The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Purge the Idolater
Deuteronomy 17:2–7 — Purge the Idolater. 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.
2If 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 covenant
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ’îš ’ōw- ’iš·šāh ’ă·šer ḇə·qir·bə·ḵā bə·’a·ḥaḏ šə·‘ā·re·ḵā ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā nō·ṯên lāḵ yim·mā·ṣê ya·‘ă·śeh ’eṯ- hā·ra‘ bə·‘ê·nê Yah·weh- ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā la·‘ă·ḇōr bə·rî·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If a man or woman among-you, in one of your-gates which Yahweh your-God is-giving you, is-found doing the-evil in the-eyes-of Yahweh your-God, by-crossing-over His-covenant;
Where the English smooths the original
Done wickedness ; literally, done the evil . The definite article is prefixed; it is not any kind of wickedness that is here denounced, but the special sin of idolatry
In transgressing his covenant — That is, in idolatry, as it is explained Deuteronomy 17:3 , which is called a transgression of God’s covenant made with Israel, both because it was a breach of their faith given to God, and of that law which they covenanted to keep; and because it was a dissolution of that matrimonial covenant with God, a renouncing of God and his worship, and a choosing other gods.
This section differs slightly from the third section of Deuteronomy 13. The penalty there is directed against the teachers of idolatry, whether prophets, private individuals, or communities in Israel. Here the penalty of death is enacted for every individual, man or woman, found guilty of worshipping any other god but Jehovah.Ellicott sets this section against Deuteronomy 13: there the seducers are punished, here the seduced — the distinction the Pulpit Commentary also draws.
Showing that the crime cannot be excused by the frailty of the person.Geneva's marginal gloss on the word woman — the same point Poole presses.
No rank or sex could palliate this crime. Every reported case, even a flying rumor of the perpetration of so heinous an offense, was to be judicially examined; and if proved by the testimony of competent witnesses, the offender was to be taken without the gates and stoned to death, the witnesses casting the first stone at him.JFB's whole-section comment is filed under 17:2 and surveys the entire procedure of vv. 2–7 — rank-and-sex, inquiry, witnesses, stoning, the witness's first stone.
The sentence was to be carried into effect at "the gates" (compare Genesis 19:1 note) of the town in which the crime was committed; because, as "all the people" were to take a part, an open space would be requisite for the execution. Note the typical and prophetical aspect of the injunction; compare Acts 7:58 ; Hebrews 13:12 .Barnes is the source who first flags the typological reading — the gate-execution pointing to Acts 7:58 and Hebrews 13:12; the Christ section rests on this verbatim note.
3and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yê·leḵ way·ya·‘ă·ḇōḏ ’ă·ḥê·rîm ’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yiš·ta·ḥū lā·hem wə·laš·še·meš ’ōw lay·yā·rê·aḥ ’ōw lə·ḵāl ṣə·ḇā haš·šā·ma·yim ’ă·šer lō- ṣiw·wî·ṯî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and-he-has-gone and-served other gods and-bowed-down to-them, or to-the-sun or to-the-moon or to-any of-the-host-of the-heavens — which I-have-not commanded;
Where the English smooths the original
The host of heaven — Those glorious creatures, which are to be admired as the wonderful works of God, but not to be set up in God’s stead. By condemning the most specious of all idolatries, he intimates how absurd a thing it is to worship stocks and stones, the works of men’s hands. I have not commanded — That is, I have forbidden. Such negative expressions are emphatical.
The oldest and simplest, and apparently most innocent form of idolatry. If this was punishable with death, obviously no grosser form of idolatry could be spared. The Book of Job, which knows no other idolatry, admits this to be a denial “of the God that is above” ( Job 31:26-28 ).Ellicott's note appears under 17:2 in the source but treats the sun-moon idolatry of v.3; placed here where it speaks.
