Exodus 23:20-32

Conquest of the Land

20 "Behold, I am going to send ¹an angel before you to guard you along the way and ²to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

21 "Be on your guard before * him and obey his voice; ³do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since ⁴My name is in him

22 "But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then ⁵I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 "⁶For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.

24 "⁷You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; ⁸but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their ⁹sacred pillars in pieces.

25 "¹⁰But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and ¹¹I will remove sickness from your midst.

26 "There shall be no one miscarrying or ¹²barren in your land; ¹³I will fulfill the number of your days.

27 "I will ¹⁴send My terror ahead of you, and ¹⁵throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will ¹⁶make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28 "I will send ¹⁷hornets ahead of you so that they will ¹⁸drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before * you.

29 "¹⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

30 "I will drive them out before you ²⁰little by little, until * you become fruitful and take possession of the land.

31 "²¹I will fix your boundary from the Red * Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; ²²for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will ²³drive them out before you.

32 "²⁴You shall make no covenant with them ²⁵or with their gods.

Exodus 23:20-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1-3,6-8, concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall under their burden, Ex 23:4,5, and of the oppression of a stranger, Ex 23:9, and then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Ex 23:10-13, next are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Ex 23:14-17, and concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first of the firstfruits of the land, Ex 23:18,19 and then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with them, Ex 23:20-26, and particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it, which are fixed, Ex 23:27-31, and the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be a snare unto them, Ex 23:32,33.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 3:2; Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:23; Exodus 32:34; Exodus 33:2
• 2. Exodus 15:16, 17
• 3. Deuteronomy 9:7; Psalms 78:40, 56
• 4. Exodus 3:14; Exodus 6:3; Exodus 34:5-7
• 5. Genesis 12:3; Numbers 24:9; Deuteronomy 30:7
• 6. Exodus 23:20; Joshua 24:8, 11
• 7. Exodus 20:5; Exodus 23:13, 33; Deuteronomy 12:30
• 8. Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3; 2 Kings 18:4
• 9. Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26:1; 2 Kings 3:2
• 10. Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Joshua 22:5; 1 Samuel 12:20; Matthew 4:10
• 11. Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:15
• 12. Deuteronomy 7:14
• 13. Deuteronomy 4:40; Job 5:26
• 14. Genesis 35:5; Exodus 15:16; Deuteronomy 2:25; Joshua 2:9
• 15. Deuteronomy 7:23
• 16. Psalms 18:40; Psalms 21:12
• 17. Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12
• 18. Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11
• 19. Deuteronomy 7:22
• 20. Deuteronomy 7:22
• 21. Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 1:7, 8; Deuteronomy 11:24
• 22. Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 21:44
• 23. Joshua 24:12, 18
• 24. Exodus 34:12; Deuteronomy 7:2
• 25. Exodus 23:13, 24

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "that He may bless"
• [b]. Lit "Sea of Reeds"
• [c]. Lit "cut"