The Meaning of Deuteronomy 7:1 Explained

Deuteronomy 7:1

KJV: When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

YLT: 'When Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, and He hath cast out many nations from thy presence, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations more numerous and mighty than thou,

Darby: When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations from before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou,

ASV: When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When the LORD  thy God  shall bring  thee into the land  whither thou goest  to possess  it, and hath cast out  many  nations  before  thee, the Hittites,  and the Girgashites,  and the Amorites,  and the Canaanites,  and the Perizzites,  and the Hivites,  and the Jebusites,  seven  nations  greater  and mightier  than thou; 

What does Deuteronomy 7:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 7:1-11 - No Compromise With Idolatry
The great Lawgiver had His eye constantly on the coming generation. It is good when the children are so arrested by our religious life, that they come to ask us to tell them the reasons that account for it. Seek to live so purely and devoutly, and yet so attractively, that the young people around will be compelled to inquire after your secret, Luke 11:1.
We are not only to teach the children, but to guard them against forming friendships and making marriage alliances with those who might divert them from God. In the New Testament, Christians are forbidden to marry except "in the Lord," and equally stringent are prohibitions against worldly intercourse, 1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14.
God can break the seven-fold power of sin in the heart of those who are absolutely given over to Him and are willing to surrender their evil ways. This is pledged to us by His fidelity and love, Deuteronomy 7:8-9. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 7

1  All communion with the nations is forbidden
5  for fear of idolatry,
6  for the holiness of the people,
9  for the nature of God in his mercy and justice,
17  and for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 7:1 mean?

When brings you Yahweh your God into the land which you go there to possess and has cast out nations many before you the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite seven nations greater and mightier than you
כִּ֤י יְבִֽיאֲךָ֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶל־ הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־ אַתָּ֥ה בָא־ שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ וְנָשַׁ֣ל גּֽוֹיִם־ רַבִּ֣ים ׀ מִפָּנֶ֡יךָ הַֽחִתִּי֩ וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁ֨י וְהָאֱמֹרִ֜י וְהַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י וְהַפְּרִזִּ֗י וְהַֽחִוִּי֙ וְהַיְבוּסִ֔י שִׁבְעָ֣ה גוֹיִ֔ם רַבִּ֥ים וַעֲצוּמִ֖ים מִמֶּֽךָּ

יְבִֽיאֲךָ֙  brings  you 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, second person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
יְהוָ֣ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
אֶל־  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
הָאָ֕רֶץ  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
בָא־  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ  to  possess 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: יָרַשׁ  
Sense: to seize, dispossess, take possession off, inherit, disinherit, occupy, impoverish, be an heir.
וְנָשַׁ֣ל  and  has  cast  out 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָשַׁל  
Sense: to slip off, drop off, clear away, draw off.
גּֽוֹיִם־  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
רַבִּ֣ים ׀  many 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
מִפָּנֶ֡יךָ  before  you 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
הַֽחִתִּי֩  the  Hittite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִתִּי  
Sense: the nation descended from Heth, the 2nd son of Canaan; once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey), later in north Lebanon.
וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁ֨י  and  the  Girgashite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: גִּרְגָּשִׁי  
Sense: descendants of Canaan and one of the nations living east of the sea of Galilee when the Israelites entered the promised land.
וְהָאֱמֹרִ֜י  and  the  Amorite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֱמֹרִי  
Sense: one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan, dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt.
וְהַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י  and  the  Canaanite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כִּנְעָן 
Sense: descendant of inhabitant of Canaan n.
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֗י  and  the  Perizzite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פְּרִזִּי  
Sense: a people who inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest.
וְהַֽחִוִּי֙  and  the  Hivite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִוִּי  
Sense: 6th generation of descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, who were living in northern Canaan near Mount Hermon at the time of the conquest.
וְהַיְבוּסִ֔י  and  the  Jebusite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְבוּסִי  
Sense: descendants of the 3rd son of Canaan who lived in or around the site of Jebus, the early name for Jerusalem.
שִׁבְעָ֣ה  seven 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁבַע  
Sense: seven (cardinal number).
גוֹיִ֔ם  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
רַבִּ֥ים  greater 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
וַעֲצוּמִ֖ים  and  mightier 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: עָצוּם  
Sense: mighty, vast, numerous.
מִמֶּֽךָּ  than  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.