Deuteronomy 13:15
in Deuteronomy 13you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
KJV
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 13
Commentary
5 notes on this verseUtterly - 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.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants
on 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 6:21 and 6:24 show what that order looked like carried out at Jericho. It shall be an heap for ever answers Joshua 8:28, where Ai is left an heap for ever by the same treatment. Clarke gives the reason the older commentators give, that one city left in idolatry would carry the rest. The historical books record no city condemned under this statute, and 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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants - If one city were permitted to practice idolatry, the evil would soon spread, therefore the contagion must be destroyed in its birth.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַכֵּ֣ה | hakeh | certainly <to strike> | H5221 → | 499 times |
| תַכֶּ֗ה | takeh | you will strike | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יֹֽשְׁבֵ֛י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָעִ֥יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַהִ֖יא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לְפִי־ | lefi- | to [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| חָ֑רֶב | charev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| הַחֲרֵ֨ם | hacharem | totally destroy | H2763 → | 52 times |
| אֹתָ֧הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֛הּ | bah | [are] in it | ||
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּהֶמְתָּ֖הּ | behemtah | livestock its | H929 → | 190 times |
| לְפִי־ | lefi- | to [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| חָֽרֶב׃ | charev | [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
הַכֵּ֣הcertainly <to strike>
hakehH5221 →499 times
תַכֶּ֗הyou will strike
takehH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יֹֽשְׁבֵ֛י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הָעִ֥ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַהִ֖יא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
לְפִי־to [the] mouth of
lefi-H6310 →498 times
חָ֑רֶב[the] sword
charevH2719 →413 times
הַחֲרֵ֨םtotally destroy
hacharemH2763 →52 times
אֹתָ֧הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֛הּ[are] in it
bah
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּהֶמְתָּ֖הּlivestock its
behemtahH929 →190 times
לְפִי־to [the] mouth of
lefi-H6310 →498 times
חָֽרֶב׃[the] sword
charevH2719 →413 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
Leviticus 27:28Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 6:17–19
Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies…
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
Through
Deuteronomy 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:33
They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Judges 8:27
From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
- Exodus 23:33
Through
Revelation 17:16And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:8
Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
- Revelation 18:8
Through
Deuteronomy 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
it leads to
- Judges 2:2
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Judges 2:2
Through
Exodus 22:20If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:2–5
If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His…
- Deuteronomy 17:2–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.
