Essay sur Le Deutéronome 7:1

An important part of Israel’s self-understanding in Deuteronomy, as elsewhere in the Torah, is separation from other peoples—particularly from the inhabitants of the land they are to conquer. This chapter emphasizes the absolute avoidance of the Canaanites which the Israelites are to practice (it begins and ends with “devotion-to-destruction,” a kind of ritual ban or confiscation). The violence on the part of Israel spoken of in the opening verses, and the destruction wrought by God in the closing lines, frame a middle section that speaks of God’s “love” and “loyalty” toward Israel—again, in the mode of an ancient Near Eastern overlord. The emotional tone of the chapter strongly suggests a period of intense nationalism.