The use of the first person here is remarkable; God Himself takes up the speech, as in Deuteronomy 7:4 and frequently in the prophets: e.g. Jeremiah 7:31 ; Jeremiah 19:5 ; Jeremiah 32:35 .
either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven: the two great luminaries, and the planets, constellations, and stars, any of them; which kind of idolatry very early obtained, and was in use at this time among the Heathens, and was an iniquity to be punished by the judge, Job 31:26 , which sin, though so strictly forbidden, the people of Israel sometimes fell into, 2 Kings 21:3 .
4and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hug·gaḏ- lə·ḵā wə·šā·mā·‘ə·tā wə·ḏā·raš·tā hê·ṭêḇ wə·hin·nêh had·dā·ḇār ne·‘eś·ṯāh ’ĕ·meṯ nā·ḵō·wn haz·zōṯ hat·tō·w·‘ê·ḇāh bə·yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and-it-is-told to-you, and-you-have-heard, and-you-shall-inquire thoroughly — and behold, true, the-report is-established, this-abomination has-been-done in-Israel;
Where the English smooths the original
Told thee by any person, thou shalt not slight so much as a rumour or flying report of so gross a crime. Inquired diligently, by sending messengers, examining witnesses, &c.
A report of this kind was not to be neglected; though it was not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay, it was to be looked into, and the persons that brought it thoroughly examined; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and inquired the witnesses well,''what proof and evidence they could give of the fact, who the persons were, when and where, and in what manner the sin was committed: and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain; upon examining the witnesses the case is plain and out of all question: that such abomination is wrought in Israel; to do it in any country was abominable, but much more so in the land of Israel, among the professing people of God
and it be told thee, and thou hast heard ] Similarly Deuteronomy 13:12 (13). shalt thou inquire , etc.] So, but with additions, Deuteronomy 13:14 (15), q.v.Cambridge marks the close verbal parallel with the inquiry-procedure of Deuteronomy 13:14 — the apostate-city law.
5you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hō·w·ṣê·ṯā ’eṯ- ’el- šə·‘ā·re·ḵā ’eṯ- hā·’îš ’ōw ’eṯ- hā·’iš·šāh ha·hū hā·’îš ’ōw ’eṯ- hā·’iš·šāh ha·hi·w ’ă·šer ‘ā·śū ’eṯ- haz·zeh hā·rā‘ had·dā·ḇār ū·sə·qal·tām bā·’ă·ḇā·nîm wā·mê·ṯū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
then-you-shall-bring-out that man or that woman who has-done this evil thing, to your-gates — the-man or the-woman — and-you-shall-stone them with-stones, and-they-shall-die.
Where the English smooths the original
Unto thy gates ; judicial proceedings were conducted at the gates of the city, and in some place outside the walls the sentence was executed on the condemned criminal ( Nehemiah 8:1, 3 ; Job 29:7 ; Deuteronomy 22:24 ; Acts 7:58 ; Hebrews 13:12 ), just as, during the journey through the wilderness, it had been outside the camp that transgressors were punished ( Leviticus 24:14 ; Numbers 15:36 ).
even that man or that woman; this is repeated, and the woman as well as the man is expressed, to show that no compassion is to be had on her as is usual, nor to be spared on account of the weakness and tenderness of her sex, but she as well as the man must be brought forth and executed according to her sentence, without any mercy shown; and this is observed to show the resentment of the divine Majesty, and his indignation at this sin
thou shalt bring forth … unto thy gates ] Cp. Deuteronomy 22:24 : the usual place for stoning was without the gate, so that the city might not be polluted (cp. Leviticus 24:14 , Numbers 15:36 ); where also Stephen was stoned, Acts 7:58 , under this law.Cambridge names Stephen's stoning (Acts 7:58) as carried out under this very statute — the New-Testament instance of the law in force.
6On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
‘al- pî šə·na·yim ’ōw šə·lō·šāh ‘ê·ḏîm yū·maṯ ham·mêṯ lō yū·maṯ ‘al- pî ‘êḏ ’e·ḥāḏ ‘ê·ḏîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
On the-mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall the-dead-one be-put-to-death; he-shall-not be-put-to-death on the-mouth of one witness.
