Deuteronomy 7:17 (WEB)

Passage

If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?”

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:15 Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and he will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

Deuteronomy 7:16 You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.

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

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

Deuteronomy 7:19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, 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 "shall", "heart", "nations", "than", and "dispossess". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

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