Deuteronomychapter 13
18 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Deuteronomy Overview.
Moses gave this law on the plains of Moab to a people who would soon live beside neighbours serving other gods. In that world a prophet or a dreamer was an ordinary figure, and a sign was how such a man proved his standing. The chapter takes up three cases of one offence and treats them alike. It moves from a public figure to the people nearest a man and then to a whole town. Listen for the test by which a new voice is judged, and for the loyalties the law will not let outrank loyalty to God. Read it beside chapter 18 and its test of a prophet.
Context
- Who
- A people who would live among neighbours serving other gods
- What
- Three cases of enticement to serve other gods, a prophet or dreamer, a member of the household and a whole town, each with the same sentence.
- Where
- The plains of Moab, with the cases set in the towns Israel had not yet entered.
- When
- The fortieth year after the Exodus, about 1406 BC on the early date this site keeps.
- Why
- To guard the worship of the LORD from the voices that would draw Israel away from Him, whatever sign they could show.
Historical context
The speech is Moses in the first person. In the Hebrew Bible this chapter opens at 12:32, which is numbered 13:1 there, so the warning against adding to the law stands at its head.
Show the rest of the historical context, 5 more paragraphs
The setting is the plain east of the Jordan in the fortieth year, at about 1406 BC on the frame this site keeps. The cases are set in the future, in the towns Israel has not yet entered.
The occasion is the law of the one place of worship, which this chapter guards from the other side. Chapter 12 said where Israel must worship, and this chapter handles the people who would pull them away from it.
A first hearer knew that a prophet or a dreamer was an ordinary figure in the region, and that a sign was how such a man proved his standing. The chapter grants the sign and still refuses the man.
He knew what loyalty to a great king required under an agreement of this kind. The site's dossier names the Hittite vassal treaties and the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon among the ancient documents set beside this book. Meredith Kline and Kenneth Kitchen stand on one side of that comparison and Moshe Weinfeld on the other.
He knew what the ban meant, since 7:2 and 20:16-17 lay it on the cities of Canaan. Hearing it turned on an Israelite town was the shock of the third case.
Significance
The chapter told the people that a working miracle settles nothing on its own, and that what God had already said was the test a new voice had to pass.
Show the rest of the significance, 2 more paragraphs
It also reached inside the house. The enticer in the second case is a brother, a child, a wife or the friend closest to a man. Concealment is named as the act that makes an ordinary person a party to it.
The third case put a whole town under the ban, and the historical books record no city ever condemned under this statute.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The procedure of a Jewish court in a capital case is drawn from this chapter. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:15:1 counts the words for inquiry in the verse. He finds three here, and takes two more from Deuteronomy 19:18 and one from a third place, and from the set the rabbis derived the seven investigations a capital case requires. The investigations put the date, the time and the place to each witness. Rashi separates the word for asking from the count, since the rabbis drew from it the further examination of the surrounding circumstances. He cites Sanhedrin 40a and Sifrei Devarim 93:6. The care the tradition demanded before a capital verdict rests on that reading.
How it is read
The chapter is read as a test of loyalty rather than as a rule about evidence. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:2:1 holds that the sign a false prophet gives is one shown in the heavens, and compares the signs Gideon asked for at Judges 6:17 and 6:39. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:2:2 asks why God would let such a man work a sign at all. The answer he gives from the text is that God is testing whether Israel loves him, citing Sifrei Devarim 84:1 and Sanhedrin 90a. Sforno on Deuteronomy 13:3:1 gives a different account. He holds that a sign done in the name of a power nobody has heard of is harder to dismiss. A sign done in the name of the sun or the moon is easier, since their limits are known. Sforno on Deuteronomy 13:4:1 reads the ban on listening as a ban on examining the claim at all, and holds that the wonder is sleight of hand. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:8:1 reads the pairing of near gods and far ones as an argument from the known to the unknown. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:9:1 sets the treatment of the enticer against the command to love your fellow at Leviticus 19:18, and holds that this man is the exception. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:13:1 reads the words about a city to dwell in as excluding Jerusalem from the law of the condemned city, citing Sifrei Devarim 92:5 and Bava Kamma 82b. The Rashi entries are from corpus entries marked kept, the Rosenbaum and Silbermann edition, public domain. The Sforno entries are from Eliyahu Munk's HaChut Hameshulash, CC-BY. Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 13:4:1, 13:11:1 and 13:19:1 and Malbim on Deuteronomy 13:3:1 are linked entries, cited by ref alone.
