King James Bible
"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,"
Moses anticipates Israel's future entry into Canaan, emphasizing God as the active agent who will fulfill this promise. The phrase establishes a prophetic certainty about their inheritance while reminding them that their possession of the land depends entirely on divine action, not their own conquest. This references the patriarchal covenant, grounding Israel's claim to the land in God's ancient promises rather than recent events. By invoking all three patriarchs, Moses underscores the continuity and reliability of God's word across generations. The Israelites will inherit established Canaanite infrastructure—fortified cities with wells, houses, and agricultural systems already in place. This unearned blessing highlights God's grace but also sets up a warning (in subsequent verses) against forgetting the true source of their prosperity.