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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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.
- 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 the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
- Deut 11:23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
- Deut 9:1–5Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.
- Exod 23:27–28I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.
- Deut 2:31Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”
- Ps 44:2–3With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.
- Deut 8:18But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
- Josh 3:10He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.