Exodus 23:28

Exodus 23:28 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
• New International Version (NIV)I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.

Context of Exodus 23:28

26None will miscarry nor be barren in your land, and I will fill up the number of your days. 27“I will send My terror before you and throw all the people to whom you will come into panic, and make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites, from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in a single year. Otherwise the land would become desolate, and the animals of the field will multiply against you. 30But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you are fruitful. Then you will possess the land.

Exodus 23:28 word by word

וְשָׁלַחְתִּ֥י אֶת־הַצִּרְעָ֖ה לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וְגֵרְשָׁ֗ה אֶת־הַחִוִּ֧י אֶת־הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֛י וְאֶת־הַחִתִּ֖י מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And I will sendשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• hornetsצִרְעָהtsir‛âh · hornetH6880
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• thee, which shall drive outגָּרַשׁgârash · to drive out: drive outH1644
• the Hiviteחִוִּיchivvîy · HiviteH2340
• the Canaaniteכְּנַעֲנִיkena‛anîy · CanaaniteH3669
• and the Hittiteחִתִּיchittîy · HittiteH2850

Cross-references for Exodus 23:28

• Deuteronomy 7:20“Moreover, Adonai your God will send the hornet against them, until the survivors and those in hiding perish before you.
• Joshua 24:11“Then you crossed over the Jordan and came to Jericho, but the men of Jericho fought against you—the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—but I delivered them into your hand.

Commentaries on Exodus 23:28

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28I will send hornets before thee - הצרעה hatstsirah . The root is not found in Hebrew, but it may be the same with the Arabic saraa, to lay prostrate, to strike down; the hornet, probably so called from the destruction occasioned by the violence of its sting. The hornet, in natural history, belongs to the species crabro, of the genus vespa or wasp; it is a most voracious insect, and is exceedingly strong for its size, which is generally an inch in length…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28Hornets - Compare the marginal references. The word is used figuratively for a cause of terror and discouragement. Bees are spoken of in the like sense, Deuteronomy 1:44; Psalm 118:12.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-33Verses 20-33 It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of promise, Behold, I send an angel before thee, mine angel. The precept joined with this promise is, that they be obedient to this angel whom God would send before them. Christ is the Angel of Jehovah; this is plainly taught by St. Paul, 1Co 10:9. They should have a comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan. How reasonable are the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-33If the people obeyed the covenant rules, God promised to protect them from enemies and illness and give them land to own (23:22–23, 25–26, 27–31). These promises depended on complete loyalty to God (Yahweh). Worshiping the gods of the peoples expelled from the land would be an act of rebellion (23:21; 24, 32–33).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)--Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 23:28

• Hivites
• Hornet

In the dictionaries

• Canaanite
• Cananaean; Canaanite
• Hivite
• Canaan, Canaanite
• Hittite
• Beware
• Book
• Countenance
• Hittites
• Hornet

Commentaries on Exodus 23

• 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