Deuteronomy 13:16

16 Gather up everything those people owned, and put it in the middle of the city square. Then completely burn the city and everything they owned as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That city should never be rebuilt; let it be ruined forever.

Deuteronomy 13:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:16

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 say {p}, 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 orchards ^F17.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 6.
F17 lbid. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Deuteronomy 13:16 In-Context

14 Then you must ask about it, looking into the matter and checking carefully whether it is true. If it is proved that a hateful thing has happened among you,

15 you must kill with a sword everyone who lives in that city. Destroy the city completely and kill everyone in it, as well as the animals, with a sword.

16 Gather up everything those people owned, and put it in the middle of the city square. Then completely burn the city and everything they owned as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That city should never be rebuilt; let it be ruined forever.

17 Don't keep for yourselves any of the things found in that city, so the Lord will not be angry anymore. He will give you mercy and feel sorry for you, and he will make your nation grow larger, as he promised to your ancestors.

18 You will have obeyed the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving to you today, and you will be doing what the Lord says is right.