgarten ). "But because Jehovah loved you, and kept His oath which He had sworn to the fathers, He hath brought you out," etc. Instead of saying, He hath chosen you out of love to your fathers, as in Deu 4:37, Moses brings out in this place love to the people of Israel as the divine motive, not for choosing Israel, but for leading it out and delivering it from the slave-house of Egypt, by which God had practically carried out the election of the people, that He might thereby allure the Israelites to a reciprocity of love.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:9-10

By this was Israel to know that Jehovah their God was the true God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant, showing mercy to those who love Him, even to the thousandth generation, but repaying those who hate Him to the face. This development of the nature of God Moses introduces from Exo 20:5-6, as a light warning not to forfeit the mercy of God, or draw upon themselves His holy wrath by falling into idolatry. To this end He emphatically carries out still further the thought of retribution, by adding להאבידו , " to destroy him "(the hater), and וגו יאהר לא , " He delays not to His hater (sc., to repay him); He will repay him to his face .""To the face of every one of them," i.e., that they may see and feel that they are smitten by God ( Rosenmüller ).

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:11

This energy of the grace and holiness of the faithful covenant God was a powerful admonition to keep the divine commandments.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 7:12-26

The observance of these commandments would also bring great blessings (Deu 7:12-16). " If ye hearken to these demands of right "( mishpatim ) of the covenant Lord upon His covenant people, and keep them and do them,"Jehovah will keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He hath sworn to thy fathers." In עקב , for אשׁר עקב (Gen 22:18), there is involved not only the idea of reciprocity, but everywhere also an allusion to reward or punishment (cf. Deu 8:20; Num 14:24). חסד was the favour displayed in the promises given to the patriarchs on oath (Gen 22:16).

Deu 7:13-16

This mercy flowed from the love of God to Israel, and the love was manifested in blessing and multiplying the people. The blessing is then particularized, by a further expansion of Exo 23:25-27, as a blessing upon the fruit of the body, the fruits of the field and soil, and the rearing of cattle. שׁגר , see Exo 13:12. צאן עשׁתּרת only occurs again in Deu 28:4, Deu 28:18, Deu 28:51, and certainly signifies the young increase of the flocks. It is probably a Canaanitish word, derived from Ashtoreth (Astharte), the female deity of the Canaanites, which was regarded as the conceiving and birth-giving principle of nature, literally Veneres , i.e., amores gregis , hence soboles ( Ges. ); just as the Latin poets employ the name Ceres to signify the corn, Venus for love and sexual intercourse, and Lucina for birth. On Deu 7:14 and Deu 7:15, see Exo 23:26. In Deu 7:15, the promise of the preservation of Israel from all diseases (Exo 15:26, and Exo 23:25) is strengthened by the addition of the clause, "all the evil diseases of Egypt," by which, according to Deu 28:27, we are probably to understand chiefly the malignant species of leprosy called elephantiasis, and possibly also the plague and other malignant forms of disease. In Egypt, diseases for the most part readily assume a very dangerous character. Pliny ( h. n. xxvi. 1) calls Egypt the genitrix of contagious pestilence, and modern naturalists have confirmed this (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses , p. 215; and Pruner, Krankheiten des Orients, pp. 460ff.). Diseases of this kind the Lord would rather bring upon the enemies of Israel. The Israelites, on the other hand, should be so strong and vigorous, that they would devour, i.e., exterminate, all the nations which their God would give into their hands (cf. Num 14:9). With this thought Moses reverts with emphasis to the command to root out the Canaanites without reserve, and not to serve their gods, because they would become a snare to them (see Exo 10:7); and then in Deu 7:17-26 he carries out still further the promise in Exo 23:27-30 of the successful subjugation of the Canaanites through the assistance of the Lord, and sweeps away all the objections that a weak faith might raise to the execution of the divine command.

Deu 7:17-19

To suppress the thought that was rising up in their heart, how could it be possible for them to destroy these nations which were more numerous than they, the Israelites were to remember what the Lord had done in Egypt and to Pharaoh, namely, the great temptations, signs, and wonders connected with their deliverance from Egypt (cf. Deu 4:34 and Deu 6:22). He would do just the same to the Canaanites.

Deu 7:20

He would also send hornets against them, as He had already promised in Exo 23:28 (see the passage), until all that were left and had hidden themselves should have utterly perished.

Deu 7:21-23

Israel had no need to be afraid of them, as Jehovah was in the midst of it a mighty God and terrible. He would drive out the nations, but only gradually, as He had already declared to Moses in Exo 23:30-31, and would smite them with great confusion, till they were destroyed, as was the case for example at Gibeon (Jos 10:10; cf. Exo 23:27, where the form המם is used instead of הוּם ), and would also deliver their kings into the hand of Israel, so that their names should vanish under the heaven (cf. Deu 9:14; Deu 25:19; and for the fulfilment, Jos 10:22., Deu 11:12; 12:7-24). No one would be able to stand before Israel.

Deu 7:24

" To stand before thee: "lit., to put oneself in the face of a person, so as to withstand him. השׁמיד for השׁמיד , as in Lev 14:43, etc.

Deu 7:25-26

Trusting to this promise, the Israelites were to burn up the idols of the Canaanites, and not to desire the silver and gold upon them (with which the statues were overlaid), or take it to themselves, lest they should be snared in it, i.e., lest the silver and gold should become a snare to them. It would become so, not from any danger lest they should practise idolatry with it, but because silver and gold which had been used in connection with idolatrous worship was an abomination to Jehovah, which the Israelites were not to bring into their houses, lest they themselves should fall under the ban, to which all the objects connected with idolatry were devoted, as the history of Achan in Josh 7 clearly proves. For this reason, any such abomination was to be abhorred, and destroyed by burning or grinding to powder (cf. Exo 32:20; 2Ki 23:4-5; 2Ch 15:16).

Constable: Deu 5:1--26:19

IV. MOSES' SECOND MAJOR ADDRESS: AN EXPOSITION OF THE LAW chs. 5--26

". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are very restricted in scope and mainly concern the functions of the priesthood."⁶⁸

"Two of the major elements [in ancient Near Eastern covenant texts] . . . are lists of stipulations, the first of a general, principal nature and the second of a more specific and applicational kind. That is, the first spelled out in broad strokes the kinds of actions and reactions the Great King expected of his vassal, and the other offered examples of how these general expectations could and should be worked out in everyday life within the relationship.

