(2–19 in Heb.). Three Laws against the Worship of Other Gods

The first is against the prophet, who, while able to give a sign or wonder, shall say, let us go after other gods; he is only God’s test to prove Israel; hearken not to him but walk after Jehovah; as for the prophet, put him to death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). The second is against the relative or friend who may similarly entice; consent not, neither pity, nor spare him, but kill him by stoning (Deuteronomy 13:6-11). The third is against any city, drawn away by sons of Belial, to worship other gods; in such a case inquisition shall be made, and if the thing is certain the inhabitants shall be slain and the city and its contents devoted (Deuteronomy 13:12-18).—The whole piece is a unity (with few editorial additions); but we have seen that it was originally preceded and led up to by Deuteronomy 16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:7. Like this it is throughout in the Sg., except for Deuteronomy 13:4, which has other signs of being an editorial addition. The variations in the use of the same formulas are interesting (e.g. Deuteronomy 13:2; Deuteronomy 13:6; Deuteronomy 13:13): even a law-giver was not bound to exact repetition! The reader will keep in mind that in the Hebrew text the verses are numbered one later than in the English.

1–5 (2–6 in Heb.). Against the Prophet of Other Gods

1. If there arise in the midst of thee] So Deuteronomy 19:15-16 also Sg. Cp. the synonymous if there be found in the midst of thee Deuteronomy 17:2, Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 21:1, Deuteronomy 22:22, Deuteronomy 24:7. Steuern takes this as characteristic of the Pl. document, but like the other it occurs with the Sg. address; and we have seen that Deuteronomy 17:2 may originally have belonged to the same section as Deuteronomy 13:1. No conclusion, therefore, can be drawn.

a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams] In early Israel regarded as identical; cp. the frequency in E of dreams as revelations, e.g. Genesis 20:3 to Abimelech, Deuteronomy 28:10 ff., Deuteronomy 31:11 to Jacob, and the oracle quoted in E, Numbers 12:6 : if there be a prophet among you … I will speak to him through dreams. In later times the dream was discarded by the prophets as a professional delusion, Jeremiah 23:25; Jeremiah 23:27 and sharply distinguished from the true word of God: the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? (id. Jer 23:28); that prophesy lying dreams (Jeremiah 23:32); cp. Deuteronomy 27:9, Deuteronomy 29:8 f., prophets, soothsayers, sorcerers, diviners, your dreams that ye dream, they prophesy lies in my name, I have not sent them; Zechariah 10:2. These dreams of the false prophets appear to have been optimistic and unethical in contrast to the true prophet’s word that convinced of sin and predicted disaster. D also uses dreamer of a false prophet, and opposes to his dreams the commandments of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 13:4).

and he give thee a sign or a wonder] or portent (see on Deuteronomy 4:34), not necessarily what we narrowly call miracle (Israel making no distinction between natural and supernatural). Nor here are they wonders wrought on the spot such as Moses received as his credentials, Exodus 4:2-9, J, and Aaron wrought before Pharaoh, Deuteronomy 7:9, P, nor like the Plagues brought upon Egypt; but (as is clear from the next verse) predictions of something that shall happen in the future like the signs foretold by Samuel to Saul (1 Samuel 10:1-9).

Deuteronomy 13:2. come to pass] Hebrew come in, arrive (1 Samuel 10:7; 1 Samuel 10:9). Such a fulfilment of the sign is not to be any credential of the prophet’s teaching, if he say—

Let us go after other gods] Deuteronomy 6:14 (q.v.), Deuteronomy 11:28, Deuteronomy 28:14, all Pl.; Deuteronomy 8:19, Sg.; with or without the addition and serve, i.e. worship, them as here. Cp. Jeremiah 25:6 (deuteron.?).

which thou hast not known] Deuteronomy 13:6; Deuteronomy 13:13, Deuteronomy 11:28, Deuteronomy 28:64, cp. Deuteronomy 8:3.

