The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 13
Chapter XIII · Vol. I, pp. 501–502
1 Enticers to idolatry, 6 how near soever unto thee, 9 are to be stoned to death. 12 Idolatrous cities must be utterly destroyed.
1 IF there arise among you a aprophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a bsign or a wonder,
a 2 Pe. 2.1. Is. 9.15; 28.7. Je. 23.25; 2.8; 14.14; 27.9. 1 Ki. 18.19-22. Eze. 13.3,4. Zep. 3.4.
b Ex. 7.22. 1 Ki. 13.3. Mat. 24.24.
2 And the sign or the wonder ccome to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
c ch. 18.22. Re. 13.13,14. 2 Th. 2.9-11. Mat. 24.24; 7.22.
3 Thou shalt dnot hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your eGod proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
d 1 Jn. 4.1. Ep. 4.14. 1 Co. 11.19. 1 Jn. 2.19. Ac. 17.11.
e Ge. 22.1. Ex. 15.25. ch. 8.2. 2 Ch. 32.31. 1 Pe. 1.7. Ja. 1.12.
4 Ye fshall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
f ch. 10.12,20; 6.13. Mat. 4.10. 1 Jn. 5.21. Mi. 6.1. Tit. 2.11,12. Phi. 4.8.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be gput to death; because he hath hspoken to turn you away1 from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in: so shalt thou iput the evil away from the midst of thee.2
g ch. 18.20. Je. 14.15. Zec. 13.3.
h ver. 1,2. Ex. vi.-xiv.
1 Heb. spoken revolt against the LORD.
i ch. 17.7,12; 19.19; 21.22; 22.24; 24.7. 1 Co. 5.13. He. 12.15,16. 2 Ti. 2.16,17. Re. 2.2,6. ver. 11.
2 The government of Israel was a pure theocracy. God was their king. The sin here described was a casting off of God's authority, and consequently amounted to high-treason.—P.
6 If kthy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, lentice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, mwhich thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
k ch. 17.2. Ge. 43.34. Mi. 7.7. Pr. 18.24. 2 Sa. 1.26. 1 Sa. 18.1.
l Col. 2.4. Ep. 4.14. 2 Ti. 3.6. Jude 4. 1 Jn. 5.19. Ps. 147.19,20.
m ch. 32.16-18. Ju. 5.8; 2.13; 10.6. 1 Ki. 11.5,7. 2 Ki. 17.30,31.
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt nnot consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye opity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him;
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
n 2 Jn. 10. Ex. 20.3. Pr. 1.10,15. Ga. 1.8,9. 1 Jn. 5.21.
o ch. 7.16; 19.13,21; 17.2-7.
9 But pthou shalt surely kill him: thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death,3 and afterwards the hand of all the people.
p ch. 17.7. Le. 24.23.
3 There is nothing more remarkable in the Mosaic institutions than the perfect publicity of trial in the court, the accuser and the witnesses. Such publicity is, far above all other devices, the best protection both of private safety and public liberty. Even where the cause is more the cause of God than of man, and where idolatry is the charge, the accuser can whisper nothing in the private ear of jealous and self-interested authority; the accused cannot be charged with a crime unknown to himself, and entrapped by examinations, or forced by torture to bear witness against himself. The accusation must be public; the court must be public; the witnesses must be two or more; they must be confronted with the accused; witnesses must agree; and, finally, the accuser, if the accused be found guilty, must in this case become, in his own person, one of the public executioners, thus committing his character in the openest manner to the truth of the charge alleged.—C.
10 And thou shalt qstone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.4
q Le. 20.2,27; 24.14,16,23. Nu. 15.35,36. ch. 17.5; 21.21; 22.21,24. Jos. 7.25. 2 Ch. 24.21. Ac. 7.58.
4 Heb. bondmen.
11 And rall Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
r ch. 17.13; 19.20; 21.21. Pr. 21.11; 19.25. 1 Ti. 5.20.