"While a general correspondence exists between Deuteronomy and the secular treaty texts, especially in form, there are significant differences as well. Among these are the narrative sections and the extensive parenesis [exhortation], both of which are lacking in the extrabiblical models. It is important to note here, moreover, that Deuteronomy, in addition to being a covenant text, is also a law code, or, more precisely, contains a law code. The general stipulation section (5:1-11:32) and the specific stipulation section (12:1-26:15) function as such a law code and thus serve both in this capacity and in that of covenant stipulation. To put it more succinctly, the stipulations of the Deuteronomic covenant constitute the law code for the nation Israel that was about to enter the new conditions and expectations of life in the land of promise. This is why the following principles resemble both legal statutes and covenant stipulations at one and the same time."⁶⁹

Constable: Deu 5:1--11:32

A. The essence of the law and its fulfillment chs. 5-11

"In seven chapters the nature of Yahweh's demand is now set out in the form of great principles. The deliverance of past days is the ground on which Moses appeals to Israel to hear what Yahweh requires of them."⁷⁰

Constable: Deu 7:1--11:32

3. Examples of the application of the principles chs. 7-11

"These clearly are not laws or commandments as such but primarily series of parenetic homilies in which Moses exhorted the people to certain courses of action in light of the upcoming conquest and occupation of Canaan. Within these sections, however, are specific and explicit injunctions based upon the Decalogue and anticipatory of further elaboration in the large section of detailed stipulations that follows (12:1-26:15)."¹¹²

Constable: Deu 7:1-26

Command to destroy the Canaanites and their idolatry ch. 7

This chapter is a logical development of what Moses said in chapters 5 and 6. God had called on His people to acknowledge that He is the only true God and to be completely loyal to Him. In Canaan they would encounter temptations that might divert them from their fidelity (cf. 6:14). Now we have a full explanation of how the Israelites were to deal with these temptations. These instructions amplify the second commandment (5:8-10).

7:1-11 Moses mentioned seven nations that resided in Canaan here (v. 1), but as many as 10 appear in other passages (cf. Gen. 15:19-22; Exod. 34:11; Num. 13:28-29; Judg. 3:5). Perhaps Moses named seven here for rhetorical purposes seven being a number that indicates completion or fullness. One reason for the total extermination of these idolaters was the evil effect their corrupt worship would have on the Israelites and their relationship with Yahweh (v. 4).¹¹³ They deserved to die for their sins (9:4-5) and for their persistent hatred of God (v. 10; cf. Gen. 9:25-26; 10:15-18; Exod. 23:23).

"Thus he is not speaking of those Canaanites who actually forsook their idols and followed the Lord [such as Rahab]."¹¹⁴

Israel was to be different from other nations (i.e., holy) because God had chosen to bless her (v. 6). Likewise Christians today should deal ruthlessly with sin in our lives (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6). Israel's election was not due to anything in Israel that merited God's favor, but only to the free choice of God to bless whom He would bless.

"Israel had a priestly tribe, the tribe of Levi, but the nation as a whole was also to be a priesthood. The historical function of a priest was to represent man to God. The tribe of Levi represented Israel before God; and the nation Israel was to represent the Gentile nations before God."¹¹⁵

God's promises to the Israelites' forefathers and His deliverance of Israel out of Egypt were demonstrations of the love that lay behind God's election. The motive of love comes through clearly. The reason for this love was not that its recipients were attractive but that its giver is loving.

7:12-26 Obedience would bring blessing. Moses enumerated the blessings for remaining completely devoted to God and refusing to practice idolatry (vv. 13-16). Grain, wine, and oil (v. 13) represent the three principle food products of Canaan.¹¹⁶ The Israelites could obtain encouragement in battle by remembering God's past faithfulness (vv. 17-21). God told the Israelites He would drive out the Canaanites gradually (v. 22). He would not allow them to destroy the Canaanites totally until they had grown large enough numerically to care for the land adequately (cf. Exod. 23:27-33). This gradual extermination would be hard for the Israelites in that the temptations to idolatry would abound on every hand. Nevertheless it would be better for them than sudden annihilation of their enemies because in that case the land would become wild and unmanageable. The Israelites were not to take the gold and silver from the Canaanite idols (v. 25). The whole idol was under the ban (Heb. herem), and they were to destroy it and give the precious metals to God for His use.

Believers should not make defiling alliances with unbelievers who are pursuing lives of rebellion against God but should oppose their actions (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-18).

Guzik: Deu 7:1-26 - Commands to Conquer and Obey

Deuteronomy 7 - Commands to Conquer and Obey

A. The Conquest of the Canaanites is commanded.

1. (1-5) The command to completely destroy the Canaanites and their culture.

When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

a. When the LORD your God: Israel wasn't in the land yet, but Moses still instructed them as if it were a certainty. This was based on the faithful promise of God, but it was also according to His principle of preparation. God prepares us before He brings us into a place.

b. Greater and mightier than you: "Sure," Moses said, "the Canaanite nations are greater and mightier than you. But they are not greater and mightier than God." God brought Israel to face a challenge that was impossible in their own strength - but entirely possible in Him.

c. When the LORD your God delivers them over to you: Not "if," but when. God could be counted on.

d. You shall conquer them and utterly destroy them: Yet, God would not do it all for them. The extent of the work would depend on their faithful response to what God would do.

i. Utterly destroy them . . . nor show mercy to them: This principle of battle until absolute victory is the key to victory as we take the Promised Land of blessing and peace God has for us in Jesus. We show no mercy to our enemies in the land, but we destroy them utterly. Many of us, truth be told, simply do not want to completely destroy the sins which keep us from God's Promised Land of blessing and peace - we want to weaken them, and have some control over them, but we do not want to utterly destroy them.

e. Destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images: We are especially to destroy anything which would lead us into a false or foreign worship.

i. This radical, complete destruction was important because of the depraved nature of the worship of the Canaanites, who worshipped male and female gods of sex and who practiced human sacrifice with their own children.

2. (6-8) Conquer them completely because the LORD loves you.

For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

a. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God: Israel was holy in their standing before God before they were holy in their conduct. They were set apart unto God by His choosing (God has chosen you to be a people for Himself), and were then called to live as chosen people.

b. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number: As much as anything, their election meant the LORD set His love on them. Their motivation for such a total obedience was to be that they knew they were loved by God.

i. This is the great motivation for obedience: knowing and walking in the love of God. When we really believe God loves us, and live with that belief as a conscious fact, we find it so much easier to obey - and to utterly destroy anything that would damage that relationship of love.

3. (9-11) Conquer them completely because you serve a God of justice.

Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

a. He repays those who hate Him to their face: Over many generations the Canaanites had demonstrated their hatred for God, Now, using Israel as His instrument, God will repay them with judgment.

B. Blessing on an obedient Israel.

1. (12-16) Abundant blessings for obedience.

Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. And you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

2. (17-24) Have confidence in God's strength.

If you should say in your heart, "These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?"; you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

a. You shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did: Their recollection of God's faithfulness in the past would give them hope for their current struggle.

b. You will be unable to destroy them at once: God would go before Israel and fight for them (the great and awesome God, is among you) but He would not drive all the enemies out at once. Perhaps Israel wanted the land all cleared out before them, but God knew it was not best for the land or for them.

c. Lest the beast of the field become too numerous for you: The way easiest for Israel was for God to clear all Israel's enemies out at once. But this easy way had consequences Israel could not see or appreciate.

d. Little by little: Sometimes to our frustration, this is the way God often works in our life. He clears things away little by little even though we might prefer it all at once. But God wanted Israel to grow spiritually in the process of taking the Promised Land.

i. Doing it all at once might seem easier and better to us, but will have consequences we cannot see or appreciate. God cares that we grow, and so He grows us little by little.

3. (25-26) Do not share in their abominations.

You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Pendahuluan / Garis Besar

JFB: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

DEUTERONOMY, the second law, a title which plainly shows what is the object of this book, namely, a recapitulation of the law. It was given in the form of public addresses to the people; and as Moses spoke in the prospect of his speedy removal, he enforced obedience to it by many forcible appeals to the Israelites, concerning their long and varied experience both of the mercies and the judgments of God. The minute notices of the heathen people with whom they had come in contact, but who afterward disappeared from the pages of history, as well as the accounts of the fertility and products of Canaan, and the counsels respecting the conquest of that country, fix the date of this book and the time of its composition by the hand of Moses. The close, however, must have been added by another; and, indeed, it is supposed by some to have formed the original preface to the Book of Joshua.

JFB: Deuteronomy (Garis Besar)

• MOSES' SPEECH AT THE END OF THE FORTIETH YEAR. (Deu. 1:1-46)
• THE STORY IS CONTINUED. (Deu. 2:1-37)
• CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. (Deu. 3:1-20)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu 4:1-13)
• A PARTICULAR DISSUASIVE AGAINST IDOLATRY. (Deu. 4:14-40)
• A COMMEMORATION OF THE COVENANT IN HOREB. (Deu. 5:1-29)
• MOSES EXHORTS ISRAEL TO HEAR GOD AND TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. (Deu. 6:1-25)
• ALL COMMUNION WITH THE NATIONS FORBIDDEN. (Deu. 7:1-26)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 8:1-20)
• MOSES DISSUADES THEM FROM THE OPINION OF THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Deu. 9:1-25)
• GOD'S MERCY IN RESTORING THE TWO TABLES. (Deu. 10:1-22)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 11:1-32)
• MONUMENTS OF IDOLATRY TO BE DESTROYED. (Deu 12:1-15)
• BLOOD PROHIBITED. (Deu 12:16-25)
• HOLY THINGS TO BE EATEN IN THE HOLY PLACE. (Deu 12:26-32)
• ENTICERS TO IDOLATRY TO BE PUT TO DEATH. (Deu 13:1-5)
• WITHOUT REGARD TO NEARNESS OF RELATION. (Deu 13:6-18)
• GOD'S PEOPLE MUST NOT DISFIGURE THEMSELVES IN MOURNING. (Deu 14:1-2)
• WHAT MAY BE EATEN, AND WHAT NOT. (Deu. 14:3-21)
• OF BEASTS. (Deu 14:4-8)
• THE SEVENTH YEAR, A YEAR OF RELEASE FOR THE POOR. (Deu 15:1-11)
• HEBREW SERVANTS' FREEDOM. (Deu 15:12-19)
• THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. (Deu. 16:1-22)
• THINGS SACRIFICED MUST BE SOUND. (Deu 17:1)
• IDOLATERS MUST BE SLAIN. (Deu 17:2-7)
• THE PRIESTS AND JUDGES TO DETERMINE CONTROVERSIES. (Deu 17:8-13)
• THE ELECTION AND DUTY OF A KING. (Deu 17:14-20)
• THE LORD IS THE PRIESTS' AND THE LEVITES' INHERITANCE. (Deu 18:1-8)
• THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE NATIONS ARE TO BE AVOIDED. (Deu 18:9-14)
• CHRIST THE PROPHET IS TO BE HEARD. (Deu 18:15-19)
• OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Deu 19:1-13)
• THE LANDMARK IS NOT TO BE REMOVED. (Deu 19:14)
• TWO WITNESSES REQUIRED. (Deu 19:15)
• PUNISHMENT OF A FALSE WITNESS. (Deu 19:16-21) But if convicted of perjury, it will be sufficient for his own condemnation, and his punishment shall be exactly the same as would have overtaken the object of his malignant prosecution. (See on Exo 21:23; see also Lev 24:20).
• THE PRIESTS' EXHORTATION TO ENCOURAGE THE PEOPLE TO BATTLE. (Deu. 20:1-20)
• EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. (Deu 21:1-9)
• THE TREATMENT OF A CAPTIVE TAKEN TO WIFE. (Deu 21:10-23)
• OF HUMANITY TOWARD BRETHREN. (Deu 22:1-4)
• THE SEX TO BE DISTINGUISHED BY APPAREL. (Deu 22:5-12)
• WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION. (Deu. 23:1-25)
• OF DIVORCES. (Deu. 24:1-22)
• STRIPES MUST NOT EXCEED FORTY. (Deu. 25:1-19)
• THE CONFESSION OF HIM THAT OFFERS THE BASKET OF FIRST FRUITS. (Deu 26:1-15)
• THE PEOPLE ARE TO WRITE THE LAW UPON STONES. (Deu 27:1-10)
• THE TRIBES DIVIDED ON GERIZIM AND EBAL. (Deu 27:11-13)
• THE BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 28:1-68)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 29:1-29)
• THE COMMANDMENT IS MANIFEST. (Deu 30:11-14)
• DEATH AND LIFE ARE SET BEFORE THE ISRAELITES. (Deu 30:15-20)
• MOSES ENCOURAGES THE PEOPLE AND JOSHUA. (Deu 31:1-8)
• HE DELIVERS THE LAW TO THE PRIESTS, TO READ IT EVERY SEVENTH YEAR TO THE PEOPLE. (Deu 31:9-13)
• MOSES' SONG, WHICH SETS FORTH THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD. (Deu. 32:1-43)
• THE MAJESTY OF GOD. (Deu. 33:1-28)
• MOSES FROM MOUNT NEBO VIEWS THE LAND. (Deu 34:1-12)

TSK: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The book of Deuteronomy marks the end of the Pentateuch, commonly called the Law of Moses; a work every way worthy of God its author, and only less than the New Testament, the Law and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Its antiquity places it at the head of all the writings in the world; and the various subjects it embraces render it of the utmost importance to every part of the civilized world. Its philosophy, history, geography, and chronology entitle it to the respect of the whole human race; while its system of theology and religion demonstrably proves it to be a revelation from God. The Law of Moses is more properly the Law of Jehovah, יהוה [Strong’s 03068] תורה [Strong’s 08451], torah yehowah , the grand title of the Pentateuch. Could we conceive Moses to have been the author of this system, we must consider him more than mortal - no wisdom of man has ever yet invented such a Code of Laws. His merit, however, has been disputed, and his laws severely criticised, by persons whose interest it was to prove religion a cheat, because they had none themselves. To some, whose mental taste and feeling are strangely perverted, everything in heathenism wears not only the most fascinating aspect, but appears to lay claim to and possess every excellence; and hence they have called up Confucius, Menu, Zoraster, and Mohammed himself, to dispute the palm with Moses! On this subject in general, it may be just necessary to add, that the utmost that can be said of all laws, merely human, is, that they restrain vices, through the terror of punishment. God’s law not only restrains vice, but it infuses virtue. It alone brings man to the footstool of his Maker; and keeps him dependent on the strong for strength, on the wise for wisdom, and on the merciful for grace. It abounds with promises of support, and salvation for the present life, which no false system dared ever to propose. every where, Moses, in the most confident manner, pledges his God for the fulfilment of all the exceeding great and precious promises, with which his laws are so plentifully interspersed; and while they were obedient they could say, " Not one word hath failed us, of all the good things which the Lord our God spake concerning us." Who that dispassionately reads the Pentateuch, that considers it in itself and in its reference to that glorious Gospel which it was intended to introduce, can for a moment deny it the palm of infinite superiority over all the systems ever framed or imagined by man? Well might the Israelitish people triumphantly exclaim, " There is none like the God of Jeshurun!" and with what striking propriety does the glorious legislator add, " Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee? O people, saved of the Lord!" Finally, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are amassed in these five books, have enriched the whole civilized earth, and, indeed, greatly promoted that very civilization. They have been a kind of text-book to almost every writer on geology, geography, chronology, astronomy, natural history, ethics, jurisprudence, political economy, theology, poetry, and criticism, from the time of Moses to the present day - books to which the choicest writers and philosophers in Pagan antiquity, have been deeply indebted; and which were the text-books to all the prophets - books from which the flimsy writers against Divine Revelation have derived their natural religion, and all their moral excellence - books written in all the energy, and purity, of the incomparable language in which they are composed; and lastly, books, which for importance of matter, variety of information, dignity of sentiment, accuracy of facts, impartiality, simplicity, and sublimity of narration, tending to improve and ennoble the intellect and ameliorate the physical and moral condition of man, have never been equalled, and can only be paralleled by the Gospel of the Son of God! Fountain of endless mercy, justice, truth, and beneficence! How much are thy gifts and bounties neglected by those who do not read this law; and by those who having read it, are not morally improved by it, and made wise unto salvation!

TSK: Deuteronomy 7 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Overview

Deu 7:1, All communion with the nations is forbidden; Deu 7:5, for fear of idolatry; Deu 7:6, for the holiness of the people; Deu 7:9, for the nature of God in his mercy and justice; Deu 7:17, for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them.

Poole: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

FIFTH BOOK of MOSES, CALLED DEUTERONOMY

THE ARGUMENT

Moses, in the two last months of his life, rehearseth what God had done for them, and their frequent murmurings, rebellions, and constant ingratitude. He begs to enter into the land, but is permitted only to see it. He forbiddeth any communion with the nations for several reasons, De 8 . He gives a short repetition of those sundry laws, moral, ceremonial, judicial, and military, which he had given them, from whence this book is called DEUTERONOMY. Then, after many exhortations, he prophesieth of Christ; afterwards he shows how matters of war are to be managed, and, giving many other particular directions with reference to duties, conditions, and persons of both sexes, he pronounceth blessings on the obedient, and curses on the disobedient: he then gives a charge for laying up and reading of the law at certain times, and every seven years to be solemnly read before all the people; he composeth a song for common use, comprising the wonderful things here mentioned: he prophesieth of Christ’ s coming, and the calling of the Gentiles, seeth the land, and dieth, leaving Joshua, after he had consecrated him, to succeed.

Poole: Deuteronomy 7 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

CHAPTER 7

Israel is commanded to cast out the Hittites, the Perizzites, &c. Deu 7:1 . All communion with them forbidden, Deu 7:2,3 , for fear of idolatry, Deu 7:4 . They must ruin the places of idolatry, Deu 7:5 . The Israelites’ holiness and relation to God, Deu 7:6 . His faithfulness to the obedient, Deu 7:9 ; and vengeance on them that hate him, Deu 7:10 . The advantages of obedience, Deu 7:12-16 . God encourages them, and promises to drive out the nations before there, Deu 7:17-24 . They are commanded to destroy their images, Deu 7:25 ; and keep themselves clean from their cursed things, Deu 7:26 .

There were ten in Gen 15:19-21 ; but this being some hundreds of years after that, it is not strange if three of them were either destroyed by foreign or domestic wars, or by cohabitation and marriage united with and swallowed up in some of the rest.

MHCC: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

This book repeats much of the history and of the laws contained in the three foregoing books: Moses delivered it to Israel a little before his death, both by word of mouth, that it might affect, and by writing, that it might abide. The men of that generation to which the law was first given were all dead, and a new generation was sprung up, to whom God would have it repeated by Moses himself, now they were going to possess the land of Canaan. The wonderful love of God to his church is set forth in this book; how he ever preserved his church for his own mercies sake, and would still have his name called upon among them. Such are the general outlines of this book, the whole of which shows Moses' love for Israel, and marks him an eminent type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us apply the exhortations and persuasions to our own consciences, to excite our minds to a believing, grateful obedience to the commands of God.

MHCC: Deuteronomy 7 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

(Deu 7:1-11) Intercourse with the Canaanites forbidden.

