Deuteronomy 7:17-21

7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall ¹  what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments ²  you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power ³  by which he ⁴  brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets ⁵  among them until the very last ones who hide from you ⁶  perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God.

[7:18]  ¹ tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”

[7:19]  ² tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.

[7:19]  ³ tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.

[7:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:20]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).

[7:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”