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Deuteronômio 7

BLIVRE · Chapter 7/34

1Quando o SENHOR teu Deus te houver introduzido na terra na qual tu hás de entrar para possuí-la, e houver expulsado de diante de ti muitas nações, aos heteus, aos gergeseus, e aos amorreus, e aos cananeus, e aos perizeus, e aos heveus, e aos jebuseus, sete nações maiores e mais fortes que tu;

2E o SENHOR teu Deus as houver entregue diante de ti, e as ferires, por completo as destruirás: não farás com eles aliança, nem as pouparás.

3E não aparentarás com eles: não darás tua filha a seu filho, nem tomarás a sua filha para teu filho.

4Porque desviará a teu filho de me seguir, e servirão a deuses alheios; e o furor do SENHOR se acenderá sobre vós, e te destruirá logo.

5Mas assim haveis de fazer com eles: destruireis seus altares, e quebrareis suas colunas sagradas, cortareis seus mastros de idolatria, e queimareis suas esculturas a fogo.

6Porque tu és povo santo ao SENHOR teu Deus: o SENHOR teu Deus te escolheu para ser-lhe um povo especial, mais que todos os povos que estão sobre a face da terra.

7Não por ser vós mais que todos os povos vos quis o SENHOR, e vos escolheu; porque vós éreis os menores de todos os povos:

8Mas sim porque o SENHOR vos amou, e quis guardar o juramento que jurou a vossos pais, vos tirou o SENHOR com mão forte, e vos resgatou de casa de servos, da mão de Faraó, rei do Egito.

9Conhece, pois, que o SENHOR teu Deus é Deus, Deus fiel, que guarda o pacto e a misericórdia aos que lhe amam e guardam seus mandamentos, até as mil gerações;

10E que retribui em sua face ao que lhe aborrece, destruindo-o: nem o dilatará ao que lhe odeia, em sua face lhe retribuirá.

11Guarda portanto os mandamentos, e estatutos, e regulamentos que eu te mando hoje que cumpras.

12E será que, por haver ouvido estes regulamentos, e guardado e os praticado, o SENHOR teu Deus guardará contigo o pacto e a misericórdia que jurou a teus pais;

13E te amará, e te abençoará, e te multiplicará, e abençoará o fruto de teu ventre, e o fruto de tua terra, e teu grão, e teu mosto, e teu azeite, a cria de tuas vacas, e os rebanhos de tuas ovelhas, na terra que jurou a teus pais que te daria.

14Bendito serás mais que todos os povos: não haverá em ti homem nem mulher estéril, nem em teus animais.

15E tirará o SENHOR de ti toda enfermidade; e todas as más pragas do Egito, que tu sabes, não as porá sobre ti, antes as porá sobre todos os que te odiarem.

16E consumirás a todos os povos que te dá o SENHOR teu Deus: não os perdoará teu olho; nem servirás a seus deuses, que te será tropeço.

17Quando disseres em teu coração: Estas nações são muitas mais que eu, como as poderei desarraigar?;

18Não tenhas medo deles: lembra-te bem do que fez o SENHOR teu Deus com Faraó e com todo o Egito;

19Das grandes provas que viram teus olhos, e dos sinais e milagres, e da mão forte e braço estendido com que o SENHOR teu Deus te tirou: assim fará o SENHOR teu Deus com todos os povos de cuja presença tu temerdes.

20E também enviará o SENHOR teu Deus sobre eles vespas, até que pereçam os que restarem, e os que se houverem escondido de diante de ti.

21Não desmaies diante deles, que o SENHOR teu Deus está em meio de ti, Deus grande e terrível.

22E o SENHOR teu Deus expulsará a estas nações de diante de ti pouco a pouco: não as poderás acabar logo, para que os animais do campo não se aumentem contra ti.

23Mas o SENHOR teu Deus as entregará diante de ti, e ele as quebrantará com grande destroço, até que sejam destruídos.

24E ele entregará seus reis em tua mão, e tu destruirás o nome deles de debaixo do céu: ninguém te fará testa até que os destruas.

25As esculturas de seus deuses queimarás no fogo: não cobiçarás prata nem ouro de sobre elas para tomá-lo para ti, para que não tropeces nisso, pois é abominação ao SENHOR teu Deus;

26E não meterás abominação em tua casa, para que não sejas anátema como isso; por completo o aborrecerás e o abominarás; porque é anátema.

📖 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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