When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Cast out many nations before thee - [Septuagint, megala, 'great' transposing the word from the end of the verse.]
The Hittites. This people were descended from Heth, the second son of Canaan (Genesis 10:15), and occupied the mountainous region about Hebron, in the south of Palestine.
The Girgashites - supposed by some to be the same as the Gergesenes (Matthew 8:28), who lay to the east of Lake Gennesareth; but they are placed on the west of Jordan (Joshua 24:11); and others take them for a branch of the large family of the Hivites, since they are omitted in nine out of ten places where the tribes of Canaan are enumerated; in the 10th instance they are mentioned, while the Hivites are not.
The Amorites - descended from the fourth son of Canaan-occupied, besides their conquest on the Moabite territory, extensive settlements west of the Dead Sea, in the mountains.
The Canaanites - were located in Phoenicia, particularly about Tyre and Sidon; and being sprung from the oldest branch of the family of Canaan, bore his name.
The Perizzites - i:e., villagers; a tribe who were dispersed throughout the country, and lived in unwalled towns.
The Hivites - who dwelt about Ebal and Gerizim, extending toward Hermon. They are supposed to be the same as the Avims.
The Jebusites - resided about Jerusalem and the adjacent country.
Seven nations greater and mightier than thou. [The Septuagint has ethnee polla kai ischurotera humoon, many and stronger than you.] But the Hebrew sign of comparison belongs to both adjectives; and the statement is, not that each of the Canaanite tribes was superior in numbers to Israel, but that collectively they were more powerful. Ten were formerly mentioned (Genesis 15:19-21). But in the lapse of almost 500 years, it cannot be surprising that some of them had been extinguished in the many intestine feuds that prevailed among those war-like tribes; and it is more than probable that some, stationed on the east of Jordan, had fallen under the victorious arms of the Israelites.