Deuteronomy 7:22

Summary

Deuteronomy 7:22 states that Yehovah will clear away the nations before the addressee gradually rather than all at once, explaining the reason: the addressee lacks the ability to finish them quickly, and a rapid removal would allow wild animals to multiply.

Key words

• na.Shal ("he will clear away", H5394) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative sequence of divine action begun in earlier verses.
• me.'At ("little", H4592) — repeated twice in succession (me.'At me.'At), a doubling pattern in Biblical Hebrew that expresses gradualness ("little by little").
• tu.Khal ("you will be able", H3201) — qal imperfect, negated by lo' ("not", H3808), expressing an inability of the addressee rather than a prohibition.
• ka.lo.Ta ("to make an end of", H3615) — piel infinitive, intensive stem denoting complete finishing/consuming, paired with ma.Her ("quickly", H4118) as a second infinitive describing manner.
• tir.Beh ("it should increase", H7235) — qal imperfect, feminine subject (referring to chai.Yat, "animal of", H2416), introduced by pen ("lest", H6435), marking the purpose/result clause of concern.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on na.Shal, continuing a chain of actions attributed to Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068) 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("your God", H0430 + H9021). The object is marked by 'et- (H0853) before ha.go.Yim ha.'El ("the nations, these", H1471 + H411), followed by mi.pa.Nei.kha ("from before you", H6440 + H9021), indicating spatial removal. The doubled noun me.'At me.'At functions adverbially, giving the gradual manner of the removal without needing a separate adverb form — the repetition itself carries the "little by little" sense.

The second clause shifts subject to the addressee: lo' tu.Khal ("you will not be able") governs the piel infinitive ka.lo.Tam ("to finish them," with 3mp suffix H9038) plus ma.Her ("quickly"), together meaning "to finish them off quickly." The infinitives function as the complement of the modal verb, describing what the addressee cannot accomplish. The final clause, introduced by pen ("lest/that," H6435), gives the stated reason: the imperfect tir.Beh ("it should increase") has as its subject chai.Yat ha.sa.Deh ("animal of the field," construct chain H2416 + H7704), a feminine singular collective noun for wildlife, agreeing grammatically with the feminine verb. The preposition 'a.Lei.kha ("upon/against you," H5921 + H9031) marks the addressee as the one affected by this increase.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chai.Yat ha.sa.Deh as τὰ θηρία τὰ ἄγρια ("the wild beasts") and adds ἵνα μὴ ἡ γῆ ἔρημος ("lest the land become desolate"), a clause not present in the Hebrew text given. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely with bestiae terrae ("beasts of the land/earth"), omitting the desolation clause found in the LXX.