Deuteronomy 7:7 (YLT)

Passage

`Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye <FI>are<Fi> the least of all the peoples,

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:5 `But thus thou dost to them: their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and their shrines ye cut down, and their graven images ye burn with fire;

Deuteronomy 7:6 for a holy people <FI>art<Fi> thou to Jehovah thy God; on thee hath Jehovah thy God fixed, to be to Him for a peculiar people, out of all the peoples who <FI>are<Fi> on the face of the ground.

Deuteronomy 7:7 `Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye <FI>are<Fi> the least of all the peoples,

Deuteronomy 7:8 but because of Jehovah's loving you, and because of His keeping the oath which He hath sworn to your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out by a strong hand, and doth ransom you from a house of servants, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:9 `And thou hast known that Jehovah thy God He <FI>is<Fi> God, the faithful God, keeping the covenant, and the kindness, to those loving Him, and to those keeping His commands--to a thousand generations,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "numerous", "than", "peoples", "hath", "jehovah", "delighted", and "fixeth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "numerous", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "for a holy people FI art Fi..." into verse 8's "but because of Jehovah's loving you and...", so "light" and "numerous" 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 "light" and "numerous" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.