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Deuteronomy 4:38

to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.
Deuteronomy 4:38 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
  • BSB to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day.
  • NKJV driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day.
  • NASB driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.
  • NLT He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God drove out greater nations to give Israel their land as an inheritance. The conquest is God's gift, fulfilling his promise.

Overview

God's purpose in the exodus extends to bringing Israel into the promised land at the expense of mightier peoples. The land is an undeserved inheritance, a sign of covenant blessing. This earthly inheritance points forward to the eternal inheritance secured for God's people in Christ (1 Peter 1:4).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Deut 7:1When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you;
  • Deut 11:23then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
  • Deut 9:1–5Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,
  • Exod 23:27–28I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
  • Deut 2:31Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.”
  • Ps 44:2–3You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.
  • Deut 8:18But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.
  • Josh 3:10Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 4:38YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).

How Deuteronomy 4:38 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.