Deuteronomy 7

The chapter moves from specific military and social commands regarding Canaan to the theological reason for those commands, then applies these truths to the people's future confidence and obedience.

• God will love, bless, and multiply Israel (v. 13).
• There will be no barrenness among the people or their cattle (v. 14).
• The Lord will take away all sickness (v. 15).
• The Lord will fight for Israel, using the hornet to drive out enemies (v. 20).

• Do not make covenants or show mercy to the seven nations (v. 2).
• Do not intermarry with the surrounding nations (v. 3).
• Destroy altars, break images, and burn graven images (v. 5, 25).
• Do not desire or take silver/gold from idols (v. 25).
• Do not be afraid of the nations (v. 18, 21).

• If you intermarry, your sons will be turned away to serve other gods (v. 4).
• The anger of the Lord will be kindled if you serve other gods (v. 4).
• If you take the 'cursed thing' into your house, you will become cursed like it (v. 26).

• Israel is poised on the brink of entering Canaan after forty years in the wilderness.
• The 'seven nations' (Hittites, etc.) represent the established political and religious powers of the land.
• The command to destroy refers specifically to the cultural and religious eradication of systems of idolatry that would corrupt the covenant people.

• The prohibition against intermarriage was not primarily racial but religious; in the ancient Near East, marriage alliances were the primary way to solidify political and religious treaties.
• The concept of 'devoting' to destruction (חָרַם [H2763]) was a known, though severe, practice in the ancient Near East to dedicate spoils to a deity, here directed toward the Lord.

• This chapter sits in the second major address of Moses (Deuteronomy 5-26), which details the application of the Ten Commandments to life in the land.
• It follows the restatement of the Decalogue and the Shema (chapters 5-6).

• God’s promise to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) is the anchor for God's faithfulness here.
• Matthew Henry observes that the gradual removal of enemies ('little by little') is a common pattern in the work of sanctification, where sin is not immediately eradicated in the believer's life but defeated over time.
• The New Testament applies the principle of 'not being unequally yoked' (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) in a way that echoes the separation from idolatry taught here.

• The 'mighty hand and stretched out arm' (v. 19) is a standard Deuteronomic phrase referring back to the Exodus (Deut 4:34, 5:15).
• The list of seven nations appears throughout the Pentateuch (e.g., Ex 3:8, 23:23) to describe the inhabitants of the promised land.

• The Hebrew term for 'nations' is גּוֹי [H1471], which often connotes foreign or pagan peoples in the Pentateuch.
• The verb 'devote' (חָרַם [H2763]) is often translated as 'utterly destroy' in the KJV, but carries the specific nuance of 'setting apart' for God's judgment.
• The word for 'snare' is מוֹקֵשׁ [H4170], referring to a trap or enticement that leads to ruin.

• The emphasis on God’s love (v. 7-8) as the source of their status; it is not earned but chosen.
• The rationale for gradual conquest (v. 22) is practical: the land needs to be managed so that wild animals do not overrun it.
• The definition of 'cursed thing' (v. 26) extends to personal property, emphasizing that the influence of idolatry is contagious.

• The degree to which the command to 'smite' and 'destroy' represents a total genocide vs. the destruction of the political/religious structures is a subject of ongoing historical-theological discussion. Most scholars define it in the context of the Holy War paradigm where the focus is on the annihilation of idolatrous influence.
• Whether the promise of no barrenness (v. 14) is a general national promise for the corporate body or an absolute individual guarantee; historically, Reformed and other traditions have viewed this as a promise regarding the covenant community's prosperity under God's blessing.