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Deuteronomy Chapter
Thirteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 13
In
this chapter the Israelites are taught how to discern a false prophet, shun and
punish him, Deuteronomy 13:1,
what to do with enticers to idolatry, not only not to consent to them, but,
without favour and affection to them, endeavour to bring them to just
punishment, and be the first that should inflict it on them, Deuteronomy 13:6
and how to behave towards a city drawn into idolatry, as to inquire the truth
of it; then make war against it; destroy all in it, men, women, children, and
cattle; and burn the spoil of it, and suffer not anything at all belonging to
it to cleave unto them, Deuteronomy 13:12.
Deuteronomy 13:1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams,
and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
YLT
1`When there ariseth in your
midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or
wonder,
If there arise among you a prophet,.... A false prophet, a
lying prophet, as the Targum of Jonathan; one that pretends to be a true
prophet, and to be sent of God, and to come from him with a message from him, a
new revelation or doctrine, or in his name, to foretell things to come; the
former is chiefly meant. Such prophets did arise in Israel before the time of
Christ, and have since arose under the Christian name; see 2 Peter 2:1,
or a dreamer of dreams; the same with the
prophet, only to be distinguished by the different manner of their having the
mind and will of God revealed to them, pretended to; either by vision or by dream,
which were the two usual ways in which the Lord spake to the true prophets, Numbers 12:6 so
that the prophet is one who pretended he had a vision from the Lord, and the
dreamer one that had a dream from him, or something revealed to him in a dream;
and dreams are sometimes used for false doctrines, vain, deceitful, and
illusory; see Jeremiah 23:25. The
Targum of Jonathan calls him"a dreamer of a dream of pride:'such persons
are generally prompted by the pride of their own hearts to take such a method
to make themselves famous and respected among men; and usually bring such
doctrines with them which are agreeable to the pride and vanity of human
nature:
and giving thee a sign or a wonder; for the confirmation of
his mission and doctrine; such as Moses wrought before the children of Israel
and before Pharaoh. Signs are expressions or representations of things to come
to pass; wonders, such as either do, or seem to exceed the common course of
nature, or be contrary to it.
Deuteronomy 13:2 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to
you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us
serve them,’
YLT
2and the sign and the wonder
hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods
(which thou hast not known), and serve them,
And the sign and wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee,.... The sign
he promised to give, or the miracle he proposed to do, to show the reality of
his mission, and the truth of his doctrine, which is performed, or seemingly
performed, by legerdemain, by magic art, or by the help of the devil; which the
Lord sometimes suffered for the trial of the faith and obedience of his people,
and for the hardening of others in their unbelief, and which issues in their
destruction; see 2 Thessalonians 2:9,
saying, let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known),
and let us serve them; other gods besides the one living and true God, the Creator of
all things; strange gods, the idols of the people, as the Targum of Jonathan;
such as they had never heard of, nor had any knowledge of, nor any benefit
from, as they had of the Lord their God. Now the doctrines of these, and of
their worship, are what the false prophet or dreamer is supposed to come with,
and inculcate into the minds of the people; and for the confirmation of which,
and in order to draw them into the reception of them, and act according to
them, he proposed to give a sign or wonder.
Deuteronomy 13:3 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams, for the Lord
your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
YLT
3thou dost not hearken unto
the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of the dream, for Jehovah your
God is trying you, to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul;
Thou shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams,.... Even though he does give the sign, and work the wonder; for
it might be reasonably concluded there must be fallacy in him, and that neither
he nor his miraculous sign could come from God, who would never send a person
to enable him to do signs and wonders, to persuade men to believe and act
contrary to a former declaration of his mind and will; to break a plain law of
his, as in Deuteronomy 5:7,
this would be to contradict and deny himself; whatever therefore is contrary to
a known law or established doctrine, either of law or Gospel, let it come from
whom it will, or pretend to be confirmed by miracles, is not to be received;
see Galatians 1:8,
for the Lord your God proveth you, whether you love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul; for should they be
prevailed upon by such a prophet to hearken to his doctrine, and embrace it,
and act according to it, it would be a plain case that they did not cordially
love the Lord, since they could so easily, and by such pretences, be drawn
aside from the true worship of him, and serve other gods; on the other hand, it
would be a proof of their sincere affection for God, and of their close and
strict attachment to him, that notwithstanding such specious pretences made,
and such miracles wrought, yet abode by him and his worship, and could not be
wrought upon to forsake him and follow other gods and serve them; see 1 Corinthians 11:19.
