Deuteronomy 9:1-10

Israel Provoked God

1 "Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess ¹nations greater and mightier than you, great cities ²fortified to heaven,

2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, '³Who can stand before the sons of Anak?'

3 "Know therefore today that ⁴it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as ⁵a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that ⁶you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has spoken to you.

4 "⁷Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before * you, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is ⁸because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before * you.

5 "It is ⁹not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before * you, in order to confirm ¹⁰the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6 "Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are ¹¹a stubborn * people.

7 "Remember, do not forget how * you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; ¹²from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

8 "Even ¹³at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.

9 "When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; ¹⁴I neither ate bread nor drank water.

10 "The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone ¹⁵written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

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Deuteronomy 9:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 9

In this chapter the Israelites are assured of the ejection of the Canaanites, though so great and mighty, to make room for them, De 9:1-3, and they are cautioned not to attribute this to their own righteousness, but to the wickedness of the nations which deserved to be so treated, and to the faithfulness of God in performing his promise made to their fathers, De 9:4-6, and that it might appear that it could not be owing to their righteousness, it is affirmed and proved that they had been a rebellious and provoking people from their coming out of Egypt to that time, as was evident from their idolatry at Horeb; a particular account of which is given, and of the displeasure of the Lord at it, De 9:7-21, and of their murmurings, with which they provoked the Lord at other places, De 9:22-24, and the chapter is closed with an account of the prayer of Moses for them at Horeb, to avert the wrath of God from them for their making and worshipping the golden calf, De 9:25-29.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 15

1. Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 7:1; Deuteronomy 11:23
2. Deuteronomy 1:28
3. Num 13:22, 28, 33; Joshua 11:21, 22
4. Deuteronomy 31:3; Joshua 3:11
5. Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29
6. Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 7:24
7. Deuteronomy 8:17; Deuteronomy 9:7, 24; Deuteronomy 31:27
8. Lev 18:3, 24-30; Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-14
9. Titus 3:5
10. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:7; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:13
11. Deuteronomy 9:13; Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 31:27
12. Exodus 14:10; Numbers 14:22
13. Exodus 32:7-10; Psalms 106:19
14. Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 8:3; Deuteronomy 9:18
15. Deuteronomy 4:13

Footnotes 4

[a]. Lit "and fortified"
[b]. Lit "you saying"
[c]. Lit "word"
[d]. Or "stiff-necked"