Deuteronomy 13:12
in Deuteronomy 13If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou shalt hear tell concerning one of thy cities, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to dwell there, saying,
KJV
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
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This verse in Deuteronomy 13
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
If thou shalt hear say
on Deuteronomy 13:12-14
The third case is a whole city, and the men who move it are called the children of Belial, the one place the King James keeps that word in this book. Belial means worthlessness, as Barnes notes, and it returns of the men of Gibeah at Judges 19:22 and of Eli's sons at 1 Samuel 2:12 before Paul uses it as a name for the adversary at 2 Corinthians 6:15. Verse 14 puts three acts before any action is taken, enquire, and make search, and ask diligently, and the report then has to be found true and the thing certain. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the enquiry as the magistrate's duty, and Jewish writers assigned the trial of an apostate city to the great sanhedrin.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Certain men, the children of Belial--lawless, designing demagogues (Jud 19:22; 25:25), who abused their influence to withdraw the inhabitants of the city to idol-worship.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
לשבת שם [IF THOU SHALT HEAR SAY IN THE CITIES WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN THEE] TO ABIDE THERE — The words “to abide there” are added to exclude Jerusalem which city was not intended as a dwelling-place (Sifrei Devarim:5; cf. Bava Kamma 82b).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִשְׁמַ֞ע | tishma' | you will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּאַחַ֣ת | beachat | in one of | H259 → | 971 times |
| עָרֶ֗יךָ | ʾareikha | cities your | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֩ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| נֹתֵ֥ן | noten | [is] about to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְךָ֛ | lekha | to you | ||
| לָשֶׁ֥בֶת | lashevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תִשְׁמַ֞עyou will hear
tishma'H8085 →1159 times
בְּאַחַ֣תin one of
beachatH259 →971 times
עָרֶ֗יךָcities your
ʾareikhaH5892 →1090 times
אֲשֶׁר֩which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
נֹתֵ֥ן[is] about to give
notenH5414 →2011 times
לְךָ֛to you
lekha
לָשֶׁ֥בֶתto dwell
lashevetH3427 →1079 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).