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, 1 Girgashites, 2 Amorites, 3 Canaanites, 4 Perizzites, 5 Hivites, 6 and Jebusites, 7 seven 8 nations more numerous and powerful than you – 7:2 and he 9 delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate 10 them. Make no treaty 11 with them and show them no mercy!
21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had solemnly promised to their ancestors, 13 and they conquered 14 it and lived in it. 21:44 The Lord made them secure, 15 in fulfillment of all he had solemnly promised their ancestors. 16 None of their enemies could resist them. 17 21:45 Not one of the Lord’s faithful promises to the family of Israel 18 was left unfulfilled; every one was realized. 19
44:2 You, by your power, 25 defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; 26
you crushed 27 the people living there 28 and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 29
44:3 For they did not conquer 30 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 31
but rather by your power, 32 strength 33 and good favor, 34
for you were partial to 35 them.
1 sn Hittites. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200
2 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).
3 sn Amorites. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200
4 sn Canaanites. These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000
5 sn Perizzites. This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).
6 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).
7 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).
8 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.
9 tn Heb “the
10 tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”
11 tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”
12 tn Heb “at one time.”
13 tn Heb “which he had sworn to give to their fathers.”
14 tn Or “possessed.”
15 tn Heb “gave them rest all around.”
16 tn Heb “according to all he swore to their fathers.”
17 tn Heb “not a man stood from before them from all their enemies.”
18 tn Heb “the house of Israel.” Cf. NCV “the Israelites”; TEV “the people of Israel”; CEV, NLT “Israel.”
19 tn Heb “not a word from all the good word which the
20 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
21 tn Or perhaps, “citizens.”
22 tn Traditionally, “the hornet” (so KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) but the precise meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (cf. NEB “panic”).
23 tn The LXX has “twelve,” apparently understanding this as a reference to Amorite kings west of the Jordan (see Josh 5:1, rather than the trans-Jordanian Amorite kings Sihon and Og (see Josh 2:10; 9:10).
24 tn Heb “and it drove them out from before you, the two kings of the Amorites, not by your sword and not by your bow.” The words “I gave you the victory” are supplied for clarification.
25 tn Heb “you, your hand.”
26 tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.
27 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).
28 tn Or “peoples.”
29 tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.
30 tn Or “take possession of.”
31 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
32 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
33 tn Heb “your arm.”
34 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
35 tn Or “favorable toward.”