translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: DEU

label: NET study note

text: Hittites . The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c. ) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c. ).


text: Girgashites . These cannot be ethnically identified and are unknown outside the OT. They usually appear in such lists only when the intention is to have seven groups in all (see also the note on the word “seven” later in this verse).


text: Amorites . Originally from the upper Euphrates region ( Amurru ), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.


text: Canaanites . These were the indigenous peoples of the land, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c. ). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham ( Gen 10:6 ), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.


text: Perizzites . This is probably a subgroup of Canaanites ( Gen 13:7; 34:30 ).


text: Hivites . These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on the term “Horites” in Deut 2:12 ).


text: Jebusites . These inhabited the hill country, particularly in and about Jerusalem (cf. Num 13:29 ; Josh 15:8 ; 2 Sam 5:6; 24:16 ).


text: Seven . This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel’s enemies but simply to state that Israel will have a full complement of foes to deal with. For other lists of Canaanites, some with fewer than seven peoples, see Exod 3:8; 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11 ; Deut 20:17 ; Josh 3:10; 9:1; 24:11 . Moreover, the “Table of Nations” ( Gen 10:15-19 ) suggests that all of these (possibly excepting the Perizzites) were offspring of Canaan and therefore Canaanites.


text: Sacred pillars . The Hebrew word ( מַצֵּבֹת , matsevot ) denotes a standing pillar, usually made of stone. Its purpose was to mark the presence of a shrine or altar thought to have been visited by deity. Though sometimes associated with pure worship of the Lord ( Gen 28:18, 22; 31:13; 35:14 ; Exod 24:4 ), these pillars were usually associated with pagan cults and rituals ( Exod 23:24; 34:13 ; Deut 12:3 ; 1 Kgs 14:23 ; 2 Kgs 17:10 ; Hos 3:4; 10:1 ; Jer 43:13 ).


text: Sacred Asherah poles . A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’ asherim ], as here). They were to be burned or cut down ( Deut 12:3; 16:21 ; Judg 6:25, 28, 30 ; 2 Kgs 18:4 ).


text: Redeeming you from the place of slavery . The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה , padah ) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death ( Exod 12:1-14 ). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom ( Num 3:11-13 ). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” ( Matt 20:28 ; cf. 1 Pet 1:18 ).


text: One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31 ). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here ( עֲקָרָה , ’ aqarah ), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.