דברים, פרק ט׳, פסוק ה׳

The right to dwell in the Land of Israel is not based on a simple equation of reward and punishment, but rather on a complex blend of universal divine justice and a historical covenant. Moses makes it clear to the Israelites that their entry into the land does not stem from their own spiritual greatness. Instead, it is driven by two parallel motives: the punishment of the land's previous inhabitants and the fulfillment of God's oath to the forefathers of the nation.

True spiritual merit is measured in two distinct ways: practical righteousness, which involves doing the correct deeds and keeping the law out of good habits, and uprightness of heart, which reflects pure inner intention and a naturally honest soul [העמק דבר, רש״ר הירש]. Moses emphasizes that the Israelites lack both of these qualities in sufficient measure. Throughout their journey in the desert, they proved to be a stubborn and rebellious people, meaning they do not deserve to inherit the land on their own merit [רשב״ם, הטור הארוך, ביאור יש״ר]. Furthermore, even if the generation entering the land had been completely pure and deserving, their own merits would still not have been enough to inherit the land without the underlying covenant of the forefathers [אור החיים]. This reality raises a question about God's stated love for the Israelites. The answer lies in the understanding that God's love is directed toward the nation as a whole throughout history, which does not mean that the specific generation standing at the edge of the land was righteous enough to earn it through their actions [הטור הארוך, ביאור יש״ר].

The removal of the Canaanite nations was not due to the Israelites' merit, but rather a direct consequence of the Canaanites' own corruption [רש״י]. Others emphasize this point further, warning the Israelites not to think that a combination of their own righteousness and the nations' wickedness led to their success; the wickedness of the nations was the sole reason for their downfall [נתינה לגר]. In this context, driving them out does not merely mean expulsion, but total destruction [אור החיים]. The primary approach among commentators is that God is a completely just judge. He would never unjustly expel or destroy nations unless their sins had reached an absolute breaking point. It was their immense wickedness that sealed their fate, and the Israelites simply served as the executing arm of divine justice [ספורנו, אור החיים, ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם, שטיינזלץ]. Moreover, divine providence carefully guided the course of history so that the wickedness of the Canaanites reached its peak at the exact moment the Israelites were ready to enter the land [העמק דבר].

This raises an interesting question: what would have happened if the Canaanites had actually been righteous? The land was always meant to be a temporary deposit in their hands. If they had been good people, God would have kindly relocated them to another land to make room for the Israelites. But because they were wicked, they lost their right to exist there entirely [רבנו בחיי]. Once the land was emptied of its sinful inhabitants, the Israelites' right to inherit it over any other nation came solely from God's promise to fulfill His word. This refers specifically to the Covenant of the Parts, where God swore to Abraham that after years of slavery in Egypt, the fourth generation would return and inherit the land [רמב״ן, ביאור יש״ר]. This historical oath to the forefathers is absolute, and the sins of the current generation have no power to cancel the gift that was granted through it [הטור הארוך].