Deuteronomy 13:4 4 You shall walk after the Lord
your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall
serve Him and hold fast to Him.
YLT
4after Jehovah your God ye
walk, and Him ye fear, and His commands ye keep, and to His voice ye hearken,
and Him ye serve, and to Him ye cleave.
Ye shall walk after the Lord your God,.... As he has
directed, according to the laws and rules which he has given, both with respect
to their moral and civil conduct, and their religious worship of him; and so
the Targum of Jonathan,"ye shall walk after the worship of the Lord your
God:"
and fear him, and keep his commandments; fear to
offend him, and so keep his commandments; or keep his commandments from or
through fear; not a servile but a filial one, a reverential affection for him;
this is the whole duty of man, Ecclesiastes 12:13,
and obey his voice; in his word, or by his prophets and
ministers: it may very well be understood of the voice of Christ, the Angel
that went before them, whose voice they were continually to hearken to and
obey, Exodus 23:21.
and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him; it may
respect all religious worship, both private and public; the Targum of Jonathan
restrains it to prayer, but it not only includes that, but all other acts of
piety and devotion, and which are to be constantly performed and not departed
from; for so to do is to cleave to the Lord as a man to his wife, or a woman to
her husband, in which conjugal relation God and his people Israel were, he was
an husband unto them, and to do otherwise is to go a whoring from him after
other gods.
Deuteronomy 13:5 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to
death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and
redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the
Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the
evil from your midst.
YLT
5`And that prophet, or that
dreamer of the dream, is put to death, for he hath spoken apostacy against
Jehovah your God (who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and hath
ransomed you out of a house of servants), to drive you out of the way in which
Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to walk, and thou hast put away the evil
thing from thy midst.
And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death,.... Which
death, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was to be killed with the sword:
because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God; or
"spoken revolt against the Lord"F12סרה
"apostasiam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator;
"defectionem", Tigurine version. , high treason against him,
delivering out doctrine that tends to cause his subjects to rebel against him,
and revolt from him; and therefore he is justly deserving of death, to draw off
a people from him he had been so good and kind unto; so that to apostasy would
be added the sin of ingratitude:
which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out
of the house of bondage; and so was not only their Lord by creation whom they ought to
serve, but by redemption, which laid them under double obligation to serve him:
to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded
thee to walk in; not by external force, but by the power of persuasion, by
enticing words and arguments:
so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee; the evil man,
by putting him to death, and the evil of idolatry, by not listening to the
words of the false prophet.
Deuteronomy 13:6 6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or
your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul,
secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have
not known, neither you nor your fathers,
YLT
6`When thy brother -- son of
thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy
friend who [is] as thine own soul -- doth move thee, in secret, saying, Let us
go and serve other gods -- (which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers,
If thy brother, the son of thy mother,.... A brother
by mother's side, which is generally supposed to be the nearest relation, at
least most out of question, so more liable to be regarded as being beloved:
or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom; most dearly
beloved by him, as indeed each of these relations are by a man, there being
none nearer or dearer to him:
or thy friend, which is as thine own soul; as dear to
him as himself, and so strictly united in friendship, as if one soul dwelt in
two bodies; such close friends were Jonathan and David, 1 Samuel 18:1. Some
Jewish writers think the father is not mentioned, because of the reverence of
him, with which all later dealings with him obliged to would seem inconsistent;
but the reverence of God is to be preferred to the reverence of parents; and
besides, if such near relations that are here mentioned, than which there are
none nearer, are not to be spared if guilty of the sin after warned against,
then not a father, who is in the same transgression:
entice thee secretly; when alone with him,
which might be judged the most proper time to work upon him, there being none
to oppose the enticer, or to assist the enticed; so Satan took the opportunity
of Eve being alone when he attacked her with his temptation, and the same
method is taken by his children:
saying, let me go and serve other gods which thou hast not known,
thou nor thy fathers; not even their immediate ancestors, and so the calf was not of
these gods; nor their more remote ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who
were no idolaters; nor even Terah, though he was one, yet the gods of the
Canaanites and of the neighbouring nations, which seem to be here meant, at
least principally, were such that he knew not. This circumstance may seem to
carry in it an argument rather why they should not than why they should serve
such gods; wherefore the words of the enticer seem to be only these:
let us go and serve other gods, and what follows are the
words of the Lord, descriptive of those gods, and so a dissuasive from serving
them.
