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Deuteronomy 7:20

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Deuteronomy 7:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee.
Deuteronomy 7:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Deuteronomy 7

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
19the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby Jehovah thy God brought thee out: so shall Jehovah thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid.
20Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee.
21Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a great God and a terrible.
22And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
23But Jehovah thy God will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed.
← Deuteronomy 7:19Deuteronomy 7:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, etc.] Not a single one, but several of them, and which may be understood of creatures so called, which resemble wasps, only twice as large, an insect very bold and venomous; (see <022328>Exodus 23:28). Aben Ezra interprets it of the leprosy: until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed; such of the Canaanites who escaped the sword of the Israelites, and hid themselves in holes and caverns of the earth; these the hornets would find out and sting them to death, until they were all destroyed. Thus God can make use of small creatures, even insects, to destroy nations the most populous and mighty.”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them--(See on Jos 24:12 [and Exo 23:28]).”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“7:20 terror: Often rendered the hornet. Whether God sent stinging insects or some other source of terror, he would expel surviving Canaanites from the land (Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the hornet: Exo 23:28-30; Jos 24:12 Deuteronomy 7:21”
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Related study paths

Read Deuteronomy 7 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification