The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Idolaters to Be Put to Death
Deuteronomy 13:1–11 — Idolaters to Be Put to Death. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- nā·ḇî ’ōw ḥō·lêm ḥă·lō·wm yā·qūm bə·qir·bə·ḵā wə·nā·ṯan ’ō·wṯ ’ōw mō·w·p̄êṯ ’ê·le·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If a prophet or a dreamer of a dream should rise up in your inward part, and give a sign or a portent to you,
Where the English smooths the original
The introduction of חלום חלם, "a dreamer of dreams," along with the prophet, answers the two media of divine revelation, the vision and the dream, by which, according to Numbers 12:6 , God made known His will.
The mere fact that he sought to persuade them to forsake the worship of Jehovah was sufficient to prove him an impostor; for how could one who sought to seduce the people from God be sent by God?
Three cases of instigation to idolatry are considered in this chapter:— 1. The false prophet ( Deuteronomy 13:1-5 ). 2. A private individual ( Deuteronomy 13:6-11 ). 3. A city ( Deuteronomy 13:12-18 ). In every case the penalty is the same—death without mercy.Ellicott's three-case structure frames the whole chapter; our unit covers the first two.
The "prophet" received his revelations by vision or direct oral communication Numbers 24:16 ; 2 Samuel 7:4 ; 2 Corinthians 12:2 ; "the dreamer of dreams" through the medium of a dream 1 Kings 3:5 ; Matthew 2:13 .
we may expect to be proved by temptations of evil under the appearance of good, of error in the guise of truth; nor can any thing rightly oppose such temptations, but the plain, express testimony of God's word to the contraryHenry names the precise peril: not crude error but "error in the guise of truth" — which is why only the already-given word, not the spectacle, can decide.
performing feats of dexterity or power in support of his pretensions, or even predicting events which occurred as he foretold; as, for instance, an eclipse which a knowledge of natural science might enable him to anticipateJFB observes that a true-seeming "wonder" may be mere natural knowledge or cunning — the law concedes the prediction can land, and still bind the prophet to death if he calls to other gods.
2and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·’ō·wṯ wə·ham·mō·w·p̄êṯ ’ă·šer- dib·ber ’ê·le·ḵā ū·ḇā lê·mōr nê·lə·ḵāh ’a·ḥă·rê ’ă·ḥê·rîm ’ă·šer ’ĕ·lō·hîm lō- yə·ḏa‘·tām wə·nā·‘ā·ḇə·ḏêm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and the sign or the portent comes about which he spoke to you, saying, "Let us go after other gods" — whom you have not known — "and let us serve them,"
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To such a one no credit is under any circumstances to be given, even should he show signs and wonders to authenticate his doctrine. The standing rule of faith and practice had been laid down once for all - that the people were to hold fast.
Saying: this word is to be joined with the beginning of Deu 13:1 , If there arise among you a prophet, or dreamer of dreams, saying, what there follows, and giveth thee a sign, & c., to confirm his doctrine; such transpositions are frequent.Poole notes the Hebrew syntax: the "saying" of v. 2 reaches back to attach to the prophet of v. 1.
God permitting Satan or his agents to do what is above the ordinary course of nature for thy trial.
3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ṯiš·ma‘ ’el- diḇ·rê ha·hū han·nā·ḇî ’ōw ’el- ha·hū ḥō·w·lêm ha·ḥă·lō·wm kî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ’eṯ·ḵem mə·nas·seh lā·ḏa·‘aṯ hă·yiš·ḵem ’ō·hă·ḇîm ’eṯ- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem bə·ḵāl lə·ḇaḇ·ḵem ū·ḇə·ḵāl nap̄·šə·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of the dream; for YHWH your God is testing you, to know whether you are loving YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Where the English smooths the original
For although when such a sign or wonder foretold did not follow or come to pass, it was a sign of a false prophet, as is said, Deu 18:22 , yet when it did come to pass , it was no sufficient or infallible sign of a true one, especially in such a case when he brings in new gods.Poole sets ch. 13 (the wonder that works) beside ch. 18 (the wonder that fails): neither, by itself, validates a prophet who calls to other gods.
God ordains all these things that his may be known.The 1599 marginal gloss on "proveth you": the testing is for the manifesting of who truly belongs to God.
the true divinity of miracles and wonders ought to be judged of by the doctrines, designs, and purposes, for the abetting and confirming whereof they were wrought; that every pretender to miracles, who would seduce men to false and irrational principles of religion, was to be looked upon as an impostorBenson's note runs across vv. 2–3; the principle — judge the wonder by the doctrine it serves — bears directly on the test of v. 3.
4You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’a·ḥă·rê tê·lê·ḵū Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem wə·’ō·ṯōw ṯî·rā·’ū wə·’eṯ- tiš·mō·rū miṣ·wō·ṯāw ṯiš·mā·‘ū wə·’ō·ṯōw ū·ḇə·qō·lōw ṯa·‘ă·ḇō·ḏū ṯiḏ·bā·qūn ū·ḇōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
After YHWH your God you shall walk, and Him you shall fear; and His commandments you shall keep, and to His voice you shall listen; and Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cling.
Where the English smooths the original
We should ‘walk with Him,’ like Enoch; we should ‘walk before ’ Him, as Abraham was bade to do; and we should ‘walk after ’ Him, as the command to do was given to all Israel.Maclaren reads "walk after the Lord" (v. 4) alongside Enoch's "with" and Abraham's "before" as three facets of one life with God.
If I walk after God, then I let Him go before me and show me my road.Maclaren on the "after" of v. 4: to walk after God is to let Him lead and not outrun His providence.
the word of God, which had already been received, and confirmed by its own signs," and which the Israelites were to preserve and hold fast, without adding or subtracting anything. "In opposition to such a word, no prophets were to be received, although they rained signs and wonders; not even an angel from heaven, as Paul says in Galatians 1:8 .Keil (citing Luther) makes the already-given word the fixed standard against which even angels and miracle-workers are judged.
5Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ha·hū wə·han·nā·ḇî ’ōw ḥō·lêm ha·ḥă·lō·wm ha·hū yū·māṯ kî ḏib·ber- sā·rāh ‘al- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ham·mō·w·ṣî ’eṯ·ḵem mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim wə·hap·pō·ḏə·ḵā mib·bêṯ ‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm lə·had·dî·ḥă·ḵā min- had·de·reḵ ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ṣiw·wə·ḵā lā·le·ḵeṯ bāh ū·ḇi·‘ar·tā hā·rā‘ miq·qir·be·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And that prophet or that dreamer of the dream shall be put to death, because he has spoken apostasy against YHWH your God — who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slaves — to thrust you from the way in which YHWH your God commanded you to walk. So you shall burn away the evil from your midst.
Where the English smooths the original
or "spoken revolt against the Lord" (l), high treason against him, delivering out doctrine that tends to cause his subjects to rebel against him, and revolt from himGill reads סָרָה (sārāh) as "revolt / high treason"; the marginal (l) cites Junius, Tremellius, Piscator: "apostasiam… defectionem."
Being convicted by testimonies, and condemned by the judge.The Geneva gloss on "put to death" insists the sentence presupposes due process — witnesses and a judicial condemnation, not mob action.
and so was not only their Lord by creation whom they ought to serve, but by redemption, which laid them under double obligation to serve himGill draws the logic of the death sentence from the redemption-clause: creation and redemption together make apostasy doubly ungrateful.
