Deuteronomy13
New American Standard
1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’
3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.
6“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
7of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end),
8you shall not consent to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.
9Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
10So you shall stone him to death, because he has attempted to drive you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
11Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.
12“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that
13some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),
14then you shall investigate, search out, and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true and the matter is certain that this abomination has been committed among you,
15you shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. Utterly destroy it and all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.
16Then you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its public square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.
17Nothing at all from what is designated for destruction is to cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers,
18if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 13.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Enticers to idolatry to be put to death. (1–5). Relations who entice to idolatry not to be spared. (6–11). Idolatrous cities not to be spared. (12–18).
vv1-5
Moses had cautioned against the peril that might arise from the Canaanites. Here he cautions against the rise of idolatry among themselves. It is needful for us to be well acquainted with the truths and precepts of the Bible; for we may expect to be proved by temptations of evil under the appearance of good, of error in the guise of truth; nor can any thing rightly oppose such temptations, but the plain, express testimony of God's word to the contrary. And it would be a proof of sincere affection for God, that, notwithstanding specious pretences, they should not be wrought upon the forsake God, and follow other gods to serve them.
vv6-11
It is the policy of Satan to try to lead us to evil by those whom we love, whom we least suspect of any ill design, and whom we are desirous to please, and apt to conform to. The enticement here is supposed to come from a brother or child, who are near by nature; from a wife or friend, who are near by choice, and are to us as our souls. But it is our duty to prefer God and religion, before the nearest and dearest friends we have in the world. We must not, to please our friends, break God's law. Thou shalt not consent to him, nor go with him, not for company, or curiosity, not to gain his affections. It is a general rule, If sinners entice thee, consent thou not, Pr 1:10. And we must not hinder the course of God's justice.
vv12-18
Here is the case of a city revolting from the God of Israel, and serving other gods. The crime is supposed to be committed by one of the cities of Israel. Even when they were ordered to preserve their religion by force, yet they were not allowed to bring others to it by fire and sword. Spiritual judgments under the Christian dispensation are more terrible than the execution of criminals; we have not less cause than the Israelites had, to fear the Divine wrath. Let us then fear the spiritual idolatry of covetousness, and the love of worldly pleasure; and be careful not to countenance them in our families, by our example or by the education of our children. May the Lord write his law and truth in our hearts, there set up his throne, and shed abroad his love!
Key Words
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
נָבִיא: a prophet or (generally) inspired man
אוֹ: desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if
חָלַם: properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream
חֲלוֹם: a dream
קוּם: to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)
קֶרֶב: properly, the nearest part, i.e. the center, whether literal, figurative or adverbial (especially with preposition)
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
אוֹת: a signal (literally or figuratively), as aflag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.
מוֹפֵת: a miracle; by implication, a token or omen
Cross References
Deuteronomy 13Jesus warns that false Christs and false prophets will show great signs and wonders to deceive.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels God leading Israel to humble and prove them, to know what was in their heart.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God did tempt (prove) Abraham, testing his supreme love and obedience above his only son.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Warns not to trust a friend or guide, keeping the doors of thy mouth from her that lies in thy bosom.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Even if an angel or apostle preaches another gospel, they are to be accursed.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts a prophet whose sign fails with one whose sign succeeds but promotes idolatry.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Command to fear, serve, and swear by Jehovah, quoted by Jesus against Satanic temptation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prophetic parallel where parents must execute judgment on their own child who speaks lies in God's name.
Uses the identical idiomatic Hebrew phrase 'wife of thy bosom' to denote closest relation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Classic wisdom principle: if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Practical application of investigating a reported city-wide apostasy before engaging in war.
The immediate context preceding chapter 13, forbidding adding or diminishing from God's commands.
Supported by JFB
Prophetic deception using signs and miracles allowed by God to test and deceive the earth's inhabitants.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God sends strong delusion that they should believe a lie, testing those who rejected truth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Law requiring the hands of the witnesses to be first upon the condemned to put them to death.
Uses the term 'daughter of Belial', illustrating the lawless character described in Deuteronomy.
Supported by JFB
The warning to keep from the accursed (devoted) thing, lest Israel make their camp accursed.
Parallel purpose of public punishment: those who remain shall hear, and fear, and commit no such evil.