Deuteronomy 13:3. This refusal to recognise miracle as necessarily a proof of the truth of a prophet’s doctrine is very striking. It is not in harmony with the earlier belief in Israel, expressed in JE and so characteristic of the Semitic genius (cp. the unwillingness of the heathen Arabs to receive a kâhin’s or prophet’s judgement on an ethical question except on the performance of some wonder, Wellhausen, Reste des Arab. Heidentums; and the readiness with which modern Arabs and Syrians accept the Biblical miracles) that it governed both the official and the popular mind in Jewry to the very end: the Jews require a sign, 1 Corinthians 1:22; cp. John 6:30 and our Lord’s words Matthew 12:38 f.; Mark 8:11 f.; Luke 11:29 f. But it is in harmony with the teaching of the prophets, who, except in the case of Isaiah, condescending to the superstitious Ahaz (Deuteronomy 7:10), commend their truth to Israel solely upon its spiritual strength, or if they add proofs, find these in natural phenomena (the success or failure of harvests, plagues and the like) or in the events of history. But see further on Deuteronomy 18:21 f.

proveth you] putteth to the proof or test. See on Deuteronomy 4:34 : cp. Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:16.

to know] See on Deuteronomy 7:9, Deuteronomy 8:2.

whether ye love] Stronger!—whether it be that ye love.

Deuteronomy 13:4. An accumulation of the frequent deuteron. phrases (walk after = walk in his ways with fear or obey: Deuteronomy 10:12, Deuteronomy 11:22, Deuteronomy 19:9, Deuteronomy 26:17, Deuteronomy 30:16; keep commandments: Deuteronomy 4:2 + 12 times in Deut. both in Sg. and Pl., either alone or with love, keep and fear; obey his voice: Deuteronomy 27:10, Deuteronomy 30:2; Deuteronomy 30:8; Deuteronomy 30:20; worship and cleave: see on Deuteronomy 10:20, which adds swear by his name, Deuteronomy 11:22, Deuteronomy 30:20). But they are arranged with an emphasis lost in the Eng. transl. Read: After Jehovah your God shall ye go, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and His voice shall ye obey, and Him shall ye worship and to Him shall ye cleave. It is a difficult question whether Deuteronomy 13:4 breaking in with the Pl. address is editorial; the accumulated phrases point to that, and Deuteronomy 13:5 connects with 3, yet the emphatic order is original and is continued into Deuteronomy 13:5.

Deuteronomy 13:5. And that prophet, etc.] Again emphatic, the usual Hebrew syntax being changed: but as for that prophet, etc. he—

shall be put to death] The formal sentence, so Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 24:16 (cp. Deuteronomy 21:22) and in E, Exodus 21:12; Exodus 21:15; Exodus 21:17; Exodus 22:19. The manner of death is not enjoined as in the next two laws.

because he hath spoken rebellion against, etc.] Turning aside, perversion or apostasy; also Deuteronomy 19:16. The corresponding verb is frequent in Deuteronomy 7:4; Deuteronomy 9:12; Deuteronomy 9:16; Deuteronomy 11:16; Deuteronomy 11:28; Deuteronomy 21:13; Deuteronomy 31:29; with the addition, neither to the right hand nor to the left, Deuteronomy 5:29, Deuteronomy 17:11; Deuteronomy 17:20, Deuteronomy 28:14; cp. Deuteronomy 2:27, Deuteronomy 4:9, Deuteronomy 17:17.

the Lord thy God which brought thee] So Sam. and LXX. The Hebrew your and you are due to the attraction of the Pl. of Deuteronomy 13:4.

redeemed thee out of the house of bondmen] See Deuteronomy 5:6, Deuteronomy 6:12, Deuteronomy 7:8.

to draw thee aside] See on Deuteronomy 4:19.

So shalt thou put away the evil] Too weak! Rather burn out or consume, as dung is burned, 1 Kings 14:10. The phrase either with from thy midst, here, Deuteronomy 17:7, Deuteronomy 19:19, Deuteronomy 21:9 (innocent blood), 21, Deuteronomy 22:21; Deuteronomy 22:24, Deuteronomy 24:7, or with from Israel Deuteronomy 17:12, Deuteronomy 19:13 (innocent blood), Deuteronomy 22:22, occurs only with the Sg. address. It is always at the end of a law and refers to the punishment of the law-breaker (but see for another application of it Deuteronomy 26:13-14), and except in Deuteronomy 19:19 always of capital punishment.

This verse ‘shows how the people is already invested with a spiritual character. It has to act as a spiritual community (cp. Deuteronomy 17:4 ff.) which sits in judgement upon religious seducers, and the means of judgement is as radical as possible. Israel ought to be a community of saints’ (Bertholet).

6–11 (7–12 in Heb.). Against Israelites, who entice to Strange Gods

A subtler source of seduction to idolatry may be found in one’s own kith and kin: one of the many proofs of D’s sympathy with, and understanding of, the influences of family life.