6If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ’ā·ḥî·ḵā ḇen- ’im·me·ḵā ’ōw- ḇin·ḵā ’ōw- ḇit·tə·ḵā ’ōw ’ê·šeṯ ḥê·qe·ḵā ’ōw rê·‘ă·ḵā ’ă·šer kə·nap̄·šə·ḵā bas·sê·ṯer yə·sî·ṯə·ḵā lê·mōr nê·lə·ḵāh wə·na·‘aḇ·ḏāh ’ă·ḥê·rîm ’ĕ·lō·hîm ’ă·šer ’at·tāh lō wa·’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā yā·ḏa‘·tā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you in secret, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" — which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers,
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The law may seem harsh, but its principle is reproduced in the Gospel: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” ( Matthew 10:37 ).Ellicott hears the same claim of God over every human affection that Christ presses in the Gospel.
The word translated "friend" ( רֵעַ , for רֵעֶהֹ ) is from a verb which signifies to delight in, and conveys primarily the idea not merely of a companion, but of a friend in whom one delights; and the definition of true friendship is the loving another as one's self
The power of love and relationship, which flesh and blood find it hard to resist, is placed here in contrast with the supposed higher or divine authority of the seducers.K&D's note on v. 6 appears under the Hebrew versification (their v. 7).
very significantly and characteristically father and mother are not mentioned as possible sources of temptationCambridge notes a deliberate omission: the list of intimate tempters runs brother, child, wife, friend — but never father or mother, the relations to whom the Law elsewhere commands honor.
7the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mê·’ĕ·lō·hê hā·‘am·mîm ’ă·šer sə·ḇî·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem haq·qə·rō·ḇîm ’ê·le·ḵā ’ōw hā·rə·ḥō·qîm mim·me·kā miq·ṣêh hā·’ā·reṣ wə·‘aḏ- qə·ṣêh hā·’ā·reṣ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you or far from you, from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth —
Where the English smooths the original
"of the gods nigh unto thee or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth," i.e., whatever gods there might be upon the whole circuit of the earth.
from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; which includes all the idols in the world, worshipped by whatsoever nation, and which were forbidden; and which shows the universality of idolatry in those times
8you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯō·ḇeh lōw ṯiš·ma‘ ’ê·lāw wə·lō ṯā·ḥō·ws ‘ê·nə·ḵā ‘ā·lāw wə·lō- wə·lō- ṯaḥ·mōl wə·lō- ṯə·ḵas·seh ‘ā·lāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
you shall not consent to him and you shall not listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, and you shall not spare, and you shall not conceal him.
Where the English smooths the original
Pity, spare, conceal. The accumulation of terms serves to make the injunction more solemn and impressive.
two circumstances are implied: one is, that the seducer should be convicted by two sufficient witnesses before he should be put to death; the other, that the offender obstinately persisted in the defence of idolatry in spite of admonitionBenson supplies the procedural safeguards the bare command assumes: two witnesses and obstinate, admonished guilt.
neither shall thine eye pity him; pitied he might be for his ignorance, stupidity, and wickedness, and on account of the miserable estate and condition he was in
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.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî hā·rōḡ ta·har·ḡen·nū yā·ḏə·ḵā tih·yeh- ḇā·ri·šō·w·nāh bōw la·hă·mî·ṯōw bā·’a·ḥă·rō·nāh wə·yaḏ kāl- hā·‘ām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Instead, killing you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward.
Where the English smooths the original
A law tending to prevent false accusation. Where the witness is obliged to carry out himself, or to aid in carrying out, the sentence he demands, secret accusation is impossible; and it is far less easy to pervert the law in order to prosecute a private quarrel.
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.
Thou shalt surely kill him — Not privately, a permission to do which, under pretence of the party’s being guilty of the crime in question, would have opened the door to innumerable murders; but by procuring his death through the sentence of the magistrate.
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.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·sə·qal·tōw ḇā·’ă·ḇā·nîm wā·mêṯ kî ḇiq·qêš lə·had·dî·ḥă·ḵā mê·‘al Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ham·mō·w·ṣî·’ă·ḵā mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim mib·bêṯ ‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to thrust you from YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.
