Deuteronomy 7

Deuteronomy 7 is part of the long address in which Moses restates and expounds the law on the plains of Moab. Following the teaching in Deuteronomy 6 to love the LORD alone, this chapter addresses how Israel is to deal with the nations of the land it is about to enter and with their gods.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 command the utter destruction of the seven nations: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Israel is to make no covenant with them and no marriages, and it is to destroy their altars, pillars, Asherah poles, and idols.
• Verses 6–11 declare that Israel is a holy people to the LORD. God chose Israel not because it was numerous but because he loved it and was keeping the oath he swore to the fathers. God is presented as the one who redeemed Israel from Egypt and as the faithful God who keeps his covenant to a thousand generations.
• Verses 12–16 promise that if Israel keeps the judgments, its children, grain, and livestock will flourish, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt will come upon it.
• Verses 17–24 urge Israel not to fear the numbers of the nations but to remember what God did in Egypt. God will send the hornet and drive the nations out little by little; Israel is not to destroy them all at once, lest the beasts of the field multiply.
• Verses 25–26 forbid coveting the silver and gold on the carved images and bringing any abomination into one's house.

Key Verses

• Deuteronomy 7:6, "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God": This states Israel's identity as a people set apart to God.
• Deuteronomy 7:7, "for ye were the fewest of all people": This shows that the basis of election lies not in Israel's qualifications but in God's love.
• Deuteronomy 7:9, "which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations": Here "mercy" renders the Hebrew hesed, meaning love that is faithful to the covenant.

People and Places

• Moses: The speaker of Deuteronomy, though his name does not appear in this chapter.
• Pharaoh: The king of Egypt who held Israel in bondage.
• Egypt: Israel's "house of bondmen."
• Canaan: The Promised Land, inhabited by the seven nations.
• Asherah: A Canaanite goddess; this chapter commands that her wooden images be cut down.

Points for Reflection

• The command to destroy: The Hebrew term for utter destruction is herem, meaning to devote something to God by destroying it completely. Many interpreters regard this command as limited to the period of the conquest and see its central point as a break with idolatry. Some scholars view it as the characteristic hyperbole of war literature. Others note that the prohibition of intermarriage in the same chapter presupposes that these nations would remain. Indeed, some Canaanites, such as Rahab, survived.
• The reason for the marriage prohibition: Verse 4 gives the danger of being led to serve other gods as the reason for forbidding intermarriage. In Korean churches this passage is sometimes cited in discussions of marriage between believers and unbelievers.
• Election: Verses 7–8 are frequently cited in discussions of predestination. Calvinism reads them as an example of unconditional election. Arminianism holds that they speak only of the historical election of the nation of Israel and should be distinguished from the predestination of individuals to salvation.
• Connection to the New Testament: 1 Peter 2:9 applies the language of verse 6 and of Exodus 19:5–6 to the church.