Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 7:17-21 
Context7:17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?” 7:18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall 1 what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 7:19 the great judgments 2 you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power 3 by which he 4 brought you out – thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets 5 among them until the very last ones who hide from you 6 perish. 7:21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God.
1 tn Heb “recalling, you must recall.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis. Cf. KJV, ASV “shalt well remember.”
2 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
3 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
4 tn Heb “the
5 tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).
6 tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”