Where the English smooths the original
but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death; so careful is the Lord of the lives of men, that none should be taken away but upon full and sufficient evidence, even in cases in which his own glory and honour is so much concerned.
Worthy of death be put to death ; i . e . adjudged or appointed to death ; literally, the dead man shall die .
Witnesses — Namely, credible and competent witnesses. The Jews rejected the testimonies of children, women, servants, familiar friends, or enemies, persons of dissolute lives or evil fame.
At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses ] So Sam. and LXX, as in Deuteronomy 19:15 , where the law, here applied to a particular case, is more generally stated. Cp. P, Numbers 35:30 .Cambridge identifies this as the particular case of the general witness-law (Deut 19:15; Num 35:30) — the spine of the witness-thread.
7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yaḏ hā·‘ê·ḏîm tih·yeh- bōw ḇā·ri·šō·nāh la·hă·mî·ṯōw bā·’a·ḥă·rō·nāh wə·yaḏ kāl- hā·‘ām ū·ḇi·‘ar·tā hā·rā‘ miq·qir·be·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The-hand of-the-witnesses shall-be against-him first to-put-him-to-death, and-afterward the-hand of-all the-people; so-you-shall-burn-out the-evil from-among-you.
Where the English smooths the original
Put . . . away. —Literally, consume. The primary meaning of the word is “burn.” Taberah, “burning,” is a derivative. The evil. —The Greek version renders this “the wicked man,” and the sentence is taken up in this form in 1Corinthians 5:13 , “and ye shall put away from among you that wicked person.” The phrase is of frequent occurrence in Deuteronomy, and if we are to understand that in all places where it occurs “the evil” is to be under. stood of an individual, and to be taken in the masculine gender, the fact seems to deserve notice in considering the phrase “deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s Prayer.Ellicott's note appears under 17:2 in the source but expounds the closing words of v.7; placed here, where the phrase occurs.
First upon him — God thus ordered it, for the caution of witnesses, that, if they had, through malice or wrath, accused him falsely, they might now be afraid to imbrue their hands in innocent blood; and for the security and satisfaction of the people in the execution of this punishment.
"He assigned this part to the witnesses, chiefly because there are so many whose tongue is so slippery, not to say good for nothing, that they would boldly strangle a man with their words, when they would not dare to touch him with one of their fingers. It was the best remedy, therefore, that could be tried for restraining such levity, to refuse to admit the testimony of any man who was not ready to execute judgment with his own hand" (Calvin).Keil quotes Calvin verbatim on why the witnesses cast the first stone — the procedure as a curb on perjury.
The hands of the {d} witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the {e} people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you. (d) By which they declared that they testify the truth. (e) To signify a common consent to maintain God's honour and true religion.
Let all who in our day set up idols in their hearts, remember how God punished this crime in Israel.Henry's whole-section comment (filed across 17:1–7) closes with the devotional turn — the outward idolatry the law executed is answered by the inward idol of the heart (cp. Ezek 14:3); placed at v.7 where the purge is sealed.
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 unit opens not with the act but with the relationship it breaks: the idolater is “crossing-over His covenant” (la·‘ă·ḇōr bə·rî·ṯōw, vv. 2). Benson and Poole read that covenant as a marriage, and so read the idolatry as adultery — it is “a dissolution of that matrimonial covenant with God, a renouncing of God and his worship, and a choosing other gods” (Benson, verbatim). Jamieson, Fausset & Brown name the stakes plainly: “The grand object contemplated in choosing Israel was to preserve the knowledge and worship of the one true God; and hence idolatry of any kind, whether of the heavenly bodies or in some grosser form, is called ‘a transgression of His covenant.’” ⚙ The Hebrew verb ʻâbar (H5674) literally means to cross over a line — the same root that fords the Jordan a few chapters on; covenant-breaking is pictured as stepping across a drawn boundary. Ellicott marks the form of idolatry the law singles out — the sun, moon, and host of heaven — as “the oldest and simplest, and apparently most innocent form of idolatry. If this was punishable with death, obviously no grosser form of idolatry could be spared.” The law begins at the gentlest idolatry precisely so that none can plead its innocence.
