אלשיך — פן תנקש אחריהם אחרי השמדם / איכה יעבדו הגוים האלה את אלהיהם

Q — After Hashem destroys the seven nations and their gods, what reason would there be to worry that Israel might *still* be drawn to investigate their cults? Wouldn't 'these defeated gods couldn't even save their own worshippers' be enough to make the avodah zarah forever ridiculous in Israel's eyes?

A — The Alshich asks this sharply, and his answer connects the warning to the earlier mitzvah of physically destroying the avodah zarah ('אבד תאבדון' / ונתצתם / וגדעתם / ושברתם). The warning is precisely that if Israel does *not* fulfill the earlier mitzvah of total destruction — if they leave traces standing — then the danger remains, despite the apparent defeat of the gods themselves. The 'defeated gods' reasoning works only if the destruction is total. Half-measures leave openings for curiosity to mature into idolatrous practice; intellectual disdain alone cannot substitute for physical eradication.