Deuteronomy 13:6. If thy brother, the son of thy mother] With Sam. and LXX, after brother add the son of thy father or; so that both full brother and half-brother are included.

or thy son, or thy daughter] Completing the blood relations (very significantly and characteristically father and mother are not mentioned as possible sources of temptation) only after whom we come to—

or the wife of thy bosom] Deuteronomy 28:54; Deuteronomy 28:56, cp. ‘Mi.’ Deuteronomy 7:5 : a tribute (cp. daughter) to the spiritual influence of women in D’s view. As a matter of fact the danger was as great here as anywhere else.

or thy friend, which is as thine own soul] or self. 1 Samuel 18:1; 1 Samuel 18:3; 1 Samuel 20:17.

entice] or allure, in D only here.

secretly] In contrast to the public enticements of the prophet.

saying, Let us go, etc.] See on Deuteronomy 13:2.

Deuteronomy 13:7. of the gods of the peoples which are round about you] The Pl. you (confirmed by LXX) shows that the words which are round-about-you are merely an editorial echo of Deuteronomy 6:14, and ought to be deleted; they are unnecessary and awkward with the following nigh unto thee, etc.

or far off from thee, etc.] By the 8th and 7th centuries (under Ahaz and Manasseh) the evil influence of cults of peoples at a distance had been added to those of the Canaanites, prevalent in the previous centuries.

Deuteronomy 13:8. consent] be willing, cp. Deuteronomy 1:26.

neither shalt thine eye pity him] Deuteronomy 7:16, Deuteronomy 19:13; Deuteronomy 19:21, Deuteronomy 25:12.

spare] In D only here.

conceal] That is by silence (Psalm 32:5; Psalm 40:11): cp. secretly, Deuteronomy 13:6.

Deuteronomy 13:9. thou shalt surely kill him] No such previous procedure as in Deuteronomy 17:4 is necessary in this case, for the persons commanded to slay are themselves witnesses of the fact. Note, however, that LXX has here, thou shalt report or denounce him (ἀναγγέλλων ἀναγγελεῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ) which is possible by a small change in the consonants of the Hebrew text.

thine hand shall be first upon him] As that of the witness of his crime and also because the family responsibility precedes that of the people. But—

afterwards the hand of all the people] For throughout D the people is the ultimate judiciary: see on Deuteronomy 1:13, Deuteronomy 16:18.

Deuteronomy 13:10. stone him with stones] Also in Deuteronomy 17:5, Deuteronomy 21:21, Deuteronomy 22:21; Deuteronomy 22:24 : cp. Joshua 7:25. This form of capital punishment was natural because of the ready supply of stones on the soil of Palestine, because it was a form in which all the people responsible for its execution could share, and also because of the belief that by covering the corpses the spirits of the dead were also finally laid to rest. For a curious case of the stoning of women who had reviled (or blasphemed) the sun see Musil, Ethn. Ber. 312.

to draw thee away] See on Deuteronomy 13:5.

house of bondmen] See on Deuteronomy 13:5.

Deuteronomy 13:11. all Israel] D’s usual phrase for the people: see on Deuteronomy 4:44.

shall hear, and fear] Deuteronomy 17:13, Deuteronomy 19:20, Deuteronomy 21:21.

do no more] Sam., LXX add still or again.

There is no more reason for taking this verse as secondary (Steuern.) than for taking as such the corresponding clause in Deuteronomy 13:5 (q.v.).

12–18 (13–19 in Heb.). Against a City seduced to Other Gods

Deuteronomy 13:12. in one of thy cities] So Hebrew. R. V. concerning is hardly possible (though cp. Psalm 92:12). As the words define not the place where the report has been heard, but the subject of the report, the guilty city itself; therefore either saying has been carelessly misplaced and should follow hear (tell) (cp. Joshua 22:11) or more probably the writer has designedly but awkwardly brought up the object of the law from the subordinate to the principal clause so as to make it prominent from the first: cp. Deuteronomy 31:29 (Dillm., Driv.). Translate: if thou shalt hear tell, that, in one of the cities, which … certain base fellows have gone out, etc.

cities] or towns; these social forms in Israel are much more frequent in D than tribes which under the settled conditions of the people towns gradually displaced; nearly always (exceptions Deuteronomy 19:1, Deuteronomy 20:16 and LXX of Deuteronomy 12:5) in these laws they are units of judiciary: here, Deuteronomy 19:1-13 (on the cities of refuge), Deuteronomy 21:2 ff. (with criminal responsibility for murders committed near them), Deuteronomy 21:19 ff., Deuteronomy 22:15 ff., Deuteronomy 22:24, Deuteronomy 25:8 : their representatives being their elders. The other phrase within thy gates is used of judiciary matters in Deuteronomy 16:18, Deuteronomy 17:2; Deuteronomy 17:8 (otherwise it is reserved for religious and charitable directions: see on Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:21). But judges and officers are to be chosen according to thy tribes, Deuteronomy 16:18 (for tribes see also Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:14).

giveth] is about to give.