What stands out against the severity of the penalty is the care with which the law guards against shedding innocent blood. The report must be told, heard, and then inquired into thoroughly (v. 4): Poole warns that even “a rumour or flying report of so gross a crime” must not be slighted — yet Gill insists it “was not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay.” The verdict rests on “the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses” (v. 6), never one; Cambridge identifies this as the particular case of the general evidentiary law stated at Deuteronomy 19:15 and Numbers 35:30. ⚙ The Hebrew of v. 6, ham·mêṯ (the dead one), already speaks of the convicted idolater as a corpse: Ellicott, “Literally, he that dieth”; the Pulpit Commentary, “one assigned to death, already the property of death, and so as good as dead.” The condemnation is so sure once proven that the man is named dead before the first stone falls — but the proving is hedged with every safeguard. Gill draws the moral: “so careful is the Lord of the lives of men, that none should be taken away but upon full and sufficient evidence.”
The law's most striking feature is reserved for last: “the hand of the witnesses shall be against him first.” Keil & Delitzsch preserve Calvin's reasoning verbatim — the rule exists to curb the perjurer “whose tongue is so slippery… that they would boldly strangle a man with their words, when they would not dare to touch him with one of their fingers.” Benson agrees: the witness who must throw the first stone will fear “to imbrue their hands in innocent blood.” Then “the hand of all the people,” which Geneva glosses as “a common consent to maintain God's honour.” ⚙ The closing verb is not a metaphor of cleansing but of fire: Ellicott, “Literally, consume. The primary meaning of the word is ‘burn.’ Taberah, ‘burning,’ is a derivative.” And one datum reaches across the Testaments: “The Greek version renders this ‘the wicked man,’ and the sentence is taken up in this form in 1 Corinthians 5:13, ‘and ye shall put away from among you that wicked person’” (Ellicott, verbatim). Whether “the evil” (hā·rā‘, articular, masculine) is the abstract sin or the concrete wicked person is a genuine ambiguity — and Ellicott carries it as far as the Lord's Prayer.
Read on its own terms, Deuteronomy 17:2–7 is a chapter about blood and proof. It holds two things together that a careless reader tears apart: a penalty of unflinching severity (stoning, by the whole community, for worshipping the sun) and a procedure of almost obsessive restraint (a thorough inquiry, two-or-three witnesses, never one, and the witness made to strike the first blow). ⚙ The severity is not cruelty for its own sake; it measures how the law weighs idolatry — as covenant-adultery, the breaking of a marriage (Benson, Poole), the one crime that unmakes Israel as Israel. But the restraint measures something else: how the same law weighs a human life. Gill's verbatim sentence is the hinge — “so careful is the Lord of the lives of men, that none should be taken away but upon full and sufficient evidence, even in cases in which his own glory and honour is so much concerned.” Even where God's own honour is at stake, He will not have it vindicated by perjury or rumor. The two-witness rule and the witness's-hand-first rule are not softenings of the law; they are the law taking innocent blood as seriously as it takes idolatry. ⚙ And the closing word — burn out the evil from among you — leaves a deliberate ambiguity the Greek text resolved one way: the sin, or the sinner? The New Testament, in Paul's hand, kept the personal form (1 Cor 5:13), but transferred the instrument from the stone to the censure of the church. The fallible reading offered here, to be tested: the unbroken thread from Sinai to Corinth is not the death-penalty but the communal responsibility to keep the holy people holy — and the means change, from the stone in the hand to the word of separation, when the One who was Himself led outside the gate bears the curse the law pronounced.
