Exodus 23:31

31 I'll set your borders from the Reed Sea to the Philistine Sea and from the desert to the River. I'll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out before you.

Exodus 23:31 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 23:31

And I will set thy bounds
The bounds of the land of Canaan, which in process of time it should reach unto, though not at once, not until the times of David and Solomon, ( 2 Samuel 8:1-18 ) ( 1 Kings 4:24 ) which bounds were as follow:

from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines:
the Red sea was the boundary eastward, as the sea of the Philistines, or the Mediterranean sea, was the boundary westward:

and from the desert unto the river;
the desert of Shur or Arabia, towards Egypt, was the boundary southward, as the river Euphrates was the boundary northward, and is the river here meant, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; and so Jarchi interprets it, and generally others:

for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand;
the greater part upon their entrance into it, and settlement in it, and the rest afterwards:

and thou shalt drive them out before thee;
not all at once, but by degrees, as before observed.

Exodus 23:31 In-Context

29 I won't drive them out before you in a single year so the land won't be abandoned and the wild animals won't multiply around you.
30 I'll drive them out before you little by little, until your numbers grow and you eventually possess the land.
31 I'll set your borders from the Reed Sea to the Philistine Sea and from the desert to the River. I'll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out before you.
32 Don't make any covenants with them or their gods.
33 Don't allow them to live in your land, or else they will lead you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a dangerous trap for you.

Footnotes 1

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