Deuteronomy 13

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. This verse is numbered 13:1 in the Hebrew text but 12:32 in English Bibles (KJV). The Hebrew text reads: 'Everything I command you — that you shall guard to do. Do not add to it and do not subtract from it.' The KJV text shown corresponds to the English Bible's 13:1 (Hebrew 13:2). The rendering follows the Hebrew source text. The prohibition lo tosef alav velo tigra mimmennu ('do not add to it and do not subtract from it') establishes the canon principle: God's commands are complete and authoritative as given. This principle is later echoed in Revelation 22:18-19. The petuchah paragraph marker signals a major section break — what follows in the Hebrew text is a new topic.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:2 (English 13:1). The chapter addresses three sources of enticement to idolatry: prophets (vv 2-6), family and close friends (vv 7-12), and entire cities (vv 13-19). The navi ('prophet') and cholem chalom ('dreamer of dreams') represent two modes of claimed divine communication. The phrase natan elekha ot o mofet ('gives you a sign or wonder') acknowledges that the false prophet may actually produce supernatural phenomena — the test is not whether the sign works but where it leads.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:3 (English 13:2). The scenario is startling: the predicted sign actually comes true (uva ha'ot vehamofet — 'the sign and the wonder comes to pass'), yet the prophet's message leads to idolatry. The phrase elohim acherim asher lo yeda'tam ('other gods that you have not known') uses 'known' in the covenantal sense — these are gods with whom Israel has no relationship, no history, no covenant bond. The seductive logic is: 'My prediction came true, therefore my theology is correct.' Moses dismantles this reasoning in the next verse.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:4 (English 13:3). The reason for allowing false prophets to perform real signs is breathtaking: ki menasseh YHWH Eloheikhem etkhem ('because the LORD your God is testing you'). God permits supernatural deception as a loyalty test. The criterion is not intellectual — 'can you detect the fraud?' — but relational: hayishkhem ohavim et YHWH ('do you love the LORD?'). The test echoes the Shema (Deut 6:5): love with all your heart (levav) and all your soul (nefesh). A sign that contradicts covenant loyalty must be rejected regardless of its apparent supernatural validation.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:5 (English 13:4). Six verbs define covenant loyalty in a powerful ascending sequence: telekhu ('follow/walk after'), tira'u ('revere/fear'), tishmoru ('keep/guard'), tishma'u ('obey/hear'), ta'avodu ('serve/worship'), and tidbaqun ('hold fast/cling'). The final verb davaq ('cling, hold fast') is the same verb used for marital union in Genesis 2:24 — covenant loyalty to God is intimate, not merely formal. The emphatic word order places YHWH first in every clause: 'After the LORD... Him you shall fear... His commands... His voice... Him you shall serve... to Him you shall cling.'

