[How] thou didst drive out the Heathen with thy hand
Of power; that is, the Canaanites, as the Targum; the seven nations which inhabited the land of Canaan before the children of Israel came into it, ( Deuteronomy 7:1 ) ;
and plantedst them:
not the Canaanites elsewhere; but, as the same Targum explains it the house of Israel in their land; which, like a vine, was removed from one place, and planted in another; and the settlement of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan is frequently expressed by this metaphor, ( Exodus 15:17 ) ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1 Isaiah 5:7 ) ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) ;
[how] thou didst afflict the people;
the Egyptians, according to Arama; rather the Canaanitish nations by wars and desolating judgments;
and cast them out;
that is, the same nations out of their land; though some render this clause, "and didst send them out"; the captive Israelites, as Arama; or "didst propagate them" F17; meaning the people of Israel; who being like a vine planted in the and, sent out its boughs and branches, and became very flourishing and fruitful; see ( Psalms 80:9-11 ) ; and so the Syriac version renders it, "and thou confirmedst them"; but the former sense seems best, agreeably to which is the Targum, "thou hast broken the nations, and hast consumed them"; and that all this was the Lord's work appears by what follows.