Deuteronomio 7:2

2 y el SEÑOR tu Dios las hubiere entregado delante de ti, y las hirieres, del todo las destruirás; no harás con ellos alianza, ni las tomarás a merced

Deuteronomio 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 7:2

And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee
Into their hands:

thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them;
men, women, and children; which was ordered not merely to make way and room for the people of Israel to inherit their land, but as a punishment for capital crimes they had been guilty of, such as idolatry, incest, murder wherefore though they were reprieved for a while for Israel's sake, till their time was come to possess the land, they were at length righteously punished; which observed, abates the seeming severity exercised upon them:

thou shalt make no covenant with them;
to dwell in their cities and houses, and enjoy their lands and estates, on any condition whatever; and though they did make a league with the Gibeonites, that was obtained by fraud, they pretending not to be of the land of Canaan, but to come from a very distant country:

nor show mercy unto them;
by sparing their lives, bestowing any favours upon them, or giving them any help and assistance when in distress: the Jews extend this to all other Heathen nations besides these seven; wherefore, if an Israelite, as Maimonides ^F26 says, should see a Gentile perishing, or plunged into a river, he may not take him out, nor administer medicine to a sick person. Hence Juvenal ^F1 the poet upbraids them with their unkindness and incivility; and says that Moses delivered it as a Jewish law, in a secret volume of his, perhaps referring to this book of Deuteronomy, that the Jews might not direct a poor traveller in his way unless he was one of their religion, nor one athirst to a fountain of water; and which led Tacitus ^F2, the Heathen historian, to make this remark upon them, that they entertained an hostile hatred against all other people.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Hilchot Abodath Cochabim, c. 10. sect. 1, 2.
F1 "Non monstrare vias" Satyr 14.
F2 Hist l. 5. c. 5.

Deuteronomio 7:2 In-Context

1 Cuando el SEÑOR tu Dios te hubiere introducido en la tierra en la cual tú has de entrar para heredarla, y hubiere echado de delante de tu presencia a muchos gentiles, al heteo, al gergeseo, al amorreo, al cananeo, al ferezeo, al heveo, y al jebuseo, siete naciones mayores y más fuertes que tú

2 y el SEÑOR tu Dios las hubiere entregado delante de ti, y las hirieres, del todo las destruirás; no harás con ellos alianza, ni las tomarás a merced

3 Y no emparentarás con ellos; no darás tu hija a su hijo, ni tomarás a su hija para tu hijo

4 Porque desviará a tu hijo de en pos de mí, y servirán a dioses ajenos; y el furor del SEÑOR se encenderá sobre vosotros, y te destruirá presto

5 Mas así habéis de hacer con ellos: sus altares destruiréis, y quebraréis sus imágenes, y cortaréis sus bosques, y quemaréis sus esculturas en el fuego