Deuteronomy 7:20

20 The LORD your God will send terror on them until even the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed.

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 don't be afraid of them! Remember, instead, what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

19 the great trials that you saw with your own eyes, the signs and wonders, and the strong hand and outstretched arm the LORD your God used to rescue you. That's what the LORD your God will do to any people you fear.

20 The LORD your God will send terror on them until even the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed.

21 Don't dread these nations because the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is with you and among you. (

22 The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you bit by bit. You won't be able to finish them off quickly; otherwise, the wild animals would become too much for you to handle.)

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb uncertain; perhaps wasp, plague, or pestilence