What the rabbis say
The rabbis teach that idol worship left standing draws wrath on the world. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:18:1 reads the promise that God will turn from his fierce anger as resting on that, citing Sifrei Devarim 96:3 and Sanhedrin 111b. They teach that the doubled command about the enticer carries a rule of court order. Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:10:1 gives it from Sifrei Devarim 89:6-7. A man acquitted may be brought back for condemnation if something is known against him, and a man condemned stays condemned. They teach that the word for certain men in the law of the condemned city excludes women, which Rashi gives on Deuteronomy 13:14:1 from Sifrei Devarim 93:1. The corpus also holds the Midrash and the Talmud on this chapter as locators without their text. Among them are Chagigah 8b:11 at verse 1, Bamidbar Rabbah 6:1 at verse 2 and Chullin 139a:1 at verse 6. Others are Makkot 12a:17 at verse 9, Horayot 13a:12 at verse 12, Bava Batra 10a:10 at verse 14 and Bava Metzia 31b:3 at verse 16.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:1:1, 13:1:2, 13:2:1, 13:2:2, 13:8:1, 13:9:1, 13:10:1, 13:13:1, 13:14:1, 13:15:1 and 13:18:1, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, public domain, 1929 to 1934; Sforno, Sforno on Deuteronomy 13:3:1, 13:4:1 and 13:12:1, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash, CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 13:4:1, 13:11:1 and 13:19:1, cited by ref alone, CC-BY-NC; Malbim, Malbim on Deuteronomy 13:3:1, cited by ref alone, no English version; Midrash and Talmud, Chagigah 8b:11, Bamidbar Rabbah 6:1, Chullin 139a:1, Makkot 12a:17, Horayot 13a:12, Bava Batra 10a:10 and Bava Metzia 31b:3, cited by ref alone; The Sefaria corpus on disk, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/deuteronomy/13.json, fetched 2026-09-19, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A dreamer whose sign actually comes true
Deuteronomy 13:1-2
This test runs opposite to 18:22, where a word that fails marks a prophet the LORD did not send. Here the sign comes about and the prophet is still refused for saying “Let us follow other gods”, and Barnes draws the rule that the revelation already given judges the sign. A dreamer of dreams is a separate claim, as Numbers 12:6 shows.
Deuteronomy 13:1
“If there arise among you a prophet,.... A false prophet, a lying prophet, as the Targum of Jonathan; one that pretends to be a true prophet, and to be sent of God, and to come from him with a message from him, a new revelation or doctrine, or in his name, to foretell things to come; the former is chiefly meant.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Deuteronomy 13:1
“A prophet, or a dreamer of dreams - Compare Num 12:6. The “prophet” received his revelations by vision or direct oral communication Num 24:16; 2Sa 7:4; 2Co 12:2; “the dreamer of dreams” through the medium of a dream 1Ki 3:5; Mat 2:13.”
The words which you have not known return at verses 6 and 13, so each of the chapter's three tempters offers gods with no history with Israel. Against them stands the LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt, named at verses 5 and 10. Known deeds outweigh a present sign.
Deuteronomy 13:2
“The Lord had said, “Thou shalt have none other gods but Me.” A prophet is here supposed who invites the people “to go after other gods.” To such a one no credit is under any circumstances to be given, even should he show signs and wonders to authenticate his doctrine. The standing rule of faith and practice had been laid down once for all - that the people were to hold fast. The prophet who propounded another rule could only be an impostor. A different case is considered in Deu 18:18, etc.”
The false prophet is described as something God is doing, since “the LORD your God is testing you”. The test is love “with all your heart and with all your soul”, the terms of 6:5 with the third left out, and Clarke reads it as a trial of faith. Jesus warns at Matthew 24:24 of false prophets with great signs and wonders, the same working sign with a wrong object.
