---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 7"
description: "CHAPTER 7   :-. ALL COMMUNION
WITH THE NATIONS
FORBIDDEN. 1. the Hittites—This people
were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan ( :-), and occupi"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7"
---

CHAPTER 7

. ALL COMMUNION
WITH THE NATIONS
FORBIDDEN.

**1. the Hittites**—This people
were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan (), and occupied the mountainous region about Hebron, in the
south of Palestine.
**the Girgashites**—supposed
by some to be the same as the Gergesenes (), who lay to the east of Lake Gennesareth; but they are
placed on the west of Jordan (), and others take them for a branch of the large family of
the Hivites, as they are omitted in nine out of ten places where the
tribes of Canaan are enumerated; in the tenth they are mentioned,
while the Hivites are not.
**the Amorites**—descended
from the fourth son of Canaan. They occupied, besides their conquest
on the Moabite territory, extensive settlements west of the Dead Sea,
in the mountains.
**the Canaanites**—located
in Phoelignicia, particularly about Tyre and Sidon, and being sprung
from the oldest branch of the family of Canaan, bore his name.
**the Perizzites**—that is,
*villagers,* a tribe who were dispersed throughout the country
and lived in unwalled towns.
**the Hivites**—who dwelt
about Ebal and Gerizim, extending towards Hermon. They are supposed
to be the same as the Avims.
**the Jebusites**—resided
about Jerusalem and the adjacent country.
**seven nations greater and
mightier than thou**—Ten were formerly mentioned (). But in the lapse of near five hundred years, it cannot
be surprising that some of them had been extinguished in the many
intestine feuds that prevailed among those warlike tribes. It is more
than probable that some, stationed on the east of Jordan, had fallen
under the victorious arms of the Israelites.

**2-6. thou shalt smite them, and
utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them**—This
relentless doom of extermination which God denounced against those
tribes of Canaan cannot be reconciled with the attributes of the
divine character, except on the assumption that their gross idolatry
and enormous wickedness left no reasonable hope of their repentance
and amendment. If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians
or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, as incorrigible sinners who had
filled up the measure of their iniquities, it mattered not to them in
what way the judgment was inflicted; and God, as the Sovereign
Disposer, had a right to employ any instruments that pleased Him for
executing His judgments. Some think that they were to be exterminated
as unprincipled usurpers of a country which God had assigned to the
posterity of Eber and which had been occupied ages before by
wandering shepherds of that race, till, on the migration of Jacob's
family into Egypt through the pressure of famine, the Canaanites
overspread the whole land, though they had no legitimate claim to it,
and endeavored to retain possession of it by force. In this view
their expulsion was just and proper. The strict prohibition against
contracting any alliances with such infamous idolaters was a
prudential rule, founded on the experience that "evil
communications corrupt good manners" [], and its importance or necessity was attested by the
unhappy examples of Solomon and others in the subsequent history of
Israel.

**5. thus shall ye deal with them; ye
shall destroy their altars,** &c.—The removal of the temples,
altars, and everything that had been enlisted in the service, or
might tend to perpetuate the remembrance, of Canaanite idolatry, was
likewise highly expedient for preserving the Israelites from all risk
of contamination. It was imitated by the Scottish Reformers, and
although many ardent lovers of architecture and the fine arts have
anathematized their proceedings as vandalism, yet there was profound
wisdom in the favorite maxim of Knox—"pull down the nests, and
the rooks will disappear."

**6-10. For thou art an holy people
unto the Lord thy God**—that is, set apart to the service of God,
or chosen to execute the important purposes of His providence. Their
selection to this high destiny was neither on account of their
numerical amount (for, till after the death of Joseph, they were but
a handful of people); nor because of their extraordinary merits (for
they had often pursued a most perverse and unworthy conduct); but it
was in consequence of the covenant or promise made with their pious
forefathers; and the motives that led to that special act were such
as tended not only to vindicate God's wisdom, but to illustrate His
glory in diffusing the best and most precious blessings to all
mankind.

**11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the
commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command
thee this day**—In the covenant into which God entered with
Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings so
long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly King. He
pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be exerted
for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil to
which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly
were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the
faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to
that obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful
illustration of this in .

**15. the evil diseases of Egypt**—(See
[Exodus 15:26](../../../kjv/exodus/15/26)). Besides those with
which Pharaoh and his subjects were visited, Egypt has always been
dreadfully scourged with diseases. The testimony of Moses is
confirmed by the reports of many modern writers, who tell us that,
notwithstanding its equal temperature and sereneness, that country
has some indigenous maladies which are very malignant, such as
ophthalmia, dysentery, smallpox, and the plague.

**11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the
commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command
thee this day**—In the covenant into which God entered with
Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings so
long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly King. He
pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be exerted
for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil to
which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly
were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the
faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to
that obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful
illustration of this in .

**20. Moreover the Lord thy God will
send the hornet among them**—(See on [and ]).

**11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the
commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command
thee this day**—In the covenant into which God entered with
Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings so
long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly King. He
pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be exerted
for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil to
which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly
were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the
faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to
that obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful
illustration of this in .

**22. lest the beasts of the field
increase upon thee**—(See on ). The omnipotence of their Almighty Ruler could have given
them possession of the promised land at once. But, the unburied
corpses of the enemy and the portions of the country that might have
been left desolate for a while, would have drawn an influx of
dangerous beasts. This evil would be prevented by a progressive
conquest and by the use of ordinary means, which God would bless.

**11-26. Thou shalt therefore keep the
commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command
thee this day**—In the covenant into which God entered with
Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings so
long as they continued obedient to Him as their heavenly King. He
pledged His veracity that His infinite perfections would be exerted
for this purpose, as well as for delivering them from every evil to
which, as a people, they would be exposed. That people accordingly
were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the
faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to
that obedience which was required of them. See a beautiful
illustration of this in .

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