Deuteronomy 13:9
in Deuteronomy 13Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
KJV
But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Pacian of BarcelonaLetter 3: Against the Treatise of the Novatians · Written before 391.
Thou sayest it is further written, If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cast them from thee. The meaning of this Moses foretold by the testimony of the Book of Deuteronomy, If thy brother, (for these are our eyes and our hands,) or thy …
This site's exposition
thou shalt surely kill him
on Deuteronomy 13:9-11
The accuser's own hand goes first, and 17:7 states the rule this clause assumes, that the hands of the witnesses are upon him first and afterwards the hands of all the people. Acts 7:58 shows the same procedure still running at the death of Stephen, where the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the passage as a judicial sentence carried out in public, since what was done in secret could not be proved by one informer without a hearing. Verse 11 gives the purpose, that all Israel shall hear, and fear, a formula the book uses four times, here and at 17:13, 19:20 and 21:21.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
): Thou shalt surely kill him. By this law the persons enticed were bound to the seducer, and to give evidence against him before the proper judges, that he might suffer the penalty of the law, and that without delay, which the Jews say is here intended in that phrase, as it is in the Hebrew, killing thou shalt kill him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But thou shalt surely kill him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For you must surely execute him. Let your hand strike him first to execute him, and the hand of the entire people afterward.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הָרֹג֙ | harog | certainly <to kill> | H2026 → | |
| תַּֽהַרְגֶ֔נּוּ | tahargenu | you will kill him | H2026 → | |
| יָֽדְךָ֛ | yadekha | hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תִּֽהְיֶה־ | tihyeh- | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בּ֥וֹ | bo | on him | ||
| בָרִֽאשׁוֹנָ֖ה | varishonah | at the first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| לַהֲמִית֑וֹ | lahamito | to put to death him | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְיַ֥ד | veyad | and [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בָּאַחֲרֹנָֽה׃ | baacharonah | at the last | H314 → | 51 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הָרֹג֙certainly <to kill>
harogH2026 →
תַּֽהַרְגֶ֔נּוּyou will kill him
tahargenuH2026 →
יָֽדְךָ֛hand your
yadekhaH3027 →1618 times
תִּֽהְיֶה־it will be
tihyeh-H1961 →3559 times
בּ֥וֹon him
bo
בָרִֽאשׁוֹנָ֖הat the first
varishonahH7223 →182 times
לַהֲמִית֑וֹto put to death him
lahamitoH4191 →839 times
וְיַ֥דand [the] hand of
veyadH3027 →1618 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
בָּאַחֲרֹנָֽה׃at the last
baacharonahH314 →51 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
Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
it leads to
- Matthew 10:37
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- John 12:25
Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- Philippians 3:8
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may…
- Acts 20:24
But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good…
- Psalms 73:25–26
Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
- Matthew 10:37
Through
Matthew 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
it leads to
- Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- Matthew 22:37
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Luke 14:26
Through
John 8:7When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
it leads to
- Matthew 7:1–5
“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Matthew 7:1–5
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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pacian of Barcelona, Letter 3: Against the Treatise of the Novatians.