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because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God; to compel by force of argument, or the dint of persuasion, to relinquish the profession of the true God, faith in him, and the worship of him
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
11Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵāl yiś·rā·’êl yiš·mə·‘ū wə·yi·rā·’ūn wə·lō- yō·w·si·p̄ū la·‘ă·śō·wṯ kad·dā·ḇār hā·rā‘ haz·zeh bə·qir·be·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And all Israel shall hear and fear, and they shall not again do such a wicked thing as this in your midst.
Where the English smooths the original
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
The penalty publicly inflicted, and therefore generally known, would have a deterrent effect on the community, so as to prevent the recurrence of such evil.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.The Geneva note here simply re-presents the verse text it annotates.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The law opens with a startling concession: the false prophet's sign may actually come about. The Hebrew of v. 2 says ū·ḇā — "and it comes in, it arrives" (H935) — granting the marvel its full landing. Keil & Delitzsch put the matter plainly: "it is taken for granted that they come to pass." The test, then, is not predictive accuracy but allegiance. Benson states the governing principle: "the true divinity of miracles and wonders ought to be judged of by the doctrines, designs, and purposes, for the abetting and confirming whereof they were wrought." Matthew Poole sets this beside the opposite case in Deuteronomy 18: when a sign fails the prophet is false, "yet when it did come to pass , it was no sufficient or infallible sign of a true one, especially in such a case when he brings in new gods." The decisive word is v. 3's mənasseh (H5254), "is testing" — the same verb God uses of Abraham in Genesis 22:1. The successful counterfeit is not a crack in providence; it is the assay. And the standard by which the wonder is weighed is the Shema itself: "with all your heart and with all your soul" (vv. 3) deliberately quotes Deuteronomy 6:5.
Read the seducer's invitation (v. 2) and the command that answers it (v. 4) word against word. The tempter says "let us walk (nēlḵāh, H1980) after other gods… and let us serve them (‘āḇaḏ, H5647)." The covenant replies: "After YHWH your God you shall walk… and Him you shall serve" — identical verbs, opposite objects. Idolatry, the grammar insists, is not a new appetite but the covenant's own devotion bent toward a lie. Alexander Maclaren, reading "walk after the Lord," gathers it with Enoch's "with" and Abraham's "before": "If I walk after God, then I let Him go before me and show me my road." The verdict in v. 5 names the crime with a rare word — sārāh (H5627), which Gill renders "revolt against the Lord… high treason," and the margin (Junius, Tremellius) as "apostasiam… defectionem." The word appears in only eight verses of the Hebrew Bible; one of them, Isaiah 1:5, indicts a whole nation for the same turning-aside (Verifier: shared H5627, a rare lexeme). And the ground of the sentence is gratitude betrayed: the LORD who redeemed you (pāḏāh, H6299) from the house of slaves.
The second case moves the danger inward, from public prophet to private intimate: "your brother, the son of your mother… the wife of your bosom… your friend who is as your own soul" (v. 6). Keil & Delitzsch name the stakes: "The power of love and relationship, which flesh and blood find it hard to resist, is placed here in contrast with the supposed higher or divine authority of the seducers." Charles Ellicott hears the Gospel's own claim in the severity: "its principle is reproduced in the Gospel: 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.'" Against the secret whisper (bassēṯer, v. 6) the law stacks five refusals (v. 8) — consent, hear, pity, spare, conceal — which the Pulpit Commentary reads as deliberate weight: "The accumulation of terms serves to make the injunction more solemn and impressive." Yet the same law guards against abuse: Ellicott notes that the witness's hand striking first (v. 9) is "a law tending to prevent false accusation," and Benson and the Geneva Bible insist on two witnesses and judicial condemnation. The unit closes on its frame: the evil that arose "in your midst" (qereb, v. 1) is purged "from your midst" (v. 5), so that all Israel "shall hear and fear" (v. 11) — the very hearing and fearing the covenant requires (vv. 3–4) now turned to deterrence.
Under Sola Scriptura this chapter is one of the hardest in the Torah, and the tool offers its reading to be tested, not trusted. The plain sense is that covenant fidelity is not adjudicated by power. A wonder can be real and its prophet damned; the criterion is never "did it work?" but "to whom does it call?" That principle did not expire with the theocracy. The New Testament repeats the test almost verbatim while removing the sword from the believer's hand: Paul warns that even "an angel from heaven" preaching another gospel is anathema (Galatians 1:8) — Keil cites this very text on v. 4 — and Christ Himself forewarns of false christs and prophets who "shall show great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24), echoing the ’ōwṯ-and-mōwp̄êṯ of v. 1. The capital penalty belonged to a holy nation-state purging treason against its King; the abiding substance is that the already-given word (Keil's "the word of God, which had already been received") outranks every new revelation, however luminous. The chapter's deepest tension — that one might have to refuse even "the wife of your bosom" — is not softened in the Gospel but transposed: the same Lord who is the Jehovah of this law (so Ellicott) now asks that He be loved more than father, mother, or one's own life (Luke 14:26), and Himself absorbs the death that the law pronounces on the apostate. The tool holds this reading loosely: the cross-Testament links below are argued from theme, not from any shared word, and are flagged accordingly.
The miracle that works can still be the test you are meant to fail.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The rare verbal cluster ḥōlēm / ḥălōwm ("dreamer" / "dream," H2492 + H2472) that names the suspect prophet here is the same pair that fills the Joseph cycle, where dreams are God's true revelation (Genesis 37:5–10). The Verifier records the shared lexemes as the basis; both roots are uncommon (châlam in 25 verses, chălôwm in 55). The link is verbal but the valuation is opposite: a dream may carry God's word (Joseph, and Numbers 12:6) or may be the counterfeit's stock-in-trade. Scripture itself holds the tension — the dream is a vessel to be tested by its message, never trusted for its form.
Genesis 37:5 · Genesis 37:9 · Numbers 12:6
basis: shared rare lexemes H2492 châlam (25 vv) + H2472 chălôwm (55 vv); Verifier confirms the dreamer/dream pair links Deut 13:1 to the Joseph dream-cycle
Jeremiah, addressing the exiles, forbids heeding "your prophets… and your dreamers of dreams" (Jeremiah 29:8) — and the Pulpit Commentary cites this very verse on Deuteronomy 13:1. The Verifier finds the link sits on the same rare dreamer/dream cluster (H2492, H2472) plus qereb ("in your midst," H7130) and nāḇî ("prophet," H5030). Jeremiah is the Deuteronomic test applied to a later generation: dreams that promise what God has not spoken are to be rejected, however confidently delivered (cf. Jeremiah 23:25–28).
Jeremiah 29:8 · Jeremiah 23:25
basis: shared rare lexemes H2492 châlam (25 vv) + H2472 chălôwm (55 vv), with H7130 qereb and H5030 nâbîyʼ; Verifier-confirmed
The charge in v. 5 — that the prophet "has spoken sārāh (apostasy/revolt, H5627) against the LORD" — uses a word that appears in only eight verses of the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah hurls the same noun at the whole nation: "the more they are revolting" (Isaiah 1:5). The Verifier confirms the verbal link rests on this rare lexeme alone. The individual seducer and the corporate body stand condemned by the identical term; what one tempter does in secret, a nation can do in the open.
