Deuteronomy 13:9

Verse

Instead, 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.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

Douay-Rheims 1899

But thou shalt presently put him to death. It Let thy hand be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Free Bible Version

No, you absolutely must kill them!. You start killing them, and then have everyone else help.

Geneva Bible 1599

But thou shalt euen kill him: thine hand shall be first vpon him to put him to death, and then the handes of all the people.

King James (Authorized) Version

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.

One Unity Resource Bible

but you shall surely kill him! Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Translation for Translators

Execute them! You who are their relative must be the first one to throw stones at them to kill them, and then let everyone else [MTY] throw stones at them, too.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Instead, you will surely kill him; your hand will be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Noah Webster Bible

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.

World English Bible

but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Young's Literal Translation

'But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last;

Context

Idolaters to Be Put to Death

⁸you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.⁹Instead, 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.¹⁰Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Summary

In this verse, Moses instructs the Israelites to put to death anyone who entices them to worship other gods, even if the person is a close family member. This severe command underscores the importance of loyalty and faithfulness to the one true God, highlighting the seriousness of idolatry. The harsh penalty serves as a deterrent against turning away from God and emphasizes the need for unwavering commitment to the covenant relationship with the Lord. It also reflects the Old Testament's emphasis on maintaining the purity of worship and the exclusivity of God's divine authority.

Commentary

Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

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. Lev 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 Deu 17:7, that the witnesses were to cast the first stones at the person condemned.

John Gill Bible Commentary

But thou shalt surely kill him,.... Not privately and secretly, when and where he entices, nor the enticed himself by his own authority, but after being examined, judged, and condemned by the civil magistrate; and none might judge a false prophet but the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, the sanhedrim of seventy one (m); see Luk 13:33, but the difficulty is how such an one could be convicted, since the affair was transacted secretly, Deu 13:6 and there were none present to be witnesses, none but the enticer and the enticed; so that either the enticer must be brought to a confession of his guilt, or the testimony of the enticed alone must be taken. The Jewish doctors say (n), that they laid in wait for the enticer, which they never did for any other person, and the method they took was this; the enticed brought two persons, and put them behind a hedge, so that they might see the enticer, and hear his words, and he not see them; and he said to the enticer, say what thou hast said to me privately; which said, the enticed answered to him, how shall we leave our God which is in heaven, and go and serve wood and stone? if he returned (from his evil) hereby, or was silent, he was free; but if he said unto him, so we are obliged, and thus it is comely for us; they that stood afar off, behind the hedge (or in a dark room), brought him to the sanhedrim, and stoned him, that is, after examination, trial, judgment, and condemnation: thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death; he was to throw the first stone at him, partly to show his indignation against the sin he had enticed him to, and that it had not at all affected him so as to incline him unto it; and partly to show that he had bore a true testimony, of which a suspicion might have been created in the minds of some, had he been backward to the execution of him: and afterwards the hand of all the people; who then could proceed with more certainty and satisfaction: this shows that the person enticed had not a right to kill the enticer, without a judicial process, and the order of the civil magistrate. (m) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 7. (n) Ibid. c. 7. sect. 10. Maimon. Obede Cochabim, c. 5. sect. 3.

Deuteronomy 13:9

Idolaters to Be Put to Death

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Instead, 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.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

Douay-Rheims 1899

But thou shalt presently put him to death. It Let thy hand be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Free Bible Version

No, you absolutely must kill them!. You start killing them, and then have everyone else help.

Geneva Bible 1599

But thou shalt euen kill him: thine hand shall be first vpon him to put him to death, and then the handes of all the people.

King James (Authorized) Version

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.

One Unity Resource Bible

but you shall surely kill him! Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Translation for Translators

Execute them! You who are their relative must be the first one to throw stones at them to kill them, and then let everyone else [MTY] throw stones at them, too.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Instead, you will surely kill him; your hand will be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Noah Webster Bible

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.

World English Bible

but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Young's Literal Translation

'But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last;

Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:9

Verse

Context

Idolaters to Be Put to Death

Summary

Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Deuteronomy 13:9

Idolaters to Be Put to Death

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes