“Devote them to destruction, yes, destruction.” God commanded that the nations inhabiting Canaan be completely destroyed, and He emphasized that fact by using the figure of speech polyptoton, where a verb is repeated twice but with different inflections. In this case, the verb “devote to destruction” (for more on polyptoton, see commentary on Gen. 2:16). The Canaanite nations had been genetically corrupted by Nephilim, and could not be godly or redeemed. They had to be destroyed. [For information on the Nephilim, see commentary on Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4].