Deuteronomy 7:20

20 Moreover the Lord thy God will send also hornets among them, until he destroy and consume all that have escaped thee, and could hide themselves.

Deuteronomy 7:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 7:20

Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them,
&c.] Not a single one, but several of them, and which may be understood of creatures so called, which resemble wasps, only twice as large, an insect very bold and venomous; see ( Exodus 23:28 ) . Aben Ezra interprets it of the leprosy:

until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed;
such of the Canaanites who escaped the sword of the Israelites, and hid themselves in holes and caverns of the earth; these the hornets would find out and sting them to death, until they were all destroyed. Thus God can make use of small creatures, even insects, to destroy nations the most populous and mighty.

Deuteronomy 7:20 In-Context

18 Fear not, but remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao and to all the Egyptians,

19 The exceeding great plagues, which thy eyes saw, and the signs and wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched out arm, with which the Lord thy God brought thee out: so will he do to all the people, whom thou fearest.

20 Moreover the Lord thy God will send also hornets among them, until he destroy and consume all that have escaped thee, and could hide themselves.

21 Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible:

22 He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little and by degrees. Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether: lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee.