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31 I will set[a] your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River,[b] for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare[c] to you.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:31 tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.
  2. Exodus 23:31 tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.
  3. Exodus 23:33 tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.

31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(A) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(B) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(C) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(D) to you.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
  2. Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines