Deuteronômio 7

ARC · Chapter 7/34

1Quando o Senhor teu Deus te tiver introduzido na terra, a qual vaes a possuir, e tiver lançado fóra muitas gentes de diante de ti, os hetheos, e os girgaseos, e os amorrheos, e os cananeos, e os phereseos, e os heveos, e os jebuseos, sete gentes mais numerosas e mais poderosas do que tu;

2E o Senhor teu Deus as tiver dado diante de ti, para as ferir, totalmente as destruirás; não farás com ellas concerto, nem terás piedade d'ellas;

3Nem te aparentarás com ellas: não darás tuas filhas a seus filhos, e não tomarás suas filhas para teus filhos;

4Pois fariam desviar teus filhos de mim, para que servissem a outros deuses; e a ira do Senhor se accenderia contra vós, e depressa vos consumiria.

5Porém assim lhes fareis: Derrubareis os seus altares, quebrantareis as suas estatuas; e cortareis os seus bosques, e queimareis a fogo as suas imagens d'esculptura.

6Porque povo sancto és ao Senhor teu Deus: o Senhor teu Deus te escolheu, para que lhe fosses o seu povo proprio, de todos os povos que sobre a terra ha.

7O Senhor não tomou prazer em vós, nem vos escolheu, porque a vossa multidão era mais do que a de todos os outros povos, pois vós ereis menos em numero do que todos os povos:

8Mas porque o Senhor vos amava, e para guardar o juramento que jurára a vossos paes, o Senhor vos tirou com mão forte e vos resgatou da casa da servidão, da mão de Pharaó, rei do Egypto.

9Saberás pois que o Senhor teu Deus é Deus, o Deus fiel, que guarda o concerto e a misericordia até mil gerações aos que o amam e guardam os seus mandamentos;

10E dá o pago em sua cara a qualquer dos que o aborrecem, fazendo-o perecer: não dilatará ao que o aborrece; em sua cara lh'o pagará.

11Guarda pois os mandamentos, e os estatutos e os juizos que hoje te mando fazer.

12Será pois que, se, ouvindo estes juizos, os guardardes e fizerdes, o Senhor teu Deus te guardará o concerto e a beneficencia que jurou a teus paes,

13E amar-te-ha, e abençoar-te-ha, e te fará multiplicar, e abençoará o fructo do teu ventre, e o fructo da tua terra, o teu grão, e o teu mosto, e o teu azeite, e a criação das tuas vaccas, e o rebanho do teu gado miudo, na terra que jurou a teus paes dar-te

14Bemdito serás mais do que todos os povos: nem macho nem femea entre ti haverá esteril, nem entre os teus animaes.

15E o Senhor de ti desviará toda a enfermidade: sobre ti não porá nenhuma das más doenças dos egypcios, que bem sabes, antes as porá sobre todos os que te aborrecem.

16Pois consumirás a todos os povos que te der o Senhor teu Deus: o teu olho não os poupará: e não servirás a seus deuses, pois isto te seria por laço

17Se disseres no teu coração: Estas gentes são mais numerosas do que eu; como as poderei lançar fóra?

18D'ellas não tenhas temor: não deixes de te lembrar do que o Senhor teu Deus fez a Pharaó e a todos os egypcios,

19Das grandes provas a que viram os teu olhos, e dos signaes, e maravilhas, e mão forte, e braço estendido, com que o Senhor teu Deus te tirou: assim fará o Senhor teu Deus com todos os povos, diante dos quaes tu temes.

20E mais o Senhor teu Deus entre elles mandará vespões, até que pereçam os que ficarem, e se escondam de diante de ti.

21Não te espantes diante d'elles: porque o Senhor teu Deus está no meio de ti, Deus grande e terrivel.

22E o Senhor teu Deus lançará fóra estas gentes pouco a pouco de diante de ti: não poderás destruil-as todas de prompto, para que as feras do campo se não multipliquem contra ti.

23E o Senhor t'as dará diante de ti, e as fará pasmar com grande pasmo, até que sejam destruidas.

24Tambem os seus reis te entregará na mão, para que desfaças os seus nomes de debaixo dos céus: nenhum homem parará diante de ti, até que os destruas.

25As imagens d'esculptura de seus deuses queimarás a fogo; a prata e o oiro que estão sobre ellas não cobiçarás, nem os tomarás para ti, para que te não enlaces n'elles; pois abominação é ao Senhor teu Deus.

26Não metterás pois abominação em tua casa, para que não sejas anathema, assim como ella: de todo a detestarás, e de todo a abominarás, porque anathema é.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God commands the complete destruction of Canaanite idolatry and forbids intermarriage with those peoples, explaining that Israel was chosen not for being great or deserving, but simply because of God's freely given love and his faithfulness to the oath made to the patriarchs.

