Deuteronomy 13:14
in Deuteronomy 13then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of thee,
KJV
Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
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 Awakening3 voices
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.
): Thou shalt enquire and make search. They must not proceed upon common fame, or take the information by hearsay, but must examine the proofs, and not give judgment against them unless the evidence was clear and the charge fully made out. God himself, before he destroyed Sodom, is said to have come down to see whether its crimes were according to the clamour, Gen. xviii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then shalt thou inquire, make search, and ask diligently,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְדָרַשְׁתָּ֧ | vedarashta | and you will investigate | H1875 → | 164 times |
| וְחָקַרְתָּ֧ | vechakarta | and you will search | H2713 → | |
| וְשָׁאַלְתָּ֖ | veshaalta | and you will enquire | H7592 → | 171 times |
| הֵיטֵ֑ב | heitev | thoroughly <do well> | H3190 → | 117 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֱמֶת֙ | ʾemet | truth | H571 → | 127 times |
| נָכ֣וֹן | nakhon | [is] certain | H3559 → | 217 times |
| הַדָּבָ֔ר | hadavar | the matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| נֶעֶשְׂתָ֛ה | neestah | it has been done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הַתּוֹעֵבָ֥ה | hatoevah | the abomination | H8441 → | 117 times |
| הַזֹּ֖את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ׃ | bekirbecha | in midst your | H7130 → | 227 times |
וְדָרַשְׁתָּ֧and you will investigate
vedarashtaH1875 →164 times
וְחָקַרְתָּ֧and you will search
vechakartaH2713 →
וְשָׁאַלְתָּ֖and you will enquire
veshaaltaH7592 →171 times
הֵיטֵ֑בthoroughly <do well>
heitevH3190 →117 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אֱמֶת֙truth
ʾemetH571 →127 times
נָכ֣וֹן[is] certain
nakhonH3559 →217 times
הַדָּבָ֔רthe matter
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
נֶעֶשְׂתָ֛הit has been done
neestahH6213 →2628 times
הַתּוֹעֵבָ֥הthe abomination
hatoevahH8441 →117 times
הַזֹּ֖את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ׃in midst your
bekirbechaH7130 →227 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 10:18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
it leads to
- Psalms 146:9
The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.
- Psalms 68:5
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalms 146:9
Through
John 7:24Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:3–4
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- James 2:9
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- Proverbs 17:15
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
- John 8:15
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
- Isaiah 11:3–4
Through
1 Timothy 5:19Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
it leads to
- Matthew 18:16
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
- Deuteronomy 19:15
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or…
- Matthew 18:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.