Footnotes

1. Exodus 23:20 Faithful service of the Lord was a condition for the entrance of the chosen people into the Promised Land. They would have to avoid defilement by other forms of worship and therefore by the peoples who practiced these. This is the context for understanding the laws regarding extermination and the anathema that were promulgated against foreigners; these laws were not applied to the letter (see Jos 6:17).