Deuteronomy 13

1 And if there arise within thee a prophet, or one who dreams a dream, and he gives thee a sign or a wonder,

2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye know not;

3 ye shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or the dreamer of that dream, because the Lord thy God tries you, to know whether ye love your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and ye shall hear his voice, and attach yourselves to him.

5 And that prophet or that dreamer of a dream, shall die; for he has spoken to make thee err from the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, who redeemed thee from bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in: so shalt thou abolish the evil from among you.

6 And if thy brother by thy father or mother, or thy son, or daughter, or thy wife in thy bosom, or friend who is equal to thine own soul, entreat thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known,

7 of the gods of the nations that are round about you, who are near thee or at a distance from thee, from one end of the earth to the other;

8 thou shalt not consent to him, neither shalt thou hearken to him; and thine eye shall not spare him, thou shalt feel no regret for him, neither shalt thou at all protect him:

9 thou shalt surely report concerning him, and thy hands shall be upon him among the first to slay him, and the hands of all the people at the last.

10 And they shall stone him with stones, and he shall die, because he sought to draw thee away from the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not again do according to this evil thing among you.

12 And if in one of thy cities which the Lord God gives thee to dwell therein, thou shalt hear men saying,

13 Evil men have gone out from you, and have caused all the inhabitants of their land to fall away, saying, Let us go and worship other gods, whom ye knew not,

14 then thou shalt enquire and ask, and search diligently, and behold, the thing is clearly true, and this abomination has taken place among you,

15 thou shalt utterly destroy all the dwellers in that land with the edge of the sword; ye shall solemnly curse it, and all things in it.

16 And all its spoils thou shalt gather into its public ways, and thou shalt burn the city with fire, and all its spoils publicly before the Lord thy God; and it shall be uninhabited for ever, it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall nothing of the cursed thing cleave to thy hand, that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger, and shew thee mercy, and pity thee, and multiply thee, as he sware to thy fathers;

18 if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, all that I charge thee this day, to do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.

Deuteronomy 13 Commentary

Chapter 13

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)

Verses 1-5 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.

Verses 6-11 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.

Verses 12-18 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!

Footnotes

• [a]. 13.17

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 13

In this chapter the Israelites are taught how to discern a false prophet, shun and punish him, De 13:1-5, 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, De 13:6-11 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, De 13:12-18.