Deuteronomy 13:7 7 of the gods of the people which are all around
you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other
end of the earth,
YLT
7of the gods of the peoples
who [are] round about you, who are near unto thee, or who are far off from
thee, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth) –
Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you,.... As of the
Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Phoenicians:
nigh unto thee; as the above were, being on the borders of
their land: the Targum of Jonathan interprets this of the idols of the seven
nations, that is, of the land of Canaan: or
far off from thee; as the Babylonians, Persians, and others:
from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; which
includes all the idols in the world, worshipped by whatsoever nation, and which
were forbidden; and which shows the universality of idolatry in those times,
and that that is an insufficient argument in its favour. Jarchi interprets this
of the sun and moon, and the host of heaven, who go from one end of the world
to the other; and this seems to have been the first and most common idolatry of
the Gentile world, and which were worshipped in the several deities they set
up.
Deuteronomy 13:8 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor
shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him;
YLT
8thou dost not consent to
him, nor hearken unto him, nor doth thine eye have pity on him, nor dost thou
spare, nor dost thou cover him over.
Thou shall not consent unto him,.... To commit the
idolatry enticed unto, or join with him in it:
nor hearken to him; not so much as patiently to hear him, but
at once express an abhorrence of and indignation at what he recommends:
neither shall thine eye pity him; pitied he might be for
his ignorance, stupidity, and wickedness, and on account of the miserable
estate and condition he was in, and of those dreadful consequences which would
follow upon it, if not converted from it; but no mercy was to be shown him on
account of nearness of relation:
neither shall thou spare; to reprove him sharply
and to expose him to public vengeance:
neither shall thou conceal him; neither him nor his sin,
but make both public, acquaint others with it, and endeavour to bring him
before the civil magistrate to be examined, tried, and judged; so far should
they be from hiding his offence from others, or excusing and extenuating it, or
from harbouring his person privately when sought for upon information.
Deuteronomy 13:9 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first
against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
YLT
9`But thou dost surely kill
him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand
of all the people last;
But thou shalt surely kill him,.... Not privately and
secretly, when and where he entices, nor the enticed himself by his own
authority, but after being examined, judged, and condemned by the civil
magistrate; and none might judge a false prophet but the sanhedrim at
Jerusalem, the sanhedrim of seventy oneF13Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1.
sect. 7. ; see Luke 13:33, but the
difficulty is how such an one could be convicted, since the affair was
transacted secretly, Deuteronomy 13:6
and there were none present to be witnesses, none but the enticer and the
enticed; so that either the enticer must be brought to a confession of his
guilt, or the testimony of the enticed alone must be taken. The Jewish doctors
sayF14Ibid. c. 7. sect. 10. Maimon. Obede Cochabim, c. 5. sect. 3. ,
that they laid in wait for the enticer, which they never did for any other
person, and the method they took was this; the enticed brought two persons, and
put them behind a hedge, so that they might see the enticer, and hear his
words, and he not see them; and he said to the enticer, say what thou hast said
to me privately; which said, the enticed answered to him, how shall we leave
our God which is in heaven, and go and serve wood and stone? if he returned
(from his evil) hereby, or was silent, he was free; but if he said unto him, so
we are obliged, and thus it is comely for us; they that stood afar off, behind
the hedge (or in a dark room), brought him to the sanhedrim, and stoned him,
that is, after examination, trial, judgment, and condemnation:
thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death; he was to
throw the first stone at him, partly to show his indignation against the sin he
had enticed him to, and that it had not at all affected him so as to incline
him unto it; and partly to show that he had bore a true testimony, of which a
suspicion might have been created in the minds of some, had he been backward to
the execution of him:
and afterwards the hand of all the people; who then
could proceed with more certainty and satisfaction: this shows that the person
enticed had not a right to kill the enticer, without a judicial process, and
the order of the civil magistrate.