(Deu 7:12-26) Promises if they were obedient.

Matthew Henry: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Fifth Book of Moses, Called Deuteronomy

This book is a repetition of very much both of the history and of the laws contained in the three foregoing books, which repetition Moses delivered to Israel (both by word of mouth, that it might affect, and by writing, that it might abide) a little before his death. There is no new history in it but that of the death of Moses in the last chapter, nor any new revelation to Moses, for aught that appears, and therefore the style here is not, as before, The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying. But the former laws are repeated and commented upon, explained and enlarged, and some particular precepts added to them, with copius reasonings for the enforcing of them: in this Moses was divinely inspired and assisted, so that this is as truly the word of the Lord by Moses as that which was spoken to him with an audible voice out of the tabernacle of the congregation , Lev 1:1. The Greek interpreters call it Deuteronomy, which signifies the second law, or a second edition of the law, not with amendments, for there needed none, but with additions, for the further direction of the people in divers cases not mentioned before. Now, I. It was much for the honour of the divine law that it should be thus repeated; how great were the things of that law which was thus inculcated, and how inexcusable would those be by whom they were counted as a strange thing! Hos 8:12. II. There might be a particular reason for the repeating of it now; the men of that generation to which the law was first given were all dead, and a new generation had sprung up, to whom God would have it repeated by Moses himself, that, if possible, it might make a lasting impression upon them. Now that they were just going to take possession of the land of Canaan, Moses must read the articles of agreement to them, that they might know upon what terms and conditions they were to hold and enjoy that land, and might understand that they were upon their good behaviour in it. III. It would be of great use to the people to have those parts of the law thus gathered up and put together which did more immediately concern them and their practice; for the laws which concerned the priests and Levites, and the execution of their offices, are not repeated: it was enough for them that they were once delivered. But, in compassion to the infirmities of the people, the laws of more common concern are delivered a second time. Precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, Isa 28:10. The great and needful truths of the gospel should be often pressed upon people by the ministers of Christ. To write the same things (says Paul, Phi 3:1) to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. What God has spoken once we have need to hear twice, to hear many times, and it is well if, after all, it be duly perceived and regarded. In three ways this book of Deuteronomy was magnified and made honourable: - 1. The king was to write a copy of it with his own hand, and to read therein all the days of his life, ch. 17, 18, 19. 2. It was to be written upon great stones plastered, at their passing over Jordan, Deu 27:2, Deu 27:3. 3. It was to be read publicly every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, by the priests, in the audience of all Israel, Deu 31:9, etc. The gospel is a kind of Deuteronomy, a second law, a remedial law, a spiritual law, a law of faith; by it we are under the law of Christ, and it is a law that makes the comers thereunto perfect.

This book of Deuteronomy begins with a brief rehearsal of the most remarkable events that had befallen the Israelites since they came from Mount Sinai. In the fourth chapter we have a most pathetic exhortation to obedience. In the twelfth chapter, and so on to the twenty-seventh, are repeated many particular laws, which are enforced (ch. 27 and 28) with promises and threatenings, blessings and curses, formed into a covenant, ch. 29 and 30. Care is taken to perpetuate the remembrance of these things among them (ch. 31), particularly by a song (ch. 32), and so Moses concludes with a blessing, ch. 33. All this was delivered by Moses to Israel in the last month of his life. The whole book contains the history but of two months; compare Deu 1:3 with Jos 4:19, the latter of which was the thirty days of Israel's mourning for Moses; see how busy that great and good man was to do good when he knew that his time was short, how quick his motion when he drew near his rest. Thus we have more recorded of what our blessed Saviour said and did in the last week of his life than in any other. The last words of eminent persons make or should make deep impressions. Observe, for the honour of this book, that when our Saviour would answer the devil's temptations with, It is written, he fetched all his quotations out of this book, Mat 4:4, Mat 4:7, Mat 4:10.

Matthew Henry: Deuteronomy 7 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Moses in this chapter exhorts Israel, I. In general, to keep God's commandments (Deu 7:11, Deu 7:12). II. In particular, and in order to that, to keep themselves pure from all communion with idolaters. 1. They must utterly destroy the seven devoted nations, and not spare them, or make leagues with them (Deu 7:1, Deu 7:2, Deu 7:16, Deu 7:24). 2. They must by no means marry with the remainders of them (Deu 7:3, Deu 7:4). 3. They must deface and consume their altars and images, and not so much as take the silver and gold of them to their own use (Deu 7:5, Deu 7:25, Deu 7:26). To enforce this charge, he shows that they were bound to do so, (1.) In duty. Considering [1.] Their election to God (Deu 7:6). [2.] The reason of that election (Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8). [3.] The terms they stood upon with God (Deu 7:9, Deu 7:10). (2.) In interest. It is here promised, [1.] In general, that, if they would serve God, he would bless and prosper them (Deu 7:12-15). [2.] In particular, that if they would drive out the nations, that they might not be a temptation to them, God would drive them out, that they should not be any vexation to them (Deu 7:17, etc.).

Constable: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible was its first two words, elleh haddebarim, which translate into English as "these are the words" (1:1). Ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties began with exactly the same words.¹ So the Jewish title gives a strong clue to the literary character of Deuteronomy.

The English title comes from the Septuagint (Greek) translation. "Deuteronomy" means "second law" in Greek. We might suppose that this title arose from the idea that Deuteronomy records the law as Moses repeated it to the new generation of Israelites who were preparing to enter the land. This is not the case. It came from a mistranslation of a phrase in 17:18. There God commanded Israel's kings to prepare "a copy of this law" for themselves. The Septuagint translators mistakenly rendered this phrase "this second [repeated] law." The Vulgate (Latin) translation, influenced by the Septuagint, translated the phrase "second law" as deuteronomium from which Deuteronomy is a transliteration. Deuteronomy is to some extent, however, a repetition to the new generation of the Law God gave at Mt. Sinai. Thus God overruled the translators' error and gave us a title for the book in English that is appropriate in view of the contents of the book.

Date and Writer

Moses evidently wrote this book on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, which occurred about 1406 B.C.

The Mosaic authorship of this book is quite easy to establish. The book claims to be the words of Moses (1:5, 9; 5:1; 27:1, 8; 29:2; 31:1, 30; 33:1, 29) and his writing (31:9, 22, 24). Other Old Testament books also assert the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy (1 Kings 2:3; 8:53; 2 Kings 14:6; 18:6, 12). Jesus Christ believed Moses wrote Deuteronomy (Matt. 19:7-8; Mark 10:3-5; 12:19; John 5:46-47) as did the Apostle Peter (Acts 3:22), Stephen (Acts 7:37-38), Paul (Rom. 10:19; 1 Cor. 9:9), and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 10:28).

"The authorship of no other book in the Old Testament is so explicitly emphasized."²

The form in which Moses wrote Deuteronomy is very similar to that of ancient Near Eastern suzerainty-vassal treaties dating before and during the Mosaic era. This structural evidence confirms an early date of composition.³

Most conservative commentators prefer to regard the record of Moses' death and a few editorial comments as the work of a later writer or writers. Of course, Moses could have written these verses too.

In spite of such conclusive evidence some scholars prefer a later date for Deuteronomy. The critics favor a post-Mosaic but pre-seventh century date, a seventh century date in King Josiah's era, or a postexilic date.⁴

Scope

Deuteronomy is similar to Leviticus in that both books contain a record of instructions and speeches almost exclusively. Deuteronomy is not so much a book of history, as Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers are, as it is a book of law. In contrast to Leviticus, however, Moses addressed Deuteronomy to all the Israelites more than to the priests and Levites.

The scope of history covered in Deuteronomy is very brief. All the events recorded took place on the plains of Moab probably within a few weeks just before Israel's entrance into Canaan.

"According to the Index locorum of Nestle's Novum Testamentum Graece Deuteronomy is quoted or otherwise cited at least 95 times in the New Testament (compared to 103 for Genesis, 113 for Exodus, 35 for Leviticus, and 20 for Numbers), making it one of the favorite Old Testament books of Jesus and the apostles."⁵

Character

"The book of Deuteronomy is the document prepared by Moses as a witness to the dynastic covenant which the Lord gave to Israel in the plains of Moab (cf. 31:26)."⁶

Theology

"In line with the general correspondence of the form of a thing to its function, it is safe to say that one cannot understand the theology of Deuteronomy without reference to its covenant form and structure . . . It is no exaggeration to maintain that the concept of covenant lies at the very heart of the book and may be said to be the center of its theology.

"Covenant by its very definition demands at least three elements--the two contracting parties and the document that describes and outlines the purpose, nature, and requirements of the relationship. Thus the three major rubrics of the theology of Deuteronomy are (1) Yahweh, the Great King and covenant initiator; (2) Israel, the vassal and covenant recipient; and (3) the book itself, the covenant organ, complete with the essentials of standard treaty documents. This means, moreover, that all the revelation of the book must be seen through the prism of covenant and not abstractly removed from the peculiar historical and ideological context in which it originated."⁷

"The theological values of Deuteronomy can hardly be exaggerated. It stands as the wellspring of biblical historical revelation. It is a prime source for both OT and NT theology. Whether the covenant, the holiness of God, or the concept of the people of God is the unifying factor of OT theology, each finds emphasis and remarkable definition in Deuteronomy."⁸

Message⁹

Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book.

"Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has not been surpassed by any other book in the Bible. It is quoted over eighty times in the New Testament . . . in all but six books . . . and thus it belongs to a small group of four Old Testaments books (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah) to which the early Christians made frequent reference."¹⁰

"The book of Deuteronomy is the most important book in the Old Testament from the standpoint of God's revelation to man."¹¹

Deuteronomy is not just a recapitulation of things previously revealed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It is a selective digest of matters most important to the average Israelite in his or her relationship with God. Moses spoke as an aged father to his children. These are the parting words of the man who communed with God face to face. His words in Deuteronomy spring from a personal and intimate knowledge of God that had matured over 120 years.

One of the striking features of this book is the frequent references to love that recur throughout it. God's love for the patriarchs and later the whole nation of Israel is obvious in the previous four books of the Pentateuch, but Moses never articulated it directly. In Deuteronomy for the first time Moses revealed that it was God's love for Israel that motivated Him to deal with the Israelites as He had.

One of the great revelations of this book is the motivation of God. God's love for people moved Him to bless. Moses referred to God's love for people as the motivation of His government in three of the book's major sections.

It constitutes the climax of Moses' first address to the people (1:6-4:40) in which he reviewed God's faithfulness to the Israelites. It was because God loved them that He had treated them as He had (4:32-40, esp. v. 37).

In the second address, which is an exposition of the Mosaic Law (chs. 5-26), Moses explained that God's love motivated His laws (7:7-11; 10:12-22, esp. v. 15; 15:16; 23:5; et al.).

In the conclusion of the book, which records Moses' blessing of the nation (ch. 33), he again reminded the people of God's love for them (33:2-5, esp. v. 3a).

Not only does Deuteronomy reveal that God's love is what motivates Him to govern His people as He does. It also emphasizes that man's love for God should be what motivates us to obey God (cf. 1 John 4:19). This theme too recurs throughout the book.

In Moses' review of the law (chs. 5-26) he called on the Israelites to love God (5:9-10; 6:4-5; 7:9; 10:12-13; 11:1, 13-14, 22-23; 13:1-13, esp. vv. 1-3; 19:8-9). The Israelites' obedience to God's laws expressed their love for God. Love is the most proper and adequate motivation for obedience and service.

We hear this theme again in Moses' third address (chs. 29-30) in which Moses exhorted the new generation of Israelites to obey their covenant, the Mosaic Covenant (30:6, 15-20).

The message of the book then is that God's love for man is the motivation of His government, and man's love for God should be the motivation of his obedience.

This emphasis on love appears even more striking in comparison with other ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal treaties. The ancient Near Eastern kings delineated clearly the rights of the ruler and the responsibilities of the subjects in these documents. However the motivation was self-interest, the opposite of love. Concern for others was present, but self-interest predominated.

Since Moses set Deuteronomy in the form of a suzerain-vassal treaty we can learn much about how he viewed Israel's relationship to God.

To quote Thompson again, "Both the literary shape of Deuteronomy and its underlying central concept provide an important clue to the basic theology of the book. Yahweh, the God of Israel, appears in a strong covenantal setting. He is the great King, the Lord of the covenant. From this central concept Israel's finest theological ideas derived."¹²

These "ideas" include the fact that Yahweh is the Lord of the covenant and the God of history.

Obedience to God and His covenant brings blessing whereas disobedience incurs curses. Israel was the people of the covenant.

The people were to worship their Lord by loving Him with their hearts and remembering Him and His acts with their minds.

There are perhaps four basic implications of this revelation and these correspond to four major sections of the book.