Explanation

The severe command to totally destroy Canaanite altars and idols was meant to protect Israel from being gradually drawn into corrupt religious practices, including child sacrifice, which archaeology confirms were practiced by neighboring peoples such as the Canaanites and Phoenicians. The explanation that God chose Israel 'not because ye were more in number than any people... but because the Lord loved you' is one of the most important statements in the Bible about grace: divine election is not based on human merit, but on God's loving and faithful initiative. This principle of undeserved grace, established here so early in the Old Testament, anticipates central themes the New Testament will fully develop concerning salvation by grace, not by works.

Fun facts

  • The statement that Israel was 'the fewest of all people' (v. 7) when chosen is confirmed by Egyptian records of the period, which generally did not mention the Hebrews as a significant political power before the Exodus — a small group chosen by grace, not by power.
  • God's promise of faithfulness 'to a thousand generations' toward those who love him and keep his commandments (v. 9) is an almost identical quotation of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:6), showing the consistency in how God's loyal love is characterized throughout the Torah.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 7:1The command to utterly destroy seven peoples of Canaan, with no treaty and no mercy, uses the holy-war language of the ancient world, in which wiping out the enemy was seen as part of fulfilling the promise of the land. It is a text historians and theologians read in quite different ways, with no agreement on how far it was actually carried out.
  2. Deuteronômio 7:2It spells out what to “cast out” meant in practice: the total destruction of these nations, with no peace treaty and no mercy.
  3. Deuteronômio 7:3The ban on their children marrying into these nations is not about ethnicity, but about religious risk: the next verse explains that these marriages would turn the children aside to other gods. The text’s central concern is faithfulness to the LORD, not people’s origin.
  4. Deuteronômio 7:4The reason behind the harsh command appears here: these mixed marriages would turn the children of Israel aside to other gods, stirring up God’s anger.
  5. Deuteronômio 7:5The concrete command against Canaanite idolatry: tear down altars, break sacred pillars, cut down the ritual groves, and burn the carved images.
  6. Deuteronômio 7:6The reason for so much strictness is Israel’s special identity: chosen by God to be His own people among all the nations of the earth.
  7. Deuteronômio 7:7Moses cuts off any pride at the root: God did not choose Israel because they were the most numerous people — in fact, they were one of the smallest.
  8. Deuteronômio 7:8The real reason for the choice is God’s love and the fulfillment of the ancient oath made to their ancestors, not any merit of the people’s own.
  9. Deuteronômio 7:9“To a thousand generations” uses the language of eternal duration typical of ancient treaties between kings: a way of saying that God’s commitment to those who love Him has no expiration date counted in years, but in unending faithfulness.
  10. Deuteronômio 7:10On the opposite side of faithfulness, whoever hates God is repaid to his face, without delay — a direct warning against rebellion.
  11. Deuteronômio 7:11After all that explanation comes the practical summary: keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments commanded that day.
  12. Deuteronômio 7:12The conditional promise is clear: obeying these judgments guarantees that God will keep the covenant and the kindness sworn to their ancestors.
  13. Deuteronômio 7:13The promised blessings include love, multiplied offspring, abundance of grain, wine, oil, and livestock.
  14. Deuteronômio 7:14Israel would be blessed in a visible way: more than any other people, with no barrenness among them or among their animals.
  15. Deuteronômio 7:15God promises to keep sicknesses away, especially the terrible plagues the people already knew from Egypt, turning them instead against their enemies.
  16. Deuteronômio 7:16The command to consume the conquered peoples comes with an extra warning: show no pity and do not serve their gods, because that would become a trap.
  17. Deuteronômio 7:17It anticipates the people’s natural doubt: how can they face nations more numerous than Israel?
  18. Deuteronômio 7:18The answer is to remember the past: the same God who defeated Pharaoh and all of Egypt is the one who will fight for them now.
  19. Deuteronômio 7:19It drives the point home by citing the plagues, signs, and wonders already seen in Egypt as proof that God will do the same against the new enemies.
  20. Deuteronômio 7:20God even promises to send hornets against the enemies, forcing those who remain to flee and hide.
  21. Deuteronômio 7:21The antidote to fear is remembering that God, great and awesome, is right in the midst of the people themselves.
  22. Deuteronômio 7:22The conquest would be gradual, little by little, so that the land would not become too empty and the wild animals would not multiply out of control.
  23. Deuteronômio 7:23Even though gradual, the final victory is guaranteed: God would hand these nations over and throw them into confusion until they were destroyed.
  24. Deuteronômio 7:24It even includes the enemy kings in the promise of victory: their names would be blotted out, and no one would stand against Israel.
  25. Deuteronômio 7:25It reinforces the ban on keeping even the gold and silver from the Canaanites’ religious images — coveting those metals would mean falling into the same idolatrous trap.
  26. Deuteronômio 7:26It closes the chapter with a final warning: bringing those idolatrous objects home would contaminate the people themselves with the same condemnation.

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