Deuteronomy 13:11

13:6-11 It is the policy of Satan to try to lead us to evil by those whom we love, whom we least suspect of any ill design, and whom we are desirous to please, and apt to conform to. The enticement here is supposed to come from a brother or child, who are near by nature; from a wife or friend, who are near by choice, and are to us as our souls. But it is our duty to prefer God and religion, before the nearest and dearest friends we have in the world. We must not, to please our friends, break God's law. Thou shalt not consent to him, nor go with him, not for company, or curiosity, not to gain his affections. It is a general rule, If sinners entice thee, consent thou not, Pr 1:10. And we must not hinder the course of God's justice.

And all Israel shall hear, and fear,.... Shall hear of the death the enticer was put unto, and shall fear to act such a part he did, and be upon their guard against any such person, and be cautious that they are not drawn into sin by him: and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you; either to entice unto idolatry or commit it; which is a piece of wickedness against the first table of the law, and a very heinous one, and exceeding offensive and provoking to God, being so directly against his being, perfections, and glory.

9. thou shalt surely kill him—not hastily, or in a private manner, but after trial and conviction; and his relative, as informer, was to cast the first stone (see on [126]De 17:2; [127]Ac 7:58). 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.

To such persuasion Israel was not to yield, nor were they to spare the tempters. The accumulation of synonyms (pity, spare, conceal) serves to make the passage more emphatic. כּסּה, to cover, i.e., to keep secret, conceal. They were to put him to death without pity, viz., to stone him (cf. Leviticus 20:2 ). That the execution even in this case was to be carried out by the regular authorities, is evident from the words, "thy hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterwards," which presuppose the judicial procedure prescribed in Deuteronomy 17:7 , that the witnesses were to cast the first stones at the person condemned.

Deuteronomy 13:10 . stone him with stones ] Also in Deuteronomy 17:5 , Deuteronomy 21:21 , Deuteronomy 22:21 ; Deuteronomy 22:24 : cp. Joshua 7:25 . This form of capital punishment was natural because of the ready supply of stones on the soil of Palestine, because it was a form in which all the people responsible for its execution could share, and also because of the belief that by covering the corpses the spirits of the dead were also finally laid to rest. For a curious case of the stoning of women who had reviled (or blasphemed) the sun see Musil, Ethn. Ber. 312. to draw thee away ] See on Deuteronomy 13:5 . house of bondmen ] See on Deuteronomy 13:5 . Deuteronomy 13:11 . all Israel ] D’s usual phrase for the people: see on Deuteronomy 4:44 . shall hear, and fear ] Deuteronomy 17:13 , Deuteronomy 19:20 , Deuteronomy 21:21 . do no more ] Sam., LXX add still or again . There is no more reason for taking this verse as secondary (Steuern.) than for taking as such the corresponding clause in Deuteronomy 13:5 ( q.v. ).