1. It is important to remember God's past faithfulness to appreciate His love (1:6-4:40). God commanded the Israelites to remember. Forgetfulness was a sin that would lead them to ingratitude and ultimately to apostasy. To forget was to rebel against God. Remembering the past would remind the people of God's love and rekindle their love for Him. Love as well as trust rests on confidence. We can love God only when we have confidence in Him.

2. God's laws are an expression of His love (chs. 5-26). Because man is a sinner he needs divine laws. God's provision of these laws is an expression of His love for mankind. The specific laws in the Mosaic Code expressed God's love because God intended them to result in Israel's blessing and welfare. Often we think laws are undesirable because they curb our freedom. However, God curbs our freedom to keep us from evil, not to keep us from good.

3. Only love for God will adequately motivate a person to be obedient to God's laws (chs. 27-28). These laws in Israel were so severe that the only motive strong enough to produce consistent obedience was love. Moses urged the Israelites to cultivate their love for God as they prepared to renew the covenant. Self-confidence had failed their fathers, and it would fail them too. Obedience to God can be a joyful or a bitter experience depending on one's motivation.

When we know God we love Him, and when we love God we will want to obey Him.

4. Obedience to God demonstrates love for Him (chs. 29-30). While it is possible to obey God with lesser motives, it is impossible to be consistently obedient without love for God. Consistent obedience is not the same as sinless perfection. The measure of one's love for God is the measure of his or her obedience to the revealed will of God (1 John 5:3). The degree of our commitment to do the will of God is the true measure of our love for God. The real test of our love for God is what we do more than how we feel.

Constable: Deuteronomy (Garis Besar)

Outline

I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5

II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40

A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:29

1. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-46

2. The march from Kadesh to the Amorite frontier 2:1-23

3. The conquest of the kingdom of Sihon 2:24-37

4. The conquest of the kingdom of Og 3:1-11

5. A review of the distribution of the conquered land 3:12-20

6. Moses' anticipation of future blessing 3:21-29

B. An exhortation to observe the law faithfully 4:1-40

1. The appeal to hearken and obey 4:1-8

2. God's appearance at Mt. Horeb 4:9-14

3. The prohibition of idolatry 4:15-24

4. The consequences of idolatry 4:25-31

5. The uniqueness of Yahweh and Israel 4:32-40

III. Historical interlude: preparation for the covenant text 4:41-49

A. The appointment of cities of refuge in Transjordan 4:41-43

B. Introduction to the second address 4:44-49

IV. Moses' second major address: an exposition of the law chs. 5-26

A. The essence of the law and its fulfillment ch. 5-11

1. Exposition of the Decalogue and its promulgation ch. 5

2. Exhortation to love Yahweh ch. 6

3. Examples of the application of the principles chs. 7-11

B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25

1. Laws arising from the first commandment 12:1-31

2. Laws arising from the second commandment 12:32-13:18

3. Laws arising from the third commandment 14:1-21

4. Laws arising from the fourth commandment 14:22-16:17

5. Laws arising from the fifth commandment 16:18-18:22

6. Laws arising from the sixth commandment 19:1-22:8

7. Laws arising from the seventh commandment 22:9-23:18

8. Laws arising from the eighth commandment 23:19-24:7

9. Laws arising from the ninth commandment 24:8-25:4

10. Laws arising from the tenth commandment 25:5-19

C. Covenant celebration, confirmation, and conclusion ch. 26

1. Laws of covenant celebration and confirmation 26:1-15

2. Summary exhortation 26:16-19

V. Preparations for renewing the covenant chs. 27:1-29:1

A. The ceremony at Shechem 27:1-13

B. The curses that follow disobedience to specific stipulations 27:14-26

C. The blessings that follow obedience 28:1-14

D. The curses that follow disobedience to general stipulations 28:15-68

E. Narrative interlude 29:1

VI. Moses' third major address: an exhortation to obedience chs. 29:2-30:20

A. An appeal for faithfulness 29:2-29

1. Historical review 29:2-8

2. The purpose of the assembly 29:9-15

3. The consequences of disobedience 29:16-29

B. A call to decision ch. 30

1. The possibility of restoration 30:1-10

2. The importance of obedience 30:11-20

VII. Moses' last acts chs. 31-34

A. The duties of Israel's future leaders 31:1-29

1. The presentation of Joshua 31:1-8

2. The seventh year covenant renewal ceremony 31:9-13

3. The commissioning of Joshua 31:14-23

4. The preservation of God's words 31:24-29

B. The Song of Moses 31:30-32:44

1. The introduction to the song 31:30

2. The song itself 32:1-43

3. The conclusion to the song 32:44

C. Narrative interlude 32:45-52

1. Moses' exhortation to obedience 32:45-47

2. The announcement of Moses' death 32:48-52

D. Moses' blessing of the tribes ch. 33

E. Moses' death and burial: narrative epilogue ch. 34

You will notice that there is a general alternation between narrative (sections I, III, V, and VII) and didactic (sections II, IV, and VI) material. However there is some mixture of narrative and didactic material in sections V and VII.

We can also divide the revelation in this book according to the general arrangement of the typical form of a suzerain-vassal treaty that was common in the ancient Near East.¹³

I. Preamble: Covenant mediator 1:1-5

II. Historical prologue: Covenant history 1:6-4:49

III. Stipulations: Covenant life chs. 5-26

A. The Great Commandment chs. 5-11

B. Ancillary commandments chs. 12-26

IV. Sanctions: Covenant ratification chs. 27-30

V. Dynastic disposition: Covenant continuity chs. 31-34

Constable: Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.

