Deuteronomy 7:20

20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the pestilence against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed.

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 do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,

19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the pestilence against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed.

21 Have no dread of them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God.

22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [hornets]: Meaning of Heb uncertain