Exodus 23:31

31 "1I will fix your boundary from the Red * Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; 2for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will 3drive 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 will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
30 "I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
31 "I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
32 "You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
33 "They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."

Cross References 3

  • 1. Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 1:7, 8; Deuteronomy 11:24
  • 2. Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 21:44
  • 3. Joshua 24:12, 18

Footnotes 1

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