Exodus 23:33

Exo 23:33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Ver. 33. A snare.] See Deu 7:16 Jos 23:13 Jdg 2:3.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:33 they will cause you to sin against me: The Canaanites were to be destroyed because there could be no truce between a holy God and sin. Furthermore, the continuance of God’s revelation, which was to culminate in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, depended on the survival of that revelation through the people of Israel. If they fell back into paganism, that could not happen.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, offense or snare.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 33. They shall not dwell in thy land] They must be utterly expelled. The land was the Lord's, and he had given it to the progenitors of this people, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The latter being obliged to leave it because of a famine, God is now conducting back his posterity, who alone had a Divine and natural right to it, and therefore their seeking to possess the inheritance of their fathers can be only criminal in the sight of those who are systematically opposed to the thing, because it is a part of Divine revelation.

WHAT a pity that the Mosaic Law should be so little studied! What a number of just and equal laws, pious and humane institutions, useful and instructive ordinances, does it contain! Everywhere we see the purity and benevolence of God always working to prevent crimes and make the people happy! But what else can be expected from that God who is love, whose tender mercies are over all his works, and who hateth nothing that he has made? Reader, thou art not straitened in him, be not straitened in thy own bowels. Learn from him to be just, humane, kind, and merciful. Love thy enemy, and do good to him that hates thee. Jesus is with thee; hear and obey his voice; provoke him not, and he will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries. Believe, love, obey; and the road to the kingdom of God is plain before thee. Thou shalt inherit the good land, and be established in it for ever and ever.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(33) They shall not dwell in thy land.—Individuals might remain if they became proselytes, as Urijah the Hittite, Araunah the Jebusite, &c.; and the Gibeonites remained en masse, but in a servile condition. What was forbidden was the co-existence of friendly but independent heathen communities with Israel within the limits of Canaan. This would have been a perpetual “snare” to the Israelites, and would have continually led them into idolatry; as we find that it did during the period of the early Judges. (See Jdg_1:27-36; Jdg_2:11-13; Jdg_3:5-7.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Scandal. If you have any society with these nations, it will turn to your ruin, which was but too literally manifested afterwards.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For if thou serve; or, for thou wilt serve; this will be the fruit of thy cohabitation with them, thou wilt thereby be drawn to idolatry.

It will surely, or, and assuredly this will be a snare; an occasion of further sin and utter ruin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. They shall not dwell in thy land — The reason given is apparent. Israel’s mission and the Mosaic dispensation were not a ministry of evangelization, but of conservation of fundamental principles of divine truth. The idolatries of the world and the hardness of human hearts made it necessary first to call a select people out from the nations, and train that peculiar people so that in fulness of time there might go out from them into all the world the saving light and truth of God’s holy revelation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They shall not dwell in the land. This law did not, of course, affect proselytes; nor was it considered to preclude the continuance in the land of the enslaved Gibeonites. It forbade any Canaanite communities being suffered to remain within the limits of Palestine on friendly terms with the Hebrews. The precaution was undoubtedly a wise one.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

כי תעבד וגו׳ FOR IF THOU SERVE etc. — Both particles כי in this verse have the meaning of אשר “that”. It has this meaning in several passages. This is really the sense of the Aramaic word אי (Hebrew אם) which itself is one of the four meanings in which כי is used (cf. Gittin 90a. where the four usages of כי are given). In fact we find אם (‎אי) used in many passages in the sense of אשר, e. g., (Leviticus 2:14) ואם תקריב where it certainly should not be translated “if” — but ”when thou offer an offering of thy first-fruits”, for this offering is not optional but is obligatory (cf. Rashi on that verse).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

KI’ (FOR) THOU WILT SERVE THEIR GODS, ‘KI’ (FOR) THEY WILL BE A SNARE UNTO THEE. “Both words ki here have the meaning of asher (that), as meaning “for,” as explained further on. — The J.P.S. translation using the words “for” follows thus Ramban’s interpretation. and we find this in many places. This is the meaning of the [Aramaic word] ie which is one of the four usages of the word ki as we find in many places, and this [Aramaic word ie is the Hebrew] im which in many verses has the meaning of asher (that), etc.” Thus far is Rashi’s language. But it is not so. would mean “when that,” and the second ki would mean only “that” — thus: “lest they make you sin against Me when that you serve their gods that will be a snare against you” (Mizrachi). The two identical Hebrew words thus have different meanings in the same verse. Instead, the meaning of the verse is: “They shall not dwell in thy land for they will be a snare unto thee lest they make thee sin against Me, for you will serve their gods.” Similarly He said, Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest they be a snare in the midst of thee. The meaning of this verse is that their dwelling in your land will be a snare unto you and a source of stumbling, lest they make you sin against Me through their evil ways and their corrupt doings, for you will serve their gods when they will persuade and beguile you to do so.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.