The Meaning of Deuteronomy 7:17 Explained

Deuteronomy 7:17

KJV: If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

YLT: When thou sayest in thine heart, These nations are more numerous than I, how am I able to dispossess them? --

Darby: If thou shouldest say in thy heart, These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?

ASV: If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If thou shalt say  in thine heart,  These nations  [are] more  than I; how  can  I dispossess  them? 

What does Deuteronomy 7:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 7:12-26 - What The Lord Does For His People
The promises to obedience are enlarged upon with touching copiousness. Love, blessing, keeping, peace, multiplication, fruit and health lie along the narrow pathway entered by the strait gate of the Cross. However forbidding its entrance, it "leadeth unto life." May Christ secure in us this obedience which He, too, demands and achieves by His Spirit! John 14:15.
Whatever be the strength of the Amalekites and Hittites of the heart, let us not fear. We have been "reconciled by His death" and shall be "saved by His life," Romans 5:10. "Little by little" is the law of progressive sanctification. The Holy Spirit shows us the next portion to be taken and the enemies that resist our prayers. But as we advance, they are driven out, Isaiah 54:17.
We resemble what we admire. Let us set our affections above. To abhor the evil and pursue the good casts a glory on our face. Compare Deuteronomy 7:26; Psalms 115:8; 2 Corinthians 3:18. [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 7:17 mean?

If you should say in your heart are greater nations these than I how can I dispossess them
כִּ֤י תֹאמַר֙ בִּלְבָ֣בְךָ֔ רַבִּ֛ים הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָאֵ֖לֶּה מִמֶּ֑נִּי אֵיכָ֥ה אוּכַ֖ל לְהוֹרִישָֽׁם

תֹאמַר֙  you  should  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
בִּלְבָ֣בְךָ֔  in  your  heart 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לֵבָב  
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.
רַבִּ֛ים  are  greater 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
הַגּוֹיִ֥ם  nations 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
הָאֵ֖לֶּה  these 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, common plural
Root: אֵהֶל 
Sense: these.
מִמֶּ֑נִּי  than  I 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
אֵיכָ֥ה  how 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֵיךְ 
Sense: how? interj.
אוּכַ֖ל  can  I 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
לְהוֹרִישָֽׁם  dispossess  them 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יָרַשׁ  
Sense: to seize, dispossess, take possession off, inherit, disinherit, occupy, impoverish, be an heir.