Deuteronomy 7:17 (LSB)

Passage

“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:15 And Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will give them to all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 7:16 And you shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God will give over to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 7:17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’

Deuteronomy 7:18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

Deuteronomy 7:19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "should", "heart", "nations", "numerous", "than", and "dispossess". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "should" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And you shall consume all the peoples..." into verse 18's "you shall not be afraid of them...", so "should" and "heart" 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 "should" and "heart" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.