Deuteronomy 13:5

5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

Deuteronomy 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:5

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" ^F12, 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (hro) "apostasiam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "defectionem", Tigurine version.

Deuteronomy 13:5 In-Context

3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 You shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his mitzvot, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.

5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;

7 of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the eretz even to the other end of the eretz;