This Book is called Deuteronomy, which signifies a second law , because it repeats and inculcates the ordinances formerly given on Mount Sinai, with other precepts not expressed before. The Hebrews, from the first words in the Book, call it Elle Haddebarim . (Challoner) --- It may be divided into many discourses, which Moses made to the people during the last two months of his life. (Haydock) --- The first was delivered by him on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, since the deliverance of the Hebrews out of Egypt, and relates various particulars which had occurred to them. In chap. iv. 41, and following, and a supplement from the Book of Numbers is given to this discourse. Chap. v., a fresh exhortation to the people commences, which continues until chap. xxii., where the famous blessings and maledictions, from the mountains of Garizim and Hebal, are related. In the following chapters, Moses exhorts the people, in the most pathetic manner, to be faithful to the Lord, adding the strongest threats and promises to enforce their compliance; and having appointed Josue to succeed him, and repeated that beautiful canticle which God ordered them to write, (chap. xxxi. 19,) he gives the Book of Deuteronomy, to be kept with care, (ver. 9,) blesses the tribes like a good and tender father, and gives up his soul to God on Mount Nebo in the 120th year of his age. (Calmet) --- There can be no doubt but that Moses was the author of this book, as well as of the four preceding ones; though the last chapter may, perhaps, form a part of the Book of Josue, which formerly was written immediately after the works of Moses, without any such marks of distinction as we find at present. The whole Bible seemed to make but one verse. How easily, therefore, might the account of the death of Moses be taken in, as forming a part of the Pentateuch, when the different books came to be distinguished by separate titles! Such an insertion cannot hurt the general claim of Moses to be the author of the Pentateuch; or, if it should be thought to do so, no absolute proof can be brought to shew that he did not write this chapter also, by the spirit of prophecy. All the people spoke to Esdras, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded, to Israel. The whole nation of the Jews has all along maintained, that Moses wrote these books: and he himself repeatedly asserts that he was ordered to leave on record many things of importance. Hence both internal and external evidence concur to establish his title to them; and if we be not disposed to cavil with all other authors, and to deny that Demosthenes, for example, Cæsar, and others, have written the works which bear their names, we must confess that the Pentateuch is to be attributed to the Jewish legislator. Yet if this were a matter of doubt, the things contained in these books could not, on that account, be controverted. How many anonymous works have been published which are of unquestionable authority! Many of the books of Scripture are of this nature. But as we have every reason to believe, that they have come down to us without any material corruption, and were written by people of veracity, by divine inspiration, they deserve to be regarded as authentic records. This is true, whether we speak of the originals or of the versions authorized by the Church; though it should suffice to stop the mouths of infidels, if we can procure an authentic history of the Bible by the collation of the different copies which are extant. Thus, where the Hebrew editions appear to be incorrect, they may receive great light from the Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch, and from the versions of the Septuagint, and of other respectable authors on the whole Bible. The variations, which we may discover, are not of such moment, but that, if the very worst copy were selected, we should find the same great outlines of Scripture history, the same precepts of faith and morality. The laws of Moses, which are scattered through his five books, may be seen all together in their natural order, collected by Cornelius a Lapide and Calmet. But the spirit of God was pleased to intersperse historical facts among them, which both shew the occasion on which they were given, and enable us to read them with greater pleasure and satisfaction. The four preceding books might be compared to the four Gospels; Deuteronomy represents the whole, (Ven. Bede) and may be styled a Diatessaron, as it recalls to our mind the great Creator of all things, who was about to fulfil the promises which he had made to the Patriarchs. Almost all those to whom Moses addresses himself, had been unborn or very young, when their parents received God's commands at Sinai, and wandered in the desert. He therefore gives them an account of what had happened during the last eventful period of forty years. He shews what had brought on so many disasters, and cautions his hearers, that if they imitate the perfidy of their fathers, as he foresees, with sorrow, that they will, (chap. xxxi.) they must expect to be treated with no less severity. This prediction we behold verified, at the present day, in the persons of the scattered remnants of Israel. How sublime! how terrifying are the truths which Moses enforces with so much earnestness! The same threats which he denounces against the perfidious Jews, regard us in some measure. If we feel not their effects at present, in being driven out from our country, we have more reason to fear lest we should be excluded from our heavenly inheritance, if we do not repent. (Haydock)

Gill: Deuteronomy (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY

This book is sometimes called "Elleh hadebarim", from the words with which it begins; and sometimes by the Jews "Mishneh Torah", the repetition of the law; and so in the Syriac version, with which agrees the Arabic title of it; and when the Greeks, and we after them, call it "Deuteronomy", it is not to be understood of a second, a new, or another law, but of the law formerly delivered, but now repeated, and also more largely explained; to which are likewise added several particular laws, instructions, and directions; all which were necessary, on account of the people of Israel, who were now a new generation, that either were not born, or not at an age to hear and understand the law when given on Mount Sinai; the men that heard it there being all dead, excepting a very few; and these people were also now about to enter into the land of Canaan, which they were to enjoy as long as they kept the law of God, and no longer, and therefore it was proper they should be reminded of it; and besides, Moses was now about to leave them, and having an hearty desire after their welfare, spends the little time he had to be with them, by inculcating into them and impressing on them the laws of God, and in opening and explaining them to them, and enforcing them on them, which were to be the rule of their obedience, and on which their civil happiness depended. And sometimes the Jews call this book "the book of reproofs", because there are in it several sharp reproofs of the people of Israel for their rebellion and disobedience; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem begin it by calling it the words of reproof which Moses spake, &c. That this book was written by Moses there can be no doubt, from Deu 1:1, only the eight last verses, which give an account of his death, and of his character, were wrote by another hand, equally inspired by God, as either Eleazar the priest, as some, or Samuel the prophet, as others; or, as it is the more commonly received opinion of the Jews, Ezra; though it is highly probable they were wrote by Joshua his successor. This book was written and delivered by Moses, at certain times in the last month of his life, and towards the close of the fortieth year of the children of Israel's coming out of Egypt. And that it is of divine authority need not be questioned, when the several quotations out of it are observed, as made by the apostles of Christ, in Act 3:22, Heb 10:30 out of Deu 18:15 and by our Lord himself, Mat 18:16 from Deu 19:15. Yea, it is remarkable, that all the passages of Scripture produced by Christ, to repel the temptations of Satan, are all taken out of this book, Mat 4:7 compared with Deu 8:3, and the voice from heaven, directing the apostles to hearken to him, refers to a prophecy of him in Deu 18:15.

Gill: Deuteronomy 7 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 7

In this chapter the Israelites are exhorted to destroy the seven nations of the land of Canaan, when they entered into it, and to make no alliances with them of any kind, nor suffer any remains of idolatry to continue, Deu 7:1 to observe which, and other commands of God, they are urged from the consideration of their being freely chosen of God above all other people, and of their being redeemed out of the house of bondage, and of the Lord's being a covenant keeping God to them, Deu 7:6 and it is promised them, for their further encouragement to keep the commands of God, that they should have an increase of all temporal good things, and no evils and calamities should come upon them, Deu 6:12, and, lest they should be disheartened at the numbers and might of their enemies, they are put in mind of what God had done for them in Egypt, and of what he had promised to do for them now, Deu 7:17 and they are assured that the nations should be cast out before them by little and little, until they were utterly destroyed, Deu 7:21 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to destroy their images, and not admit anything of that sort to be brought into their houses, Deu 7:25.