12 Ifs thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
s Jos. 22.11, &c. Ju. 20.1,2.
13 Certain men, tthe children of Belial, are goneu out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
t Lawless naughty men, Ju. 19.22. 1 Sa. 1.16; 2.12; 10.27; 25.25. 2 Sa. 16.7; 20.1. 1 Ki. 21.10. Pr. 19.28. 2 Co. 6.15.
u 1 Jn. 2.19. Jude 19. ch. 4.19. 2 Ki. 17.21.
14 Then shalt thou xinquire, and make search, and5 ask diligently: and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
x ch. 17.4; 19.18. Job 29.16.
5 Here again the excellence of the divine law is most apparent; nothing is to be taken on vague report, no encouragement is to be given to private pique or public jealousy, no lure is held out to covetousness; but as the whole city cannot be sued in court, and are perhaps too strong for the law, so long as their guilt is unproved; the authorities must (1) inquire; (2) make search; (3) ask diligently; and, if there remain the benefit of a doubt, the city must receive it; and, until the report be proved certain, no proceedings can be taken against them.—C.
15 Thou shalt surely ysmite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God; and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursedz thing to thine hand; athat the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;6
6 The total destruction of all property in the guilty city was a wise arrangement, for it prevented the possibility of false accusation and partial judgment, for purposes of plunder.—P.
z Or, devoted, Le. 27.29. ch. 7.26. Jos. 6.17,18; 7.1,11,12; 22.20. Is. 30.22.
a Le. 26.40-45. ch. 30.2,3; 12.15,32. Ge. 18.25. Is. 1.19; 3.10. Ro. 2.7,10. 1 Co. 15.58. Ps. 19.11. Tit. 3.8,14. 1 Ti. 4.8. Mat. 6.33.
18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.
Notes
[Ver. 3. Proveth you. Our Lord informs us, Mat. 24. 24, that 'there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect.' And Josephus relates the fulfilment of this prophecy (Ant. xx. 7; Wars, ii. 13), when many impostors persuaded the people to follow them into the desert, promising to show them great signs and wonders in evidence of their commission; and again (Wars, vii. 11) he records the influence of one to entice the Jews to go up into the temple, which being set on fire, even contrary to the anxious wish of Titus, by one of his soldiers, 6000 perished in the flames. A sign or wonder requires three things to render it evidence of a divine commission: (1) Prophecy, in which we have the assertion of omniscience. (2) Fulfilment, in which we have the evidence of power. (3) Consistency with known and divinely established principles, in which we have the evidence of truth, which is uniform and necessarily accordant in all its parts. The first evidence might be imitated by great sagacity; the second, by extraordinary skill; and therefore the third is required, which never can be imitated by any impostor. C.]
Reflections.—Provoking to God, and dangerous to men, is the sin of idolatry, with respect to the object or means of worship; yet sinners are much set upon it, and need to be held back by the greatest restraints. With what care, what zeal, what impartiality, ministers and magistrates ought therefore to oppose the very first appearance of it! No testimony, however strongly supported, is admissible against the revealed truths of God. No pretence of inspiration from God, no semblance of miracles, no tie of natural affection, ought to make us connive at the seducers. Though temptations be doubly bewitching which come through those whom we love, and hope of secrecy and security in sin is a great snare to lead men into it, yet let us remember, that to conceal or protect such criminals is to render ourselves partakers in their crimes. If they are become obstinate in their evil way, they ought no longer to be reckoned as conscientiously mistaken persons, but as children of Belial, who are perfectly lost to all manner of virtue, and become nuisances and plagues to both church and state. If their quality or multitude protect them from human justice, the justice of God will shortly find them out; for all that depart from him shall surely perish. But in our zeal for the pure worship of God, we must at once testify our detestation of idolatry or superstition, and plainly manifest that in our zeal we have no eye to promote our own carnal advantage. And whatever power magistrates may have from God to punish such evil-doers, for the preservation of the true religion where it is, they can show no warrant for the exertion of force in the propagation of it.