Deuteronomy 7:22 (ASV)

Passage

And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:20 Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee.

Deuteronomy 7:21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a great God and a terrible.

Deuteronomy 7:22 And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Deuteronomy 7:23 But Jehovah thy God will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 7:24 And he will deliver their kings into thy hand, and thou shalt make their name to perish from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "cast", "nations", "before", "thee", "little", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "cast", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "Thou shalt not be affrighted at them..." into verse 23's "But Jehovah thy God will deliver them...", so "jehovah" and "cast" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "cast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.