Deuteronomy 7

Destruction of the Nations

¹When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you;

²and when the LORD your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.

³You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.

⁴For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So the LORD’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

⁵But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire.

⁶For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

⁷The LORD didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples;

⁸but because the LORD loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹Know therefore that the LORD your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments,

¹⁰and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

¹¹You shall therefore keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you today, to do them.

Blessings for Obedience

¹²It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers.

¹³He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁴You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock.

¹⁵The LORD will take away from you all sickness; and he will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

¹⁶You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.

¹⁷If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?”

¹⁸you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

¹⁹the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, 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.

²⁰Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you.

²¹You shall not be scared of them; for the LORD your God is among you, a great and awesome God.

²²The LORD your God will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you.

²³But the LORD your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed.

²⁴He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.

²⁵You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.

²⁶You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

Previous Deuteronomy 6

Next Deuteronomy 8

Moses commands Israel to completely destroy the seven Canaanite nations and avoid intermarriage or treaties with them, emphasizing that Israel's holiness as God's chosen people requires separation from idolatrous influences. He reminds them that God's choice was based on love and covenant faithfulness, not Israel's size or merit. The chapter concludes with promises of abundant blessings—fertility, health, and prosperity—for those who obey God's commands.

Context

This chapter follows Moses' warnings about forgetting God in prosperity (chapter 6) and precedes his reminders about Israel's rebellious history (chapter 8).

Key Themes

Outline

1-5
Complete Destruction Commanded Israel must utterly destroy the seven Canaanite nations and eliminate all traces of their religious practices.
6-11
Basis for Israel's Election God chose Israel not for their greatness but out of love and covenant faithfulness, demanding exclusive loyalty in return.
12-16
Promised Blessings for Obedience Faithful obedience will result in fertility, agricultural abundance, health, and continued victory over enemies.
17-26
Encouragement Against Fear Moses reassures Israel that God's past deliverance from Egypt guarantees future victory over seemingly stronger nations.

Destruction of the Nations

7:1–7:11

law instruction solemn

God commands Israel to completely destroy the Canaanite nations and avoid intermarriage or treaties with them. Israel is chosen as God's holy people, not due to their size but because of God's love and covenant faithfulness.

structural

Moses lists seven specific Canaanite nations for destruction while simultaneously declaring Israel the "smallest of all peoples," creating a stark numerical irony that emphasizes divine power over human strength.

Blessings for Obedience

7:12–7:26

law instruction hopeful

God promises abundant blessings for obedience including fertility, health, and victory over enemies. The Israelites are reminded of God's power demonstrated in Egypt and assured of His continued protection.

theme_rarity

Moses uniquely interweaves divine provision with military victory in only three biblical passages, making Deuteronomy 7:12-26 a rare theological fusion of abundance and conquest.

Insight Literary Structure

Insight Rare Theme

Moses uniquely interweaves divine provision with military victory in only three biblical passages, making Deuteronomy 7:12-26 a rare theological fusion of abundance and conquest.