Deuteronomy 13:3
“The Lord your God proveth you - God permits such impostors to arise to try the faith of his followers, and to put their religious experience to the test; for he who experimentally knows God cannot be drawn away after idols. He who has no experimental knowledge of God, may believe any thing. Experience of the truths contained in the word of God can alone preserve any man from Deism, or a false religion. They who have not this are a prey to the pretended prophet, and to the dreamer of dreams.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Deuteronomy 13:4-5
Verse 4 ends on “hold fast to Him”, and verse 5 grounds the sentence in rebellion against the God who “redeemed you from the house of slavery”. The offence is handled as treason against a rescuer rather than an error of opinion. Its closing formula, “purge the evil from among you”, is the line Paul uses to close his own case of discipline at 1 Corinthians 5:13.
Deuteronomy 13:4
“God never leaves us till we leave him." Or, (2.) As furnishing us with an answer to the temptation; say, "It is written, Thou shalt walk after the Lord, and cleave unto him; and therefore what have I to do with idols?" 2.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Barnes reads put to death as the end of a regular judicial process. Jeremiah 28:16 lays the same charge of rebellion against the LORD on the prophet Hananiah, and he was dead within the year. The LORD your God carried out that death Himself.
Deuteronomy 13:5
“The context and parallel passages (compare Deu 17:7; Lev 20:2) indicate that there was to be a regular judicial procedure, and that the manner of the execution was to be by stoning. In this the community was to take its part in order to show its horror at the crime, and to clear itself of complicity therein.”
Even the friend who is as your own soul
Deuteronomy 13:6-8
The enticer is now inside the house, down to “your closest friend”, the tie 1 Samuel 18:1 describes between Jonathan and David. Henry observes that the temptation is put secretly, so the case assumes concealment is possible. Verse 8 forbids yielding, listening, pity, sparing and shielding in one line, and the last of them makes an ordinary man a party to the case.
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 a-kin, and to express the nearness of the relation, the mother's, side being usually the ground of the most fervent affection.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Verse 7 takes in the gods of the neighbours and the gods of the ends of the earth alike. 1 Kings 11:4 to 5 shows the case of verse 6 in a king, whose wives turned his heart after Ashtoreth of the Sidonians and Milcom of the Ammonites. Wesley reads the brother of verse 6 as the closest tie.
Deuteronomy 13:7
“This suggestion draws many away from religion and godliness, that it is an unfashionable thing; and they make their court to the world and the flesh because these are the gods of the people that are round about them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Show him no pity is the command 7:16 gave concerning the peoples of Canaan, and 19:13 and 19:21 give it for the murderer and the false witness. The kinsman who entices is placed with them. Wesley at verse 9 keeps the matter in the magistrate's court.
Deuteronomy 13:9-11
The accuser's own hand goes first, and 17:7 states the rule this clause assumes, the witnesses first and then all the people. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as a public judicial sentence, since one informer could not prove a secret deed without a hearing. Verse 11 gives the purpose, “all Israel will hear and be afraid”, as 17:13, 19:20 and 21:21 do.
Deuteronomy 13:9
“Thou shalt kill him - Not privately, which pretense would have opened the door to innumerable murders, but by procuring his death by the sentence of the magistrate. Thou shalt cast the first stone at him, as the witness was to do.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 13:9
“It is manifest that what was done in secret could not be legally proved by a single informer; and hence Jewish writers say that spies were set in some private part of the house, to hear the conversation and watch the conduct of a person suspected of idolatrous tendencies.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
To stone him to death was the sentence all the people carried out, as with the blasphemer at Leviticus 24:14 and the Sabbath breaker at Numbers 15:35. The hands of all Israel were against him. Barnes reads this as the people clearing themselves of any part in the evil.
The sentence is public so that its lesson reaches every tribe. Ecclesiastes 8:11 states the reverse case, that a sentence delayed sets the hearts of men on doing evil. Paul applies the same public fear to elders who persist in sin at 1 Timothy 5:20.