Deuteronomy 13:10 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies,
because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
YLT
10and thou hast stoned him
with stones, and he hath died, for he hath sought to drive thee away from
Jehovah thy God, who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house
of servants;
And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die,.... It was
not sufficient to answer the end of the law to cast a few stones at him, but he
was to be stoned to death:
because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God; to compel by
force of argument, or the dint of persuasion, to relinquish the profession of
the true God, faith in him, and the worship of him:
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of
bondage; which aggravated the sin of the enticer, and would have made the
sin of the enticed the more heinous had he fallen into it.
Deuteronomy 13:11 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do
such wickedness as this among you.
YLT
11and all Israel do hear and
fear, and add not to do like this evil thing in thy midst.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear,.... Shall hear of the
death the enticer was put unto, and shall fear to act such a part he did, and
be upon their guard against any such person, and be cautious that they are not
drawn into sin by him:
and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you; either to
entice unto idolatry or commit it; which is a piece of wickedness against the
first table of the law, and a very heinous one, and exceeding offensive and
provoking to God, being so directly against his being, perfections, and glory.
Deuteronomy 13:12 12 “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying,
YLT
12`When thou hearest, in one
of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to dwell there, [one]
saying,
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,.... A report
concerning them, anyone of them:
which the Lord thy God had given thee to dwell there; which he had
not only given them, but had put them into the possession of, and it was become
their dwelling place, or was inhabited by Israelites; otherwise they were
already given unto them, but did not inherit and inhabit them, and it might be
possible that there might be some city or cities, at least for a time, which,
though given them, were not inhabited by them, but by the Canaanites, and such
cities this law did not concern: saying; as follows.
Deuteronomy 13:13 13 ‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed
the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods”’—which
you have not known—
YLT
13Men, sons of worthlessness,
have gone out of thy midst, and they force away the inhabitants of their city,
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known –
Certain men, the children of Belial,.... Which signify either
persons without a yoke, who have thrown off the yoke of God's law, and will not
submit to it, or unprofitable ones, as wicked men be, both to God, themselves,
and others:
are gone out from among you; not locally, but with
respect to their religious sentiments and practices, having separated
themselves from the people of God, and from the service of the sanctuary, the
true worship of God, and a profession of it, and given into the worship of
idols:
and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city; withdrawn
them by the force of persuasion from the worship of the true God, and drawn
them into idolatry:
saying, let us go and serve other gods; unite as one
man in the worship of the gods of the Gentiles:
which ye have not known; this was not said by the
children of Belial, but is added by the Lord by way of explanation, showing
what gods they were that these men advised them to serve, and confirms the
observation made on Deuteronomy 13:6.
Deuteronomy 13:14 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask
diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such
an abomination was committed among you,
YLT
14and thou hast enquired, and
searched, and asked diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; this
abomination hath been done in thy midst:
Then shalt thou inquire, make search, and ask diligently,.... That is,
of the witnesses, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this is a case that is only
taken into consideration and judged of by the great sanhedrim, or that of
seventy one, at JerusalemF15Maimon. Obede Cochabim, c. 4. sect. 3.
