Exodus 23:31

31 And I will set thy borders from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

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 from before thee in one year lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against thee.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before thee until thou be multiplied and take the land by inheritance.
31 And I will set thy borders from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land lest peradventure they make thee sin against me by serving their gods, for it will be a snare unto thee.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010