Deuteronomy 13:13. Certain base fellows] Hebrew, men, sons of belial usually but doubtfully taken as worthlessness (as if a compound = no use), good-for-nothing fellows, Scot. ‘ne’er-do-weels.’ In early writings of the churlish, foul-mouthed, violent, drunken, unchaste, perjurers and abandoned criminals, but also of rebels against authority and religion as here (Jdg 19:22; Jdg 20:13; 1 Samuel 1:16; 1 Samuel 2:12; 1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Samuel 25:17; 1 Samuel 25:25; 2 Samuel 16:7; 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 21:10; 1 Kings 21:13). In D only here and Deuteronomy 15:9 (of a base word or thought), and nowhere else in Hexateuch.

are gone out] The vb. is used of going forth of set purpose to do something (Jdg 9:8; 1 Samuel 23:15) or, along with coming in, of all kinds of business (Deuteronomy 28:6, Deuteronomy 31:2). So here it might just mean deliberately and (of course) in public (opp. secretly, Deuteronomy 13:6); but the addition from the midst of thee conveys the suggestion of apostasy from Israel: they went out from us but they were not of us (1 John 2:19).

drawn away] Deuteronomy 13:5 : draw thee aside (q.v.).

Let us go and worship, etc.] See Deuteronomy 13:2; Deuteronomy 13:6.

Deuteronomy 13:14. inquire] See Deuteronomy 11:12, Deuteronomy 12:30, Deuteronomy 17:4; Deuteronomy 17:9, Deuteronomy 19:18; in this sense or a similar darash is used elsewhere in the Pent. only in Leviticus 10:16. Make search, ḥaḳar, investigate, in D only here; elsewhere of exploring a land and of examining a case (Job 29:16). Ask diligently, well, or thoroughly; ask, sha’al, like darash, to make inquest.

and the thing certain] or the story established or substantiated (Deuteronomy 17:4), or the case well-founded.

abomination] See on Deuteronomy 7:25.

Deuteronomy 13:15. thou shalt surely] i.e. the whole nation.

with the edge of] Hebrew, mouth of.

destroying it utterly] devoting or putting it to the ban or ḥerem. On this see Deuteronomy 2:34; it is the hardest form of the ḥerem which is here pronounced upon an apostate city of Israel.

and the cattle, etc.] Not in LXX; probably a later addition to the law and if so illustrative of the ease with which its varied forms and degrees of stringency (see on Deuteronomy 2:34) arose (but see Driver’s note here).

Deuteronomy 13:16. street] broad or open place. So far as they have been unearthed the streets of ancient Canaanite towns were as narrow as those of the villages of modern Palestine. But there was always a broad place, just inside the gate, where local courts and consultations were held.

every whit] a whole offering, holocaust. Hebrew kalîl usually synonymous with ‘olah (see Deuteronomy 12:6), but here used of the ḥerem; so in Jdg 20:40 of a city set on fire and its smoke: the whole offering of the city went up to heaven.

an heap] or mound. Heb., as Ar., tel (tell), in both languages also applied to the mounds on which living cities stand, their dead selves; the remains of their previous gradual decay or overthrow: all the cities standing on their mounds (Joshua 11:13, etc.).

Deuteronomy 13:17. devoted thing] The thing banned, as well as the banning, was called ḥerem. See on Deuteronomy 2:34, Deuteronomy 7:26, and cp. Joshua 6:18.

turn from the fierceness of his anger] So Joshua 7:26, after the ḥerem was fulfilled on Achan.

and shew thee mercy, etc.] Jeremiah 42:12.

multiply thee] Again this promise! Deuteronomy 1:10, Deuteronomy 6:3 (q.v.), Deuteronomy 7:13, etc.

Deuteronomy 13:18. The usual condition attached to promises in Deut.: possibly editorial.

right] Sam., LXX add and good.