Deuteronomy 7:2 tells Israel that when God gives them victory over the nations of Canaan, they are not to make treaties with those nations or show them mercy. The verse is part of Moses’ instructions to the people as they prepare to enter the land God promised to their ancestors, and it has been one of the most debated passages in the Old Testament.
And when the LORD your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.
Deuteronomy 7:2 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 7:2 Means
The verse has two parts. The first describes a situation: God will hand the nations over, and Israel will fight them. The second gives two commands that follow from that situation: do not make a covenant with them, and do not show them mercy. The word “covenant” refers to a binding agreement, the kind of peace treaty that would allow two peoples to live side by side and trade, intermarry, or share territory. The verse rules that out.
The verse does not describe a general principle that God’s people should be cruel to outsiders. It is a specific command for one moment in Israel’s history, tied to a particular land and a particular group of nations. Read in its setting, it is about refusing to join in the religious and moral life of these nations, not about treating every stranger harshly. Deuteronomy itself elsewhere commands kindness to foreigners and sojourners, which is one reason readers have long sought to understand this verse within its specific historical frame.
The Context of Deuteronomy 7:2
Deuteronomy is presented as a series of speeches Moses gave to Israel on the plains of Moab, just before they cross the Jordan River. The book looks back on the wilderness years and forward to life in the land. Traditionally, Moses is named as its speaker, and the audience is the generation that grew up in the wilderness, not the generation that left Egypt. The book’s concern is faithfulness: whether Israel will love God wholeheartedly and avoid the gods of the peoples around them once they settle in Canaan.
The verses just before and after make the reason clear. Verse 1 names seven nations, and verses 3 and 4 explain the danger. Intermarriage would draw Israel’s children away from following the LORD and toward other gods, which would bring God’s anger on the people. Verse 5 then gives the practical alternative: break down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and burn the idols. The command is aimed at the worship that would corrupt Israel, and that is why the verse reads differently when placed inside this larger passage.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 7:2
Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
(WEB)
This verse, which comes shortly after, explains that Israel is a people set apart for the LORD. It helps readers see that the concern in 7:2 is about protecting that holy identity rather than about ethnic superiority.
Deuteronomy 10:19
Therefore love the foreigner; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
(WEB)
Here Israel is commanded to love the sojourner, because they were once sojourners in Egypt. Reading it alongside 7:2 shows that Deuteronomy holds firm boundaries around worship while also commanding justice and care toward foreigners.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 7:2
Lord, you are the one who gives and keeps what is good. Help me guard my heart from anything that would pull me away from you, whether it is a relationship, a habit, or a fear that tempts me to trust something other than you. Give me clarity to tell the difference between what helps my faith grow and what slowly draws it off course. Teach me also to walk in your justice and kindness toward others, because you have shown me both. Amen.