6. ; and the method they took was this, when it fell under their cognizance:
the great sanhedrim send and inquire and search till they know clearly that the
whole city, or the greater part of it, are thrust away, and are turned to
idolatry; after that they send two disciples of the wise men to admonish them
and bring them back; if they return and repent, it is well, but if they
continue in their folly, the sanhedrim order all Israel to go up against them
to war, and they besiege them, and set themselves in battle array against them,
until the city be broken up; and when it is broken up, immediately they set up
many courts of judicature, and they judge them; and against whomsoever two
witnesses come that he served idols, after they have admonished him they
separate him; if all the worshippers be the fewest, they stone them, and the
rest of the city are delivered; if they are found the greater number, they
bring them to the great sanhedrim, and finish their judgment there, and they
slay all those that have served with the sword:
and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain; that such
wicked men have risen and have prevailed upon the inhabitants of the city where
they live, to leave the worship of the true God, and go into idolatry, when
there is full proof of this, and it is past all question that
such abomination is wrought among you; as idolatry
is, which is an abomination to God, and ought to be so to all mankind, and
especially to a people that profess his name.
Deuteronomy 13:15 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city
with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its
livestock—with the edge of the sword.
YLT
15`Thou dost surely smite the
inhabitants of that city by the mouth of the sword; devoting it, and all that
[is] in it, even its cattle, by the mouth of the sword;
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge
of the sword,.... This could not be the work of a single person, nor of the
whole sanhedrim, but was what the whole nation was to join in, according to the
above note:
destroying it utterly; pulling down the houses,
and demolishing its walls and fortifications, or burning it, as afterwards
explained:
and all that is therein; men, women, and
children:
and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword; this severity
was used to show the Lord's indignation against the sin of idolatry, and to
deter persons from it, both individuals and bodies of men.
Deuteronomy 13:16 16 And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle
of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for
the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.
YLT
16and all its spoil thou dost
gather unto the midst of its broad place, and hast burned with fire the city
and all its spoil completely, before Jehovah thy God, and it hath been a heap
age-during, it is not built any more;
And thou shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the
street thereof,.... All the wealth and substance of the inhabitants, their
household goods, shop goods, merchandise, utensils in trade and business, and
everything that can be named. The Jews sayF16Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11.
sect. 6. , if there is no street, they make one (or a marketplace); if that is
without it, they bring them into the midst of it:
and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every
whit; be it what it may, or let it be whose property it will; and all
this shall be done for the Lord thy God; as by his appointment and command, and
in obedience to him, so for his honour and glory, and the vindication of his
righteous law:
and it shall be an heap for ever, it shall not be built again; but lie a
waste as Jericho, though not an entire waste; for according to the Jewish
writers, though it might not be built as it was before, it might be made into
gardens and orchardsF17lbid. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. .
Deuteronomy 13:17 17 So none of the accursed things shall remain in your
hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have
compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers,
YLT
17and there doth not cleave
to thy hand any of the devoted thing, so that Jehovah doth turn back from the fierceness
of His anger, and hath given to thee mercies, and loved thee, and multiplied
thee, as He hath sworn to thy fathers,
And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand,.... That is,
they might not take anything whatever to their own use; for all being devoted
to destruction, was cursed, and brought a curse upon the man that should make
it his own property, as Achan did, when Jericho was destroyed:
that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger; stirred up by
the idolatry of the city:
and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee; who, seeing
wrath gone forth, might dread the consequences, lest it should spread itself
further:
and multiply thee, as he hath sworn to thy fathers; Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; this is observed to encourage them to execute his orders
punctually in the destruction of the idolatrous city; since God could and would
multiply them, as he had promised their fathers, with an oath, so that they
should not be the fewer by such an instance of his severity.
Deuteronomy 13:18 18 because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today,
to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
YLT
18when thou dost hearken to
the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commands which I am commanding
thee to-day, to do that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.
When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... Not only
in this case, but in all others:
to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day: the
repetition of which he made unto them, and enjoined the observance of them in
the name of the Lord:
to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God; which they
would do, if they kept the commandments of the Lord, which are holy, just, and good,
and must be right in his sight because commanded by him.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》