29 I will not drive them out H1644 from before H6440 thee in one H259 year; H8141 lest the land H776 become desolate, H8077 and the beast H2416 of the field H7704 multiply H7227 against thee.
And the LORD H3068 thy God H430 will put out H5394 those H411 nations H1471 before H6440 thee by little H4592 and little: H4592 thou mayest H3201 not consume H3615 them at once, H4118 lest the beasts H2416 of the field H7704 increase H7235 upon thee.
Now these are the nations H1471 which the LORD H3068 left, H3240 to prove H5254 Israel H3478 by them, even as many of Israel as had not known H3045 all the wars H4421 of Canaan; H3667 Only that H7535 the generations H1755 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 might know, H3045 to teach H3925 them war, H4421 at the least such as before H6440 knew H3045 nothing thereof; Namely, five H2568 lords H5633 of the Philistines, H6430 and all the Canaanites, H3669 and the Sidonians, H6722 and the Hivites H2340 that dwelt H3427 in mount H2022 Lebanon, H3844 from mount H2022 Baalhermon H1179 unto the entering in H935 of Hamath. H2574 And they were to prove H5254 Israel H3478 by them, to know H3045 whether they would hearken H8085 unto the commandments H4687 of the LORD, H3068 which he commanded H6680 their fathers H1 by the hand H3027 of Moses. H4872
And they drave not out H3423 the Canaanites H3669 that dwelt H3427 in Gezer: H1507 but the Canaanites H3669 dwell H3427 among H7130 the Ephraimites H669 unto this day, H3117 and serve H5647 under tribute. H4522
Yet the children H1121 of Manasseh H4519 could H3201 not drive out H3423 the inhabitants of those cities; H5892 but the Canaanites H3669 would H2974 dwell H3427 in that land. H776 Yet it came to pass, when the children H1121 of Israel H3478 were waxen strong, H2388 that they put H5414 the Canaanites H3669 to tribute; H4522 but did not utterly H3423 drive them out. H3423
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 23
Commentary on Exodus 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.
1. put not thine hand—join not hands.
2. decline—depart, deviate from the straight path of rectitude.
3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.
10. six years thou shalt sow thy land—intermitting the cultivation of the land every seventh year. But it appears that even then there was a spontaneous produce which the poor were permitted freely to gather for their use, and the beasts driven out fed on the remainder, the owners of fields not being allowed to reap or collect the fruits of the vineyard or oliveyard during the course of this sabbatical year. This was a regulation subservient to many excellent purposes; for, besides inculcating the general lesson of dependence on Providence, and of confidence in His faithfulness to His promise respecting the triple increase on the sixth year (Le 25:20, 21), it gave the Israelites a practical proof that they held their properties of the Lord as His tenants, and must conform to His rules on pain of forfeiting the lease of them.
12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest—This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.
13. make no mention of the name of other gods, &c.—that is, in common conversation, for a familiar use of them would tend to lessen horror of idolatry.
14-18. Three times … keep a feast … in the year—This was the institution of the great religious festivals—"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover—"the feast of harvest," or pentecost—"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2). All the males were enjoined to repair to the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, and the women frequently went. The institution of this national custom was of the greatest importance in many ways: by keeping up a national sense of religion and a public uniformity in worship, by creating a bond of unity, and also by promoting internal commerce among the people. Though the absence of all the males at these three festivals left the country defenseless, a special promise was given of divine protection, and no incursion of enemies was ever permitted to happen on those occasions.
19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk—A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].
20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way—The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
21. my name is in him—This angel is frequently called Jehovah and Elohim, that is, God.
28. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)—Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].
29, 30. I will not drive … out … in one year; lest the land become desolate—Many reasons recommend a gradual extirpation of the former inhabitants of Canaan. But only one is here specified—the danger lest, in the unoccupied grounds, wild beasts should inconveniently multiply; a clear proof that the promised land was more than sufficient to contain the actual population of the Israelites.