Deuteronomy 7:2

Ver. 2. Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them— i.e. In case they continue obstinate in their idolatry, they are to be destroyed as a nation or body politic: but if they forsook their idolatry, and became converts to the true religion, they would then be, what God required, penitents, and proper objects of forgiveness; for this is a rule laid down in Scripture, and founded in reason. Jeremiah 18:7-8. See Dr. Sykes's Conn. of Nat. and Rev. Rel. ch. 13.