7:1 and the Canaanites. Actually most of the other tribes listed here–the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (all except the Perizzites) were included among the Canaanites in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10:15-18). Presumably this is because they had each become so large and distinct as to be listed as separate nations by the time of Joshua. This was especially true of the Amorites and Hittites. The tribes still called simply Canaanites may have been the others listed in Genesis 10:17,18–Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Sidon may also have been included (Genesis 10:15), since the Sidonians lived just north of Canaan and eventually became the Phoenicians. The Perizzites were not a separate ethnic group, but lived in rural mountain villages (as their name implies).

7:3 make marriages. This principle is still very important for believers today. See II Corinthians 6:14.

7:6 special people unto himself. This is perhaps the clearest statement of the election of the children of Israel as God’s chosen people, clearly stating that it was not because of human merit but because of His promise to their fathers. As the Israelites entered Canaan, they would encounter “seven nations greater and mightier than thou” (Deuteronomy 7:1), yet God promised to “deliver them before thee” (Deuteronomy 7:2).

7:7 fewest of all people. When God made His original promise to bless the people of Israel, the nation consisted of one family, Abraham and Sarah. Even by this time, the Israelites were small in number compared to the wicked multitudes in Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:17) that God had commissioned them to destroy.

7:15 none of the evil diseases. The Lord’s protection of Israel from the ravages of disease, even in the harsh environment in which they lived for forty years, was no doubt providentially miraculous. It was also partially assured by the divinely given laws of diet, cleanliness, sanitation, etc., which were incorporated in the Mosaic laws (Leviticus 11–15).

7:20 the hornet. See note on Joshua 24:12.

7:25 burn with fire. The burning of the image may seem extreme at first, especially in view of the intrinsic value of the gold or other materials used in making the image. But it must be remembered that the worship of idols actually involved demon-worship (I Corinthians 10:19,20), and the apparently lifeless image might well be “possessed” by a very real demonic spirit. This may be relevant today to the careless purchase of pagan religious objects as travel souvenirs, which are actually replicas of objects of pagan worship in pantheistic religions.

7:26 abomination. The Bible often applies the term “abomination” to idols or idolatry. If such artifacts are kept in one’s house, even merely as a decoration, God warns that those in the house could be “snared therein” and even become “a cursed thing like it.”

8:3 suffered thee to hunger. God may on occasion cause His people to go through a period of material deprivation, in order to provide them a greater spiritual blessing, especially the exhilarating experience of seeing His providential supply, day after day, of their needs.

8:3 doth man live. This is the great passage quoted by Christ during His own temptation (Matthew 4:4), indicating the supreme importance of not just the concepts but the very words of God, providing also a strong proof of verbal inerrancy of the Scriptures.

8:4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee. This was another of the Lord’s miraculous providences for His people in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 29:5 adds that “thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”