This passage is often misinterpreted as endorsing indiscriminate genocide or ethnic cleansing driven by divine racism, overlooking its specific historical and theological context as targeted judgment on Canaanite wickedness after centuries of opportunity for repentance (Genesis 15:16), a unique mandate under Israel's theocratic role to eradicate entrenched idolatry threatening God's covenant people, rather than a universal ethic for violence or hatred toward other nations.
Deuteronomy 7:2
King James Version (1769)
2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deuteronomy 7:2 instructs Israel, upon conquering the Promised Land, to completely destroy the Canaanite nations without making treaties or showing mercy, emphasizing God's call for total separation from idolatrous influences to safeguard Israel's covenant loyalty and holiness as His chosen people, preventing the spiritual corruption that could derail His redemptive purposes through them.