Deuteronomy 13:6

If thy 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, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) If thy brother.—The substance of this law is that individual idolaters might be executed in Israel. It justifies Jehu and Jehoiada in destroying Baal out of Israel and Judah (2Kings 10:19-27; 2Kings 11:18). It also accounts for the covenant made in the time of Asa (2Chronicles 15:13), that whosoever would not serve the Lord God of Israel should be put to death whether man or woman.

The law may seem harsh, but its principle is reproduced in the Gospel: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

It is impossible to deny or escape the identity of the Lord Jesus with the Jenovah of the Old Testament He does not always put the execution of His judgments into human hands, but He is the same for ever.

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:6. The son of thy mother — This is added, to restrain the signification of the word brother, which is often used generally for one near akin, and to express the nearness of the relation, the mother’s side being usually the ground of the most fervent affection. Thy daughter — Thy piety must overcome both thy affection and thy compassion to the weaker sex. The father and mother are here omitted, because they are sufficiently contained in the former examples.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:6-11 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If thy 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, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

De 13:6-18. Without Regard to Nearness of Relation.

6. If thy brother … entice thee secretly—This term being applied very loosely in all Eastern countries (Ge 20:13), other expressions are added to intimate that no degree of kindred, however intimate, should be allowed to screen an enticer to idolatry, to conceal his crime, or protect his person. Piety and duty must overcome affection or compassion, and an accusation must be lodged before a magistrate.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The son of thy mother: this is added to restrain the signification of the word brother, which is oft used generally for one near akin, and to express the nearness of the relation, the mother’s side being the surest, and usually the ground of the truest and most fervent affection. See Genesis 20:12.

Or thy daughter; thy piety must overcome both thy affection to thy nearest relation, and thy compassion to the weaker sex.

The wife of thy bosom; either,

1. That is near to thy heart, that hath thy dearest love. Or rather,

2. That lieth in thy bosom, as it is expressed, Micah 7:5. Compare Genesis 16:5 Proverbs 5:20 Deu 28:54. So we read of the husband of her bosom, Deu 28:56.

As thine own soul; as dear to thee as thyself. The father and mother are here omitted, not, as some fancy, because children might not in this nor in any case accuse their parents, for certainly they owe more reverence and duty to God, who is injured in this case, than to their parents, and Levi is commended for neglecting

his father and mother in this case; but because they are sufficiently contained in the former examples; for since men’s love doth usually descend more strongly than it ascends, and thee relation of a with is and ought to be nearer and dearer than of a parent, that favour which is denied to wives and children cannot be thought fit to be allowed to parents.

Entice thee, though it be without success, because the very attempt of such all abominable crime deserved death, as it is judged in case of treason.

Other gods; unknown and obscure and new gods; which greatly aggravates the crime, to forsake a God whom thou and thy fathers have long known, and had great and good experience of, for such upstarts.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

If thy brother, the son of thy mother,.... A brother by mother's side, which is generally supposed to be the nearest relation, at least most out of question, so more liable to be regarded as being beloved:

or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom; most dearly beloved by him, as indeed each of these relations are by a man, there being none nearer or dearer to him:

or thy friend, which is as thine own soul; as dear to him as himself, and so strictly united in friendship, as if one soul dwelt in two bodies; such close friends were Jonathan and David, 1 Samuel 18:1. Some Jewish writers think the father is not mentioned, because of the reverence of him, with which all later dealings with him obliged to would seem inconsistent; but the reverence of God is to be preferred to the reverence of parents; and besides, if such near relations that are here mentioned, than which there are none nearer, are not to be spared if guilty of the sin after warned against, then not a father, who is in the same transgression:

entice thee secretly; when alone with him, which might be judged the most proper time to work upon him, there being none to oppose the enticer, or to assist the enticed; so Satan took the opportunity of Eve being alone when he attacked her with his temptation, and the same method is taken by his children:

saying, let me go and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; not even their immediate ancestors, and so the calf was not of these gods; nor their more remote ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were no idolaters; nor even Terah, though he was one, yet the gods of the Canaanites and of the neighbouring nations, which seem to be here meant, at least principally, were such that he knew not. This circumstance may seem to carry in it an argument rather why they should not than why they should serve such gods; wherefore the words of the enticer seem to be only these:

let us go and serve other gods, and what follows are the words of the Lord, descriptive of those gods, and so a dissuasive from serving them.

Geneva Study Bible

If {e} thy 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 {f} soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

(e) All natural affection must give place to God's honour.

(f) Whom you love as your life.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.).

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 6-11. - A second case supposed is that of temptation to apostasy proceeding from some near relative or intimate friend. Not only was this to be resisted, but no consideration of affection or bend of friendship was to be allowed to interfere with the stern sentence which doomed the tempter to death; on the contrary, the person tempted was to be the first to lay hands on the tempter and put him to death. This was to be done by stoning, and the person he had tried to seduce was to cast the first stone. Verse 6. - Thy brother, the son of thy mother; thy full brother, allied to thee by the closest fraternal tie. The wife of thy Bosom; the object of thy tenderest affection, Whom it is thine to protect and cherish (cf. Deuteronomy 28:54, 56; Micah 7:5). Thy friend, which is as thine own soul; i.e. whom thou lovest as thyself. The word translated "friend" (רֵעַ, for רֵעֶהֹ) is from a verb which signifies to delight in, and conveys primarily the idea not merely of a companion, but of a friend in whom one delights; and the definition of true friendship is the loving another as one's self (Aristot., 'Eth. Nic.,' 9:5). As commonly used, however, the word designates any one with whom one has any dealing or intercourse; and so our Lord expounds it (Luke 10:29, etc.). Secretly. If the temptation was in private, and so known only to thyself. Deuteronomy 13:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Israel was to adhere firmly to the Lord its God (cf. Deuteronomy 4:4), and to put to death the prophet who preached apostasy from Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel out of the slave-house of Egypt. להדּיחך, "to force thee from the way in which Jehovah hath commanded thee to walk." The execution of seducers to idolatry is enjoined upon the people, i.e., the whole community, not upon single individuals, but upon the authorities who had to maintain and administer justice. "So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee." הרע is neuter, as we may see from Deuteronomy 17:7, as comp. with Deuteronomy 13:2. The formula, "so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee," which occurs again in Deuteronomy 17:7, Deuteronomy 17:12; Deuteronomy 19:19; Deuteronomy 21:21; Deuteronomy 22:21-22, Deuteronomy 22:24, and Deuteronomy 24:7 (cf. Deuteronomy 19:13, and Deuteronomy 21:9), belongs to the hortatory character of Deuteronomy, in accordance with which a reason is given for all the commandments, and the observance of them is urged upon the congregation as a holy affair of the heart, which could not be expected in the objective legislation of the earlier books.