Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Deuteronomy 7

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Introduction

1  All communion with the nations is forbidden;
5  for fear of idolatry;
6  for the holiness of the people;
9  for the nature of God in his mercy and justice;
17  for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them.
Verse 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;
the Lord
4:38, 6:1,10,19,23, 9:1,4, 11:29, 31:3,20, Exodus 6:8, 15:7, Numbers 14:31, Psalms 44:2,3, 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.
Genesis 15:18-21, Exodus 23:28, 33:2
greater
4:38, 4:1-3, 20:1
Verse 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 shew mercy unto them:
deliver
23,24, 3:3, 23:14, Genesis 14:20, Joshua 10:24,25,30,32,42, 21:44, Judges 1:4
utterly
20:16,17, Leviticus 27:28,29, Numbers 33:52, Joshua 6:17-25, 8:24, 9:24, 10:28,40, Joshua 11:11,12
make no
20:10,11, Exodus 23:32,33, 34:12-16, Joshua 2:14, 9:18-21, Judges 1:24, 2:2, 2 Samuel 21:2
Verse 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.
Genesis 6:2,3, Exodus 34:15,16, Joshua 23:12,13, Judges 3:6,7, 1 Kings 11:2, Ezra 9:1,2, Nehemiah 13:23-27, 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Verse 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.
so will
6:15, 32:16,17, Exodus 20:5, Judges 2:11,20, 3:7,8, 10:6,7
Verse 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.
destroy
12:2,3, Exodus 23:24, 34:13, 2 Kings 23:6-14
images
Heb. statues, or pillars.
16:22, Leviticus 26:1
and cut
Judges 6:25,26
burn
25, 9:21, Exodus 32:20
Verse 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.
an holy
14:2, 26:19, 28:9, Exodus 19:5,6, Psalms 50:5, Jeremiah 2:3, Amos 3:2, 1 Corinthians 6:19,20, Titus 2:14, 2 Peter 2:5,9
to be a special
Malachi 3:17, Titus 2:14
Verse 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
Psalms 115:1, Romans 9:11-15,18,21, 11:6, 1 John 3:1, 4:10
ye were
10:22, Isaiah 51:2, Matthew 7:14, Luke 12:32, Romans 9:27-29
Verse 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.
because
4:37, 9:4,5, 10:15, 1 Samuel 12:22, 2 Samuel 22:20, Psalms 44:3, Isaiah 43:4, Jeremiah 31:3, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 11:26, Ephesians 2:4,5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14, Titus 3:3-7, 1 John 4:19
oath
Genesis 22:16-18, Exodus 32:13, Psalms 105:8-10,42, Luke 1:55,72,73, Hebrews 6:13-17
Lord brought
4:20,34, Exodus 12:41,42, 13:3,14, 20:2
Verse 9

Know therefore 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;
the faithful
Exodus 34:6,7, Psalms 119:75, 146:6, Isaiah 49:7, Lamentations 3:23, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 10:3, 2 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 2 Timothy 2:13, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18, 10:23, Hebrews 11:11, 1 John 1:9
which keepeth
5:10, Genesis 17:7, Exodus 20:6, Nehemiah 1:5, Daniel 9:4, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 8:3, James 1:12
a thousand
1 Chronicles 16:15
Verse 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.
repayeth
9, 32:35,41, Psalms 21:8,9, Proverbs 11:31, Isaiah 59:18, Nahum 1:2, Romans 12:19
slack
32:25, 2 Peter 3:9,10
hateth
Exodus 20:5, John 15:23-24
Verse 11

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
4:1, 5:32, John 14:15
Verse 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:
if
Heb. because.
28:1, Leviticus 26:3
Lord
9, Psalms 105:8-10, Micah 7:20, Luke 1:55,72,73
Verse 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, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
he will love
7, 28:4, Exodus 23:25, Psalms 1:3, 11:7, 144:12-15, John 14:21, 15:10, 16:27
he will also
28:3-5,11,15-18, Job 42:12, Proverbs 10:22, Malachi 3:10,11, Matthew 6:33
Verse 14

Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
blessed
33:29, Psalms 115:15, 147:19,20
male or
28:4,11, Exodus 23:26-33, Leviticus 26:9, Psalms 127:3
Verse 15

And the LORD 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.
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, (Ex 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.
Leviticus 26:3,4
will put none
28:27,60, Exodus 9:11, 15:26, Psalms 105:36,37
Verse 16

And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
consume
thine eye
13:8, 19:13,21, 25:12, Jeremiah 21:7
for that will
12:30,31, Exodus 23:33, 34:12-16, Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13-16, Judges 2:3,12, Judges 3:6, 8:27, Psalms 106:36, 1 Corinthians 15:33
Verse 17

If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
thou shalt
8:17, 15:9, 18:21, Isaiah 14:13, 47:8, 49:21, Jeremiah 13:22, Luke 9:47
These nations
Numbers 13:32, 33:53, Joshua 17:16-18
Verse 18

Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
shalt not
1:29, 3:6, 31:6, Psalms 27:1,2, 46:1,2, Isaiah 41:10-14
remember
Exodus 7:1-14, Judges 6:13, Psalms 77:11, 78:11,42-51, 105:5,26-36, Psalms 135:8-10, 136:10-15, Isaiah 51:9,10, 63:11-15
Verse 19

The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the 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.
great
4:34, 11:2-4, 29:3, Nehemiah 9:10,11, Jeremiah 32:20,21, Ezekiel 20:6-9
so shall
Joshua 3:10
Verse 20

Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
the hornet
Exodus 23:28-30, Joshua 24:12
Verse 21

Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
the Lord
Numbers 9:20, 14:9,14,42, 16:3, 23:21, Joshua 3:10, 2 Chronicles 32:8, Psalms 46:5,7,11, Isaiah 8:9,10, Zechariah 2:10,11, 1 Corinthians 14:25
a mighty God
10:17, 25:8, 1 Samuel 4:8, Nehemiah 1:5, 4:14, 9:32, Zechariah 12:2-5
Verse 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.
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."
Exodus 23:29,30, Joshua 15:63
Verse 23

But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
the Lord
unto thee
Heb. before thy face.
9:3
shall destroy
2:15, 8:20, Isaiah 13:6, Jeremiah 17:18, Joel 1:15, 2 Thessalonians 1:9
Verse 24

And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
he shall
Joshua 10:24,25,42, 12:1-6
their name
9:14, 25:19, 29:20, Exodus 17:14, Psalms 9:5, Proverbs 10:7, Jeremiah 10:11, Zephaniah 1:4
there shall
11:25, Joshua 1:5, 10:8, 23:9, Isaiah 54:17, Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:57
Verse 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 be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
graven
5, 12:3, Exodus 32:20, 1 Chronicles 14:12, Isaiah 30:22
thou shalt
Joshua 7:1,21
snared
Judges 8:24-27, Zephaniah 1:3, 1 Timothy 6:9,10
an abomination
17:1, 23:18, Revelation 17:5
Verse 26

Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
shalt
13:17, Leviticus 27:28,29, Joshua 6:17-24, 7:1-25,11-26, Ezekiel 14:7, Habakkuk 2:9-11, Zechariah 5:4
but thou shalt
Isaiah 2:20, 30:22, Ezekiel 11:18, Hosea 14:8, Romans 2:22

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