Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 20:7
Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jehoshaphat and the Judahite assembly speak this prayer while facing a coalition of enemy armies. The speaker addresses Yahweh directly, invoking past covenant history to frame a present plea for deliverance.
The words — הוֹרַ֙שְׁתָּ֙ (ho.Rash.ta) translates literally as "did you dispossess" or "drive out," describing the forceful removal of prior inhabitants. אֱלֹהֵ֗י/נוּ ('e.lo.Hei./nu) means "O God our," establishing the covenant relationship that grounds the appeal.
The thread — The verse recalls Genesis 12:7 where God promises the land to Abraham’s offspring, and aligns with Isaiah 41:8 and James 2:23 which both identify Abraham as God’s friend to validate the covenant lineage. These references anchor the territorial grant in divine promise rather than human military action.
Why it lands — The text states that possession of the land resulted from prior divine action, not current human strength. It requires the reader to ground present anxiety in recorded covenant history before requesting intervention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 41:8 “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
- Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Psalms 44:2 With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.
- Genesis 13:15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
- Joshua 24:3 But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,
- Nehemiah 9:8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.
- Exodus 6:7 I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
- Exodus 33:2 And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- 1 Chronicles 17:21 And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself? You made a name for Yourself through great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt.