ויקרא, פרק כ׳, פסוק כ״ג

A firm boundary is set for the Israelites as they prepare to enter their new home, urging them to reject the deeply corrupt practices of the surrounding cultures. The impending expulsion of the native populations is not arbitrary, but a direct consequence of their own moral decay.

When identifying the specific cultures in question, commentators offer different perspectives. While [מלבי״ם] explains that the warning targets the Canaanites, who had fully embraced grave sins and turned them into permanent laws, [אדרת אליהו] suggests a broader focus. In this view, the warning cautions against the practices of the Egyptians they left behind as well as the Canaanites they are about to replace. Regardless of the specific origin, the Israelites must avoid adopting the corrupted customs of even a single foreign society, let alone many [חזקוני]. These foreign practices are recognized as being inherently flawed and morally deficient [שפתי כהן].

The core danger addressed is the normalization of wrongdoing. Sins such as child sacrifice, sorcery, and forbidden relationships are destructive on their own, but the primary goal is to prevent such acts from becoming official state laws and accepted cultural norms [ביאור יש״ר]. When severe corruption transforms into a societal standard, the damage is far worse than the private failings of individuals driven by personal desires. To protect against the powerful pull of these foreign norms, the ultimate remedy is a strict dedication to studying the Torah, which straightens a person's thinking and provides moral clarity [העמק דבר].

God's response to these corrupt societies is severe. The primary approach among commentators is that God views their actions with profound disgust and loathing, much like a person who is physically repulsed by spoiled food. Because their behavior is so fundamentally shameful, God cannot tolerate their continued presence in the very land where He chooses to dwell [ביאור יש״ר]. Driven by this deep aversion, God expelled them immediately. He offered them no guidance or opportunity to repent, a swift judgment further justified by the fact that the land was never their true ancestral inheritance to begin with [העמק דבר]. Presenting a different angle, [שפתי כהן] understands God's response not merely as profound disgust, but as a definitive act of removal, meaning He entirely cut down and destroyed these corrupt nations.