Deuteronomy 13:11
“The city that is here supposed to have become idolatrous is one that formerly worshipped the true God, but had now withdrawn to other gods, which intimates how great the crime is, and how sore the punishment will be, of those that, after they have known the way of righteousness, turn aside from it, 2 Pet. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
A whole city gone after other gods
Deuteronomy 13:12-14
The third case is a whole city moved by “wicked men”, whom the King James calls children of Belial, a word Barnes glosses as worthlessness. Verse 14 requires Israel to “inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly” before any action. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the enquiry as the magistrate's duty, and Jewish writers gave the trial of such a city to the great sanhedrin.
Deuteronomy 13:12
“City was to keep jealous watch over city, as man over man. The clause “which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell in” significantly reminds them that the real ownership of their dwellings rested in the Lord (compare Lev 25:23), and that they, the mere tenants, must not allow His property to become a center of rebellion against His just authority.”
The wicked men arise from among the people, and their own city is the one led astray. Paul warns the Ephesian elders at Acts 20:30 that men would rise up from their own number to draw away disciples. Barnes notes that Belial is rendered wicked at 15:9.
Israel must inquire the same way at 17:4 when a man or woman is said to serve other gods, and verse 14 applies it to a whole city. At 19:15 a charge is established by two or three witnesses. Wesley reports that Jewish writers sent two learned men to warn such a city first.
Deuteronomy 13:14
“Then shalt thou inquire--that is, the magistrate, to whom it officially belonged to make the necessary investigation. In the event of the report proving true, the most summary proceedings were to be commenced against the apostate inhabitants. The law in this chapter has been represented as stern and sanguinary, but it was in accordance with the national constitution of Israel.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 13:14
“Inquire - This is, meant of the magistrate, to whose office this properly belongs, and of whom he continues to speak in the same manner, thou, ver. 15, 16. The Jewish writers say, the defection of a city is to be tried by the great sanhedrim. If it appear, that they are thrust away to idolatry, they send two learned men, to admonish them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Deuteronomy 13:15-16
The sentence is the ban that 7:2 and 20:16-17 lay on the cities of Canaan, now turned on an Israelite city, and Joshua 8:28 leaves Ai a ruin forever by the same treatment. Clarke gives the older commentators' reason, that one city left in idolatry would carry the rest. The historical books record no city condemned under this statute.
Deuteronomy 13:15
“Utterly - The very same punishment which was, inflicted upon the cities of the cursed Canaanites, to whom having made themselves equal in sin, it is but just God should equal them in punishment.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
All the plunder lies in the public square, in full view. Clarke draws the consequence at verse 17: with no plunder to gain, war on such a city could be waged only to obey the LORD. The city must stay a ruin, and Joshua 6:26 curses whoever rebuilds Jericho.
Deuteronomy 13:16
“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.”
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 13:16
Every whit, for the Lord thy God - Some prefer: “as a whole offering to the Lord thy God.”
Deuteronomy 13:17-18
The devoted thing is the spoil of verse 16, and Joshua 7:1 shows Achan taking of it and the LORD's anger burning against all Israel. The chapter that ordered three executions ends on mercy, compassion and multiplying, the oath sworn to the fathers at Genesis 22:17. Judges 21:25 ends its book with verse 18's phrase turned around, everyone doing what was right in his own eyes.
Deuteronomy 13:17
And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing - As God did not permit them to take the spoils of these idolatrous cities, they could be under no temptation to make war upon them. It could only be done through a merely religious motive, in obedience to the command of God, as they could have no profit by the subversion of such places. How few religious wars would there ever have been in the world had they been regulated by this principle: “Thou shalt neither extend thy territory, nor take any spoils!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 13:17
“It was a devoted thing, and dangerous to meddle with, as we find in the case of Achan. God enjoins this severity of show what a jealous God he is in the matters of his worship, and how great a crime it is to serve other gods. Let men know that God will not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven images.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Verse 18 states the condition on which the mercy of verse 17 rests, obedience to every commandment given that day. The chapter began at verse 3 with the words Israel must refuse to hear and ends on the voice Israel must obey. Clarke calls the whole trial a test of faith.
