Deuteronomy 9:3

3 scies ergo hodie quod Dominus Deus tuus ipse transibit ante te ignis devorans atque consumens qui conterat eos et deleat atque disperdat ante faciem tuam velociter sicut locutus est tibi

Deuteronomy 9:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:3

Understand therefore this day
Or be it known to you for your encouragement, and believe it:

that the Lord thy God [is] he which goeth over before thee as a
consuming fire:
did not only go before them over the river Jordan, in a pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and direct them, and was a wall of fire around them to protect and defend them, but as a consuming fire, before which there is no standing, to destroy their enemies; see ( Deuteronomy 4:24 ) ( Hebrews 12:29 ) ,

he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face;
be they as great and as mighty, as large and as tall as they may, they will not be able to stand before the Lord, but will soon be made low, and be easily brought down to the earth by him, and to utter destruction; which would be done in a public and visible manner, so as that the hand of the Lord would be seen in it by the Israelites:

so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord
hath said unto thee;
that is, the far greater part of them, and so many as to make room for the Israelites, and which was quickly done. The Jews commonly say ^F1, that they were seven years in subduing the land; otherwise they were not to be driven out and destroyed at once, but by little and little: see ( Deuteronomy 7:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31, 32.

Deuteronomy 9:3 In-Context

1 audi Israhel tu transgredieris hodie Iordanem ut possideas nationes maximas et fortiores te civitates ingentes et ad caelum usque muratas

2 populum magnum atque sublimem filios Enacim quos ipse vidisti et audisti quibus nullus potest ex adverso resistere

3 scies ergo hodie quod Dominus Deus tuus ipse transibit ante te ignis devorans atque consumens qui conterat eos et deleat atque disperdat ante faciem tuam velociter sicut locutus est tibi

4 ne dicas in corde tuo cum deleverit eos Dominus Deus tuus in conspectu tuo propter iustitiam meam introduxit me Dominus ut terram hanc possiderem cum propter impietates suas istae deletae sint nationes

5 neque enim propter iustitias tuas et aequitatem cordis tui ingredieris ut possideas terras eorum sed quia illae egerunt impie te introeunte deletae sunt et ut conpleret verbum suum Dominus quod sub iuramento pollicitus est patribus tuis Abraham Isaac et Iacob