Deuteronomy 13:15

15 Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it, even the cattle.

Deuteronomy 13:15 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:15

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 13:15 In-Context

13 Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and serve strange gods which you know not:

14 Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be certain, and that this abomination hath been really committed,

15 Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it, even the cattle.

16 And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shall burn them with the city itself, so as to consume all for the Lord thy God, and that it be a heap for ever: it shall be built no more.

17 And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand: that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have mercy on thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers,