Exodus 23:31

31 " 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.

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 you in one year, lest the land become a desolation and {the wild animals} multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you are fruitful and take possession of the land.
31 " 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.
32 You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods.
33 They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.'"

Footnotes 2

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.