Isaiah 1:5
basis: shared rare lexeme H5627 çârâh (only 8 vv) — "apostasy/revolt"; Verifier-confirmed verbal link
Deuteronomy 13 and Deuteronomy 18:18–22 are the two halves of one doctrine of prophecy, as Poole and Barnes both note. Here the sign works yet the prophet is false because he calls to other gods; there the criterion is the opposite — the sign that fails exposes the prophet who "has spoken… presumptuously" (Deuteronomy 18:22). The Verifier records the link as structural/thematic, resting on the single shared word nāḇî ("prophet," H5030) — a common lexeme in 288 verses. The connection is therefore one of shared juridical pattern (both passages legislate how to detect a false prophet), not a verbal quotation; the complementary legal verbs of speaking and dying are conceptual, not registered by the Verifier as a shared lexeme for this pair.
Deuteronomy 18:20 · Deuteronomy 18:22
basis: Verifier-computed: only one shared lexeme, H5030 nâbîyʼ (common, 288 vv) — a shared legal pattern on testing prophets, not a verbal quotation
The pair ’ōwṯ / mōwp̄êṯ ("sign" / "wonder," H226 + H4159) that the counterfeit deploys in v. 1 is the exact vocabulary Deuteronomy uses for the LORD's own redemptive acts in Egypt — "by signs and by wonders" (Deuteronomy 4:34; cf. 6:22; 7:19). The Verifier confirms both lexemes are shared and both are moderately rare (môwphêth in 35 verses, ’ôwth in 77). The danger is precisely the overlap: the deceiver speaks the language of true revelation. The link is structural — a shared technical word-pair for attesting marvels, not a quotation — and it sharpens the chapter's point that the wonder's vocabulary proves nothing; only the One to whom it points does.
Deuteronomy 4:34 · Deuteronomy 6:22
basis: Verifier-computed: shared lexemes H4159 môwphêth (35 vv) + H226 ʼôwth (77 vv) — the sign/wonder word-pair; a shared attestation formula, not a verbal quotation
The criterion of v. 3 — the LORD tests "whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul" — is the great commandment of Deuteronomy 6:5 turned into a tribunal. The Verifier records the shared lexemes ’āhab (love, H157), lēḇāḇ (heart, H3824), and nepeš (soul, H5315); all three are common words, so the connection is the recurrence of a fixed liturgical formula, not a rare-word quotation. Deuteronomy 13 does not add a new law; it shows the Shema being weighed against the pull of a working miracle. That is why the badge is structural, not verbal: this is the same demand, re-applied, with the seducer's wonder as the crucible.
Deuteronomy 6:5 · Deuteronomy 10:12
basis: Verifier-computed: shared lexemes H157 ʼâhab, H3824 lêbâb, H5315 nephesh — all common; the link is the recurring Shema formula (heart/soul love), a shared pattern, not a quotation
Joel promises a day when "your old men shall dream dreams" (Joel 2:28) — the same rare ḥālam/ḥălōwm pair (H2492, H2472) that Deuteronomy 13 treats with suspicion. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes. The relation is best read as structural counterpoint rather than quotation: Deuteronomy guards the channel of dreams in an age of counterfeits; Joel anticipates an age when the Spirit Himself fills it. Peter applies Joel to Pentecost (Acts 2:17) — the same channel, now authenticated by the outpoured Spirit and tested, as ever, by fidelity to the LORD.
Joel 2:28 · Acts 2:17
basis: shared lexemes H2492 châlam + H2472 chălôwm; tiered structural because the relation is reframing/counterpoint across covenant epochs, not a quotation of Deut 13
Paul's anathema on any who preach "another gospel… though we, or an angel from heaven" (Galatians 1:8) is the New Testament voice of this very law — and Keil & Delitzsch cite Galatians 1:8 directly in commenting on Deuteronomy 13:4. Because this is a Greek text and Deuteronomy is Hebrew, there is and can be no shared Strong's lexeme; the Verifier returns "no shared original-language lexeme" and the link must be argued, not asserted. The shared substance is the principle — no messenger, however exalted, may override the word already given.
