Exodus 34:24

For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) I will . . . enlarge thy borders.—The promise of “a land” for his posterity made by God to Abraham was twofold. At first it was the “land of Canaan” alone which they were to receive (Genesis 12:5-7); but subsequently the promise was extended, and made to include the entire tract of territory between “the river of Egypt” (the Nile) and “the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). In remarkable parallelism with this double promise was the double fulfilment. At first Canaan alone was occupied, but under David and Solomon the borders were greatly enlarged; and “Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river (Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt” (1Kings 4:21). The rebellion of Jeroboam, and the establishment of the “kingdom of Israel,” caused a contraction of the land to its original limits; but Menahem seems once more to have carried the dominion of Israel to the Euphrates (2Kings 15:16).

Neither shall any man desire thy land.—It was a part of the unwritten law of the Greeks that free passage should be given to all who were on their way to or from any of the great Pan-Hellenic festivals. But the present promise went beyond any such understanding. It secured the territory of Israel from all attack at such seasons, and must have been enforced miraculously by that providential government which God exercises over “all the nations upon the earth” (Psalm 67:4).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

34:18-27 Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy; yet God says, They shall not desire it. Let us check all sinful desires against God and his glory, in our hearts, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us. The way of duty is the way of safety. Those who venture for him never lose by him. Three feasts are here mentioned: 1. The Passover, in remembrance of the deliverance out of Egypt. 2. The feast of weeks, or the feast of Pentecost; added to it is the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering, or the feast of Tabernacles. Moses is to write these words, that the people might know them better. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. God would make a covenant with Israel, in Moses as a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Neither shall any man desire etc. - Intended to encourage such as might fear the consequences of obeying the divine law in attending to their religious duties. Compare Proverbs 16:7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9, 10. he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us—On this proclamation, he, in the overflowing benevolence of s heart, founded an earnest petition for the Divine Presence being continued with the people; and God was pleased to give His favorable answer to Moses' intercession by a renewal of His promise under the form of a covenant, repeating the leading points that formed the conditions of the former national compact.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I will cast out the nations; so thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do time or thine mischief. This God promised to do, but upon condition of Israel’s discharge of their duty in following God in this work of driving them out, which they neglecting, it was not fully done.

Neither shall any man desire thy land; I will not only tie their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprise, which it was very easy for God to effect many ways.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For I will cast out the nations before thee,.... Who are particularly mentioned, Exodus 34:11 and therefore they need not be in any fear of them, when they should go up to the appointed place, and appear before the Lord; for to this they were not obliged, until they were come into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants driven out before them:

and enlarge thy borders; so that as they should have no enemies within them, to hinder and molest them, or discourage and deter them from attendance on the Lord at such set times, so they would be set at a great distance from them, that they should have nothing to fear from them; and should it be objected that at such times, when only women and children were left at home, and their borders were defenceless, it would be a proper opportunity for their enemies to invade them, it is further promised:

neither, shall any man desire thy land; though it is a desirable land; and their neighbours, and especially the old inhabitants of it, envied the happiness of the Israelites, and could not but wish it was in their possession; yet God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can direct their thoughts, and turn the inclinations of their minds, and influence their affections, and engage them with other objects, promises that they should not think of an invasion of them, or have their minds, and the desires and affections of their hearts, in the least turned that way at these seasons, whatever they might have at other times; even

when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in a year; at the feasts before mentioned, which was a most wonderful display of the power and providence of God.

Geneva Study Bible

For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man {h} desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

(h) God promises to defend them and theirs, who obey his commandment.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. An ideal picture. The Israelites may feel quite secure in observing these pilgrimages; for their enemies will be dispossessed, and their territory enlarged, so that, even though their men are absent from their homes on pilgrimage, no one will think of invading their land.

cast out] dispossess (Jdg 11:23 EVV., 24 RV.). The thought as Exodus 23:27 f.; the expression as Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 9:4-5; Deuteronomy 11:23; Deuteronomy 18:12 (EVV. in all, drive out, which, however, confuses the word with the different one (gârash) so rendered in v. 11 here),—all with Jehovah as subject.

goest up] viz. to Jerusalem, for pilgrimages to which ‘go up’ was the technical expression (1 Kings 12:27-28; Isaiah 2:3; Psalm 122:4).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - I will... enlarge thy borders. The original promise to Abraham was to give to his seed "the land of Canaan" (Genesis 12:5-7). Afterwards this promise was enlarged, and he was told that the land assigned them was the entire tract between the Nile and the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18). And practically, they took possession first of the one, while at a later date their border was enlarged, and they became masters of the other. See 1 Kings 4:21, 24; 2 Chronicles 9:26. Neither shall any man desire thy land, etc. This promise is nowhere else made. It would serve as a great encouragement to the proper observance of the festivals. Exodus 34:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The true way to worship Jehovah is then pointed out, first of all negatively, in the prohibition against making molten images, with an allusion to the worship of the golden calf, as evinced by the use of the expression מסּכה אלהי, which only occurs again in Leviticus 19:4, instead of the phrase "gods of silver and gold" (Exodus 20:23); and then positively, by a command to observe the feast of Mazzoth and the consecration of the first-born connected with the Passover (see at Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:11, and Exodus 13:12), also the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21), the feasts of Weeks and Ingathering, the appearance of the male members of the nation three times a year before the Lord (Exodus 34:22, see at Exodus 23:14-17), together with all the other instructions connected with them (Exodus 34:25, Exodus 34:26). Before the last, however, the promise is introduced, that after the expulsion of the Canaanites, Jehovah would enlarge the borders of Israel (cf. Exodus 23:31), and make their land so secure, that when they went up to the Lord three times in the year, no one should desire their land, sc., because of the universal dread of the might of their God (Exodus 23:27).