Deuteronomy 7: Verse-by-Verse Commentary (with Videos)

26 verses · 6 video commentaries from 4 courses · Berean Standard Bible

¹When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

²and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

³Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

⁴because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

⁵Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

⁶For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

⁸But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

¹⁰But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.

¹¹So keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I am giving you to follow this day.

¹²If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

¹³He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁴You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.

¹⁵And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.

¹⁶You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

¹⁷You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?”

¹⁸But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

¹⁹the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

²⁰Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished.

²¹Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

²²The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.

²³But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

²⁴He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.

²⁵You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

²⁶And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

Deuteronomy 7 Section and Chapter Commentary

Deut 7:1-6

God's command to destroy the inhabitants of Canaan

In the conquest narratives, particularly in the Book of Joshua, God commands the Israelites to invade the Promised Land and destroy its inhabitants. This includes the explicit order to kill every man, woman, child, and animal in cities like Jericho, not merely to settle empty land. The justification for this genocide is to prevent the Israelites from being contaminated by the worship of other gods by these people.

Summarized by AI · The Bible and the Quran: Comparing Their Historical Problems · Lecture 7: A History of Hatred, Intolerance, and Violence | Is the Bible to Blame? · watch the clip

Biblical law includes death sentences and genocide

The Bible contains laws that prescribe death sentences for various offenses, including not honoring parents, and explicitly commands genocide, such as the wiping out of the Canaanites. It also includes rules that permit and regulate slavery, demonstrating that the Bible itself contains elements that can be interpreted as supporting violence, murder, genocide, and oppression.

Summarized by AI · The Bible and the Quran: Comparing Their Historical Problems · Lecture 7: A History of Hatred, Intolerance, and Violence | Is the Bible to Blame? · watch the clip

The Harem and its Rhetorical Function

The biblical command of 'harem' (extermination) in Joshua, though historically unfulfilled, serves a significant rhetorical purpose. It was likely invented to explain the disappearance of Canaanite groups by attributing their destruction to Israel's conquest. Furthermore, the concept of harem in Deuteronomy is applied not only to Canaanites but also to Israelites who worship incorrectly, effectively equating disobedient Israelites with Canaanites and justifying their potential elimination.

Summarized by AI · The Rise and Fall of Biblical Israel: The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings · Lecture 2: Joshua and the Conquest of Canaan | Too Good to Be True · watch the clip

Deut 7:1-5

External Influences on Israelite Idolatry

The biblical text clearly indicates that Israel was influenced by outsiders, particularly the Canaanites and other surrounding people groups like the Amalekites, Ammonites, Moabites, Jebusites, Philistines, and Phoenicians. These groups worshiped many gods, and their practices influenced the Israelites to also worship other deities.

Summarized by AI · Everyday Life in Ancient Israel · Lecture 4: Putting the Pieces Together · watch the clip

Deuteronomy 7 Verse Notes

Deut 7:1-4

Prohibition of Intermarriage

Ezra 9 records officials reporting to Ezra that the people, priests, and Levites had intermarried with 'peoples of the land,' including groups like Canaanites and Hittites (though these groups were long gone, indicating a rhetorical flourish). This was seen as mixing the 'holy seed,' a new concept suggesting a genetically transmitted holiness that could be lost through intermarriage.

Summarized by AI · Judaism Before Jesus · Lecture 3: Ezra and the Law · watch the clip

Deut 7:1-2

Haram as a Theocratic Vision

The command of 'haram' (extermination) in Deuteronomy, which is fulfilled in Joshua, serves a specific theological purpose for the Deuteronomistic historian. It not only justifies the conquest of Canaan but also establishes a severe standard for internal Israelite worship. By equating disobedient Israelites with Canaanites, the text implies that those who do not worship correctly are worthy of the same fate, promoting a strict theocratic vision.

Summarized by AI · The Rise and Fall of Biblical Israel: The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings · Lecture 2: Joshua and the Conquest of Canaan | Too Good to Be True · watch the clip