Galatians 1:8 · Galatians 1:9
basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme is possible; Verifier returns none. Link is thematic only — the already-given word outranks any new messenger — and is offered as argued, not verbal
Keil & Delitzsch gloss the false prophet's marvels with Paul's phrase "lying signs and wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9), and link the same to Christ's warning of false prophets who "shall show great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24). The ’ōwṯ-and-mōwp̄êṯ (sign-and-portent, H226/H4159) of Deuteronomy 13:1 is the Hebrew root of which these are the Greek echo (sēmeia kai terata). Being cross-Testament, the link carries no shared Strong's number — the Verifier finds none — so it is tiered structural/typological and rests on the argued correspondence of motif, not on a lexical match.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 · Matthew 24:24
basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme exists; Verifier returns none. The sign/wonder motif (H226/H4159 ↔ sēmeia/terata) is a thematic correspondence cited by K&D, argued not asserted
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Deuteronomy 13 condemns the prophet whose wonders lead Israel away from YHWH; Deuteronomy 18 promises a Prophet like Moses whom God will "raise up" (the qûm of Deuteronomy 13:1 inverted to blessing). Jamieson, Fausset & Brown observe that the modern Jews "appeal to this passage as justifying their rejection of Jesus Christ. But He possessed all the characteristics of a true prophet, and He was so far from alienating the people from God… that the grand object of His ministry was to lead to a purer, more spiritual and perfect observance of the law." Christ's signs do the exact opposite of the false prophet's: every wonder He works draws to the Father, never away. He is the Prophet who satisfies the criterion this chapter establishes.
Deuteronomy 18:18 · John 5:46 · Matthew 24:24
The chapter's hardest demand — to refuse even "the wife of your bosom" or "your friend who is as your own soul" (v. 6) when they call to other gods — is, Ellicott argues, the same claim reasserted in the Gospel: "It is impossible to deny or escape the identity of the Lord Jesus with the Jehovah of the Old Testament." The Lord who here forbids loving any tie above Himself is the same who says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37). The continuity is the person of Christ: the God whose exclusive love this law guards is the Christ who asks to be loved first — and who Himself bears the death the apostate deserved, redeeming (the pāḏāh of v. 5) a people from a deeper house of slaves.
Matthew 10:37 · Luke 14:26 · Deuteronomy 13:5
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit covers Deuteronomy 13:1–11 (the false prophet, vv. 1–5, and the secret enticer, vv. 6–11); the third case, the apostate city (vv. 12–18), lies outside it. Hebrew versification differs: what English numbers as 13:1 is 13:2 in the Masoretic Text, so commentators (notably Keil & Delitzsch and Cambridge) cite verse numbers one higher; voice placements here follow the English numbering of the base text. The Joseph, Jeremiah, and Isaiah threads are verbal links on the Verifier's computed Strong's bases (the dreamer/dream pair H2492+H2472 and the rare apostasy-word H5627, all low-frequency lexemes). The Deuteronomy 4:34, Deuteronomy 6:5, Deuteronomy 18, and Joel threads are structural: Deut 4:34 shares the moderately-rare sign/wonder word-pair (H226+H4159) as an attestation formula; Deut 6:5 shares the common heart/soul/love words of the recurring Shema formula; Deut 18 shares only the single common word nāḇî (H5030, 288 vv) — a juridical pattern, not a quotation, and the draft's earlier claim of shared H1696/H4191 for this pair has been corrected to match the Verifier, which registers only H5030; and Joel's shared dream-pair functions as covenant-epoch counterpoint rather than citation. The two New Testament threads (Galatians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:9 / Matthew 24:24) are flagged: a Greek↔Hebrew link can carry no shared Strong's number, the Verifier returns none, and the correspondences — though explicitly drawn by Keil & Delitzsch and the Pulpit Commentary — are thematic and must be argued, not asserted as verbal. Every ⚙ machine claim here is fallible and subordinate to the ✦ public-domain commentary it rests on and to the Word it serves. No voice has been altered: each quoted excerpt is a contiguous substring of the sourced public-domain text.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)