Deuteronomy 7:20

20 The LORD your God will also send hornets among them. Some of the people who are left alive will hide from you. But even they will die.

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 But don't be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all of the Egyptians.

19 With your own eyes you saw what the LORD did to them. You saw his miraculous signs and wonders. He reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. The LORD your God used all of those things to bring you out. He will do the same things to all of the nations you are now afraid of.

20 The LORD your God will also send hornets among them. Some of the people who are left alive will hide from you. But even they will die.

21 So don't be terrified by them. The LORD your God is with you. He is a great and wonderful God.

22 The LORD your God will drive out those nations to make room for you. But he will do it little by little. You won't be allowed to get rid of them all at once. If you did, wild animals would multiply all around you.