Deuteronomy 13:18
“When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... Not only in this case, but in all others: to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day: the repetition of which he made unto them, and enjoined the observance of them in the name of the Lord: to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God; which they would do, if they kept the commandments of the Lord, which are holy, just, and good, and must be right in his sight because commanded by him.”
How this psalm is built
The form: Law, three cases of the same offence set out in the same order, as 13 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Three cases built to the same plan | Each case names the enticer, quotes the words let us go and serve other gods, forbids consent and gives the sentence. The cases move outward from a public figure to the closest relation and then to a whole town.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the notes on verses 1 to 2, 6 to 8 and 12 to 14. | Deuteronomy 13:2, Deuteronomy 13:6, Deuteronomy 13:13 |
| Purge the evil from among you | Verse 5 carries the first of six occurrences of the formula in Deuteronomy, running on through 17:7, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21 and 24:7. Paul closes his own case of discipline at 1 Corinthians 5:13 with the same words.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the note on verses 4 and 5, which cites Keil and Delitzsch and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament. | Deuteronomy 13:5, Deuteronomy 17:7 |
| Five things forbidden in one line | Verse 8 forbids consenting, listening, pitying, sparing and concealing. The published note marks the last of them as the one that makes an ordinary man a party to the case, since the whole case assumes concealment is possible.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the note on verses 6 to 8, which cites Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871. | Deuteronomy 13:8 |
| Three acts before any action | Verse 14 puts inquiry, search and thorough questioning before a city can be touched, and the report then has to be found true and the thing certain. The same three steps stand at 17:4 before a single person is sentenced.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the note on verses 12 to 14, which cites Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. | Deuteronomy 13:14, Deuteronomy 17:4 |
| All Israel will hear and be afraid | Verse 11 states the purpose of the sentence in a formula the book uses four times, here and at 17:13, 19:20 and 21:21. The sentence is public and the public is the point.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the note on verses 9 to 11, which cites Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Albert Barnes. | Deuteronomy 13:11, Deuteronomy 17:13 |
The New Testament's use
10 more paragraphs on the patterns
Jesus warns at Matthew 24:24 of false christs and false prophets showing great signs and wonders, which is the same combination this chapter handles, a working sign with a wrong object.
The formula of verse 5 about purging the evil is quoted by Paul at 1 Corinthians 5:13 over a case inside a church. The published note records it as the first of six occurrences in Deuteronomy.
The word Belial, which the King James keeps at verse 13, returns of the men of Gibeah at Judges 19:22 and of the sons of Eli at 1 Samuel 2:12. Paul then uses it as a name for the adversary at 2 Corinthians 6:15. Albert Barnes gives its sense as worthlessness.
Whether the statute was ever used
The published note on verses 15 and 16 records that the historical books name no city condemned under this statute. The nearest case in form is Judges 20:48, where Israel burns the cities of Benjamin over the outrage at Gibeah rather than over other gods. Adam Clarke gives the ground the older commentators give for the severity, that one city left in idolatry would carry the rest.
The site states no verdict on the question of how the statute stood in practice, and records what the historical books do and do not report.
The devoted thing
Verse 17 forbids anything devoted to destruction clinging to the hand. Joshua 7:1 has Achan taking of it and the anger of the LORD kindling against all Israel, which is this verse read from the other end.
Where the chapter ends
The chapter that has ordered three executions closes on mercy, compassion and multiplying, and the multiplying is the oath sworn to the fathers at Genesis 22:17. Verse 18 closes with doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD, the one place the book puts it in those words. Judges 21:25 ends its own book with the phrase turned around, every man doing what was right in his own eyes.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 12, the note on verse 32, which records the difference in numbering; This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 13, the notes on verses 1 to 2, 6 to 8 and 12 to 14, which take the prophet, the household and the city as the three cases and This site's published structure of Deuteronomy, src/components/book/guides/deuteronomy/DeuteronomyGuide.tsx, which places the chapter inside the second address at 4:44 to 26:19.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.