7:1 When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you – Hittites, 5 Girgashites, 6 Amorites, 7 Canaanites, 8 Perizzites, 9 Hivites, 10 and Jebusites, 11 seven 12 nations more numerous and powerful than you –
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments 16
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 17
1 tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
2 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
3 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
4 tn Grk “In those days.”
5 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
6 sn Girgashites. These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).
7 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
8 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
9 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
10 sn Hivites. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12).
11 sn Jebusites. These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29; Josh 15:8; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16).
12 sn Seven. This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11. Moreover, the “Table of Nations” (Gen 10:15-19) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.
13 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
14 tn Or perhaps, “citizens.”
15 tn Heb “the sons.”
16 tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”
17 tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”