Deuteronomy 7:22
The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.
And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Note put…: Heb. pluck off
The Lord your God will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you.
And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Related passages
From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, grouped by the word they explain.
- put out
- Heb. pluck off. thou mayest. As the Israelites were not yet sufficiently numerous to fill the whole land occupied by these nations; and as wild and ferocious animals might be expected to multiply where the place was but thinly peopled, therefore God informs them that their extermination from before them should be gradual. Haynes says, "The approaching to Cana, at the close of the day, as we did, is at once terrifying and dangerous. The surrounding country swarms with wild beasts, such as tigers, leopards, jackals, etc., whose cries and howling, I doubt not, would strike the boldest traveller, who had not been frequently in a like situation, with the deepest sense of horror."
- Exodus 23:29, 30; Joshua 15:63