1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. 5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deuteronomy 7:1-5 KJV)
Thomas Haweis Commentary
Verses 1-5: All connection with idolaters must be avoided, and every monument of idolatry utterly consumed.
1. They must give them no quarter. The measure of their iniquities was full, and Israel is God’s executioner of vengeance upon them. However tender of men’s lives they ought to be on other occasions, here no room for pity or mercy was found: and it was a necessary act, for their own safety, as well as God’s glory. God’s Israel must make no covenant with sin, nor spare the dearest lust. 2. They are forbidden all marriages among them, as this would have the most immediate tendency to seduce them to idolatry. Note, No inducement of rank, beauty, or fortune, should ever tempt a godly man to marry an unbeliever. 3. All monuments of idolatry must be utterly destroyed, altars, groves, or images. We cannot be too careful to remove temptation from us as far as possible.