Deuteronomy 13:16

_IF THOU SHALT HEAR SAY IN ONE OF THY CITIES, WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN THEE TO DWELL THERE, SAYING,_ Certain men, the children of Belial, х_ BªNEEY_ (H1121) _ BªLIYA`AL_ (H1100)]. "Belial," always moral worthlessness: "sons of Belial," they are wicked men-lawless, designing demagogues (Judges 19:22; 1 Samuel 1:16; 1 Samuel 25:25), who abused their influence to withdraw the inhabitants of the city to idol-worship. [The Septuagint has: andres paranomoi, perverse men, transgressors of the law.] Verse 14. THEN SHALT THOU INQUIRE - i:e., the magistrate, to whom it officially belonged to m

16._And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it. _They are commanded to burn all the furniture, and whatever is found in the city; and the reason is subjoined, because it is accursed (_anathema_) If any city was taken in war, all that God here commands to be burnt was to be counted as spoil, for the Jews would pollute themselves by its very touch. It might be indeed that God’s intention was to obviate covetousness, lest the Jews should mix up their zeal with rapine; but the principal reason was that which Moses expresses, that the people might be more accustomed to detest the crime, which they saw to be so cruelly punished by God. The word חרם, _cherem, _which the Greeks have translated _anathema, _(64) properly means destruction, or abolition; but that which God would have annihilated, because He cannot bear the sight of it, is called...

12-18 Here is the case of a city revolting from the God of Israel, and serving other gods. The crime is supposed to be committed by one of the cities of Israel. Even when they were ordered to preserve their religion by force, yet they were not allowed to bring others to it by fire and sword. Spiritual judgments under the Christian dispensation are more terrible than the execution of criminals; we have not less cause than the Israelites had, to fear the Divine wrath. Let us then fear the spiritual idolatry of covetousness, and the love of worldly pleasure; and be careful not to countenance them in our families, by our example or by the education of our children. May the Lord write his law and truth in our hearts, there set up his throne, and shed abroad his love!...

EVERY WHIT, FOR THE LORD THY GOD - Some prefer: “as a whole offering to the Lord thy God.”...

EXPOSITION IDOLATERS AND ENTICERS TO IDOLATRY TO BE PUT TO DEATH. DEUTERONOMY 13:1 The case supposed here is that of one professing to have supernatural intelligence, who should, by giving a sign or a wonder, endeavor to draw away the people to idolatry. Such a one was to be put to death. DEUTERONOMY 13:1 A PROPHET (_nabhi_,_ _נבָיִא); one who speaks from God, an interpreter to men of what God reveals or suggests to him (of. for the meaning of the word,...

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 mi...

9. WARNINGS AGAINST FALSE PROPHETS AND THEIR PUNISHMENT CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The first case: The false prophet and dreamer (Deuteronomy 13:1)_ 2. The second case: Temptation to idolatry from blood-relations (Deuteronomy 13:6) 3. The third case: The apostasy of a city (Deuteronomy 13:12) Three cases are mentioned. The false prophet or a dreamer of dreams, who confirms his claims by a sign or a miracle, yet whose aim is to seduce to idolatry, is to be put to death. False teaching, which leads from God, is an abomination. It results finally in the most awful moral corruption. A false prophet may do signs and wonders to prove thereby that what he teaches is truth. Si

DEUTERONOMY 12:29 TO DEUTERONOMY 13:1. Yahwism must be kept free from all taint of Canaanite heathenism when Israel has entered Canaan. The danger would arise from the ancient belief that everyone should worship the god of the country in which he resides. D is an uncompromising Yahwist. DEUTERONOMY 12:32 TO DEUTERONOMY 13:18. Three classes of seducers to idolatry to be put to death. (_a)_ The false prophet (Deuteronomy 12:32 to...

BURN. burn up. Hebrew. _saraph._ HEAP FOR EVER. Compare Joshua 8:28....

LESSON TEN DEUTERONOMY 12:29 TO DEUTERONOMY 13:18; DEUTERONOMY 17:2-13 2. ONE GOD: DEATH PENALTIES FOR APOSTASY (Deuteronomy 12:29 to Deuteronomy 13:18; Deuteronomy 17:2-13) 29 When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared