God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 7:2
2When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy.
Deuteronomy 7:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
- New International Version (NIV)and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
Context of Deuteronomy 7:2
1The Lord your God will bring you to the land you’re about to enter and take possession of. He will force many nations out of your way: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—seven nations larger and more powerful than you. When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy. 3Never marry any of them. Never let your daughters marry their sons or your sons marry their daughters. 4These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you.
Read all of Deuteronomy 7Deuteronomy 7:2 word by word
וּנְתָנָ֞ם יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ לְפָנֶ֖יךָ וְהִכִּיתָ֑ם הַחֲרֵ֤ם תַּחֲרִים֙ אֹתָ֔ם לֹא־תִכְרֹ֥ת לָהֶ֛ם בְּרִ֖ית וְלֹ֥א תְחָנֵּֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And when the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- shall deliverנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- them beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- thee; thou shalt smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- utterlyחָרַםchâram · to devote/destroyH2763
- them; thou shalt makeכָּרַתkârath · to cut: make(covenant)H3772
- no covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
- with them, nor shew mercyחָנַןchânan · be graciousH2603
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 7:2
- Deuteronomy 7:23The Lord your God will hand these people over to you and will throw them into a great panic until they’re destroyed.
- Deuteronomy 3:3So the Lord our God also handed King Og of Bashan and all his troops over to us. We defeated him, leaving no survivors.
- Deuteronomy 23:14The Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must always be holy. This way, the Lord will never see anything offensive among you and turn away from you.
- Genesis 14:20Blessed is God Most High, who has handed your enemies over to you.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
- Joshua 10:24When they brought them to Joshua, he called for all the men of Israel. He told the officers who had gone with him, “Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So that’s what they did.
- Joshua 21:44The Lord allowed them to have peace on every side, as he had sworn with an oath to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies stood up to them. The Lord handed all their enemies over to them.
- Judges 1:4Judah’s troops went into battle, and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They defeated 10,000 men at Bezek.
- Deuteronomy 20:16However, you must not spare anyone’s life in the cities of these nations that the Lord your God is giving you as your property.
- Leviticus 27:28“However, everything dedicated to the Lord for destruction—a person, an animal, or a field that belongs to you—must not be sold or bought back. Everything dedicated in that way is very holy. It belongs to the Lord.
- Numbers 33:52As you advance, force out all the people who live there. Get rid of all their stone and metal idols, and destroy all their places of worship.
- Joshua 6:17The city has been claimed by the Lord. Everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and all who are in the house with her will live because she hid the messengers we sent.
- Joshua 8:24Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had been pursued. They put them all to death; not one person survived. Then the Israelites went back to Ai and killed everyone left there.
- Joshua 9:24They answered Joshua, “We were told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and destroy all who live there. We deceived you because we feared for our lives.
- Joshua 10:28That same day Joshua captured Makkedah, and the Israelites killed its people and king with swords. He claimed them for the Lord by destroying them. There were no survivors. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah that he had done to the king of Jericho.
- Joshua 11:11They claimed everyone for the Lord by destroying them with swords. Not one person survived. Joshua also burned Hazor.
- Deuteronomy 20:10When you approach a city to attack it, offer its people a peaceful way to surrender.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Thou shalt smite them, etc. - These idolatrous nations were to be utterly destroyed, and all the others also which were contiguous to the boundaries of the promised land, provided they did not renounce their idolatry and receive the true faith: for if they did not, then no covenant was to be made with them on any secular or political consideration whatever; no mercy was to be shown to them, because the cup of their iniquity also was now full; and they…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-11Verses 1-11 See Deuteronomy 6:10 note. Deuteronomy 7:5 Their groves - Render, their idols of wood: the reference is to the wooden trunk used as a representation of Ashtaroth; see Deuteronomy 7:13 and Exodus 34:13 note. Deuteronomy 7:7 The fewest of all people - God chose for Himself Israel, when as yet but a single family, or rather a single person, Abraham; though there were already numerous nations and powerful kingdoms in the earth. Increase…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-26Before Israel could occupy the promised land, they had to remove the people already living there (compare Genesis 13:14–17; 15:18–21). The land belonged to the Lord, and only God could decide who should live there.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-62-6. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 7:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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