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:6 (English 13:5). The charge is dibber sarah ('he spoke rebellion/sedition') — the verb sarah implies active turning aside, deviation from the established path. The death penalty reflects the severity of the offense: the false prophet attacks the very foundation of Israel's existence. Two exodus titles reinforce what is at stake: hamotsi etkhem me'erets mitsrayim ('the one who brought you out of Egypt') and hapoddekha mibbeit avadim ('the one who redeemed you from the house of slavery'). The formula uvi'arta hara miqqirbekha ('purge the evil from your midst') appears seven times in Deuteronomy, establishing a pattern for communal purification.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:7 (English 13:6). The second scenario shifts from public prophets to intimate relationships. The list escalates in emotional closeness: brother (achikha ben immekha — 'your brother, your mother's son,' emphasizing the closest sibling bond through shared mother), son, daughter, wife (eshet cheiqekha — 'wife of your bosom,' the most intimate human relationship), and friend (re'akha asher kenafshekha — 'your friend who is like your own soul,' echoing the David-Jonathan bond). The enticement comes baseter ('in secret') — privately, where social pressure cannot counter it. The emotional difficulty of the following command is intentionally heightened by this list.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:8 (English 13:7). The scope of the prohibition extends geographically: the gods of nearby peoples (haqerovim elekha) and distant peoples (harchoqim mimmekha), from one end of the earth to the other (miqqetseh ha'arets ve'ad qetseh ha'arets). No foreign god is exempt, regardless of its geographic origin. This eliminates any argument that a particular deity's distance or exoticism might make it acceptable.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:9 (English 13:8). Five prohibitions stack up with relentless force: lo toveh ('do not consent/yield'), lo tishma ('do not listen'), lo tachos einkha ('your eye must not show pity'), lo tachmol ('do not spare'), and lo tekhassseh ('do not conceal/cover for him'). Each prohibition blocks a natural emotional response to a loved one in danger. The verbs move from external action (consenting, listening) to internal emotion (pity, compassion) to protective concealment — every avenue of leniency is sealed shut.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:10 (English 13:9). The infinitive absolute harog tahargennu ('killing you shall kill him' — you must certainly kill him) intensifies the command. The requirement that yadkha tihyeh bo barishonah ('your hand shall be on him first') is extraordinary: the person who received the private enticement must personally initiate the execution. This prevents anonymous denunciation and ensures that the accuser bears full moral weight for the action. It also tests whether the accuser's loyalty to God truly overrides personal attachment.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:11 (English 13:10). The method is stoning (seqalto va'avanim vamet — 'stone him with stones and he shall die'). Stoning was a communal form of execution, involving the entire community and preventing any single individual from bearing sole responsibility for the death. The crime is defined as seeking to lehadichakha me'al YHWH ('to push you away from the LORD') — the verb hadach means to drive away, thrust out, seduce off course. The exodus formula appears again, grounding the severity of the penalty in the gravity of what God has done: He rescued them from slavery, and anyone who undermines that rescued relationship commits a capital offense.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:12 (English 13:11). The public execution serves a deterrent function: vekhol Yisrael yishme'u veyira'un ('all Israel will hear and they will fear'). The verb yira'un ('they will fear') uses the same root as 'the fear of the LORD' — the terror produced by the execution mirrors the reverent fear that God Himself commands. The phrase velo yosifu la'asot ('they will not continue to do') expresses the desired outcome: complete cessation of this behavior. The setumah break marks the transition to the third scenario.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:13 (English 13:12). The third scenario is the most extreme: an entire city has been led into idolatry. The phrase ki tishma be'achat arekha ('if you hear in one of your cities') introduces the situation as a report — the information comes to the community's attention rather than being directly witnessed. This begins the most detailed judicial procedure in the chapter.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:14 (English 13:13). The instigators are called benei veliyya'al ('sons of worthlessness/wickedness'). The term beliyya'al is debated: it may derive from beli ('without') + ya'al ('value/profit'), yielding 'worthless ones,' or it may be an older term meaning 'swallowers' (destructive forces). In later Jewish and Christian literature, Belial becomes a name for Satan (2 Cor 6:15). The verb vayyadichu ('they led astray, they seduced') is the same root (nadach) used throughout this chapter for spiritual enticement — these individuals have successfully corrupted an entire city.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:15 (English 13:14). Three verbs of investigation are required before action: darashta ('you shall investigate/search'), chaqarta ('you shall examine/probe'), and sha'alta ('you shall inquire/ask'). The adverb heitev ('thoroughly, well') intensifies all three. Only after exhaustive due process — vehineh emet nakhon hadavar ('and behold, it is true, the matter is established') — may punishment proceed. This is one of the strongest due process requirements in ancient law. The word to'evah ('abomination') labels the crime.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:16 (English 13:15). The punishment is cherem ('total destruction, devotion to destruction') — the same term used for the conquest of Jericho (Josh 6:17). The infinitive absolute hakkeh takkeh ('striking you shall strike') intensifies the command. The cherem encompasses everything: residents (yoshvei ha'ir), all possessions (kol asher bah), and livestock (behemtah). An apostate Israelite city receives the same treatment as a Canaanite city under the ban — covenant betrayal transforms insiders into outsiders.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:17 (English 13:16). The procedure mirrors a burnt offering (olah): all the plunder is gathered into the center of the town square (rekhavah) and burned kalil ('completely, as a whole offering'). The phrase kalil laYHWH Elohekha ('entirely for the LORD your God') uses sacrificial language — the destroyed city becomes, in effect, a massive burnt offering. The final verdict is devastating: tel olam lo tibbane od ('a permanent ruin, it shall not be rebuilt again'). The tel ('ruin mound') will stand as a permanent monument to the consequences of apostasy.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:18 (English 13:17). The prohibition velo yidbaq beyadkha me'umah min hacherem ('nothing from the devoted things shall cling to your hand') prevents anyone from profiting from the destruction. Taking plunder from a cherem city would contaminate the person — the verb davaq ('cling, adhere') portrays the banned items as spiritually adhesive. Obedience to the cherem produces divine relenting: yashuv YHWH mecharone appo ('the LORD will turn from His fierce anger'). The verbs rachamim ('compassion') and richamkha ('He will show you mercy') share the root rechem ('womb'), connecting God's compassion to maternal tenderness.

Translator Notes

1. Hebrew 13:19 (English 13:18). This verse has no direct KJV equivalent at this verse number due to the one-verse offset between Hebrew and English chapter divisions (Hebrew 13 has 19 verses; English 13 has 18). The verse functions as a conditional conclusion: the promises of verse 18 (compassion, mercy, multiplication) are contingent on obedience — ki tishma beqol YHWH ('if you listen to the voice of the LORD'). The chapter ends where Deuteronomy consistently lands: covenant blessings flow from covenant faithfulness. The setumah marks the end of this legislative section.