Even where His own honour is at stake, God will not have it vindicated by a single mouth or a rumor — the law guards the idolater's blood as fiercely as it condemns his idol. (an interpretive line, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The opening charge, “crossing-over His covenant” (ʻâbar + bᵉrîyth), is a fixed Deuteronomic idiom for apostasy. Cambridge points the reader to Joshua 7:11, 7:15 and Joshua 23:16 — “all deuteron.” — as the same phrase. ⚙ The Verifier confirms the verbal overlap at Deuteronomy 17:2 ↔ Joshua 7:11: the two words ʻâbar (H5674, cross over) and bᵉrîyth (H1285, covenant) are shared, the precise pair that forms the idiom. This is Hebrew↔Hebrew, so the shared Strong's lexemes are the recorded basis; but because both verses share the same legal idiom rather than one quoting the other, the honest tier is structural/thematic, not verbal. At Joshua 7 the covenant-crosser is Achan, and the penalty is the same as here: stoning and the burning-out of evil from Israel.
Joshua 7:11 · Joshua 23:16
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier-confirmed shared lexemes at Deut 17:2↔Josh 7:11: H5674 ʻâbar (cross over, 492 vv) + H1285 bᵉrîyth (covenant, 264 vv) — the two-word idiom 'transgress the covenant.' Same fixed idiom, not a quotation; tiered structural/thematic. Cambridge independently cites Josh 7:11, 7:15, 23:16 as the deuteronomic parallel.
The execution prescribed here, “you shall stone them with stones” (v. 5), is carried out in narrative on Achan, who “crossed the covenant” by taking the devoted thing. ⚙ The link rests on a genuinely rare lexeme: çâqal (H5619, to stone to death) occurs in only 20 verses in the whole Hebrew Bible. The Verifier finds it shared between Deuteronomy 17:5 and Joshua 7:25, alongside ʼeben (stone, H68). A shared lexeme this rare ordinarily lifts a pair toward the verbal tier; but because Joshua 7 is legal narrative enacting this law rather than quoting it, the honest tier is structural/thematic — with the rarity of çâqal noted as the strong basis. The same rare verb ties Deuteronomy 17:5 to the betrothed-virgin law of Deuteronomy 22:21, 22:24, where the place of stoning is likewise “the gate.”
Joshua 7:25 · Deuteronomy 22:21 · Deuteronomy 22:24
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier-confirmed rare shared lexeme H5619 çâqal (stone to death, in only 20 vv) at Deut 17:5↔Josh 7:25, with H68 ʼeben (stone). Rarity approaches verbal weight, but Josh 7 enacts rather than quotes the statute, so tiered structural/thematic. Same çâqal links Deut 22:21/22:24 (stoning 'at the gate').
The rule of v. 6 — “on the mouth of two witnesses or three… he shall not be put to death on the mouth of one witness” — is the particular application of a law stated more broadly at Deuteronomy 19:15 and Numbers 35:30 (Cambridge notes Sam. and LXX read both clauses with “at the mouth of”). ⚙ The Verifier confirms the Hebrew↔Hebrew overlap: Deut 17:6 ↔ Deut 19:15 share ʻêd (witness, H5707, 59 vv), peh (mouth, H6310), ʼechâd (one), and the numbers two/three; Deut 17:6 ↔ Numbers 35:30 share the same four-word formula. These OT links are structural/thematic. ⚙ The same standard is taken up in the New Testament — Christ requires “two or three witnesses” for church discipline (Matt 18:16) and Paul invokes it twice (2 Cor 13:1; 1 Tim 5:19). That carry-over is cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew) and so cannot rest on a shared Strong's number; it rests on the New Testament writers' explicit citation of the principle, and is the oldest reading of the church.
Deuteronomy 19:15 · Numbers 35:30 · 2 Corinthians 13:1 · Matthew 18:16
basis: OT links Hebrew↔Hebrew: Verifier-confirmed shared formula H5707 ʻêd + H6310 peh + H259 ʼechâd (+ numbers) at Deut 17:6↔Deut 19:15 and ↔Num 35:30. NT links (Matt 18:16; 2 Cor 13:1) are cross-Testament Greek↔Hebrew — cannot use shared Strong's; rest on explicit NT citation of the two-or-three-witnesses principle. Whole basis tiered structural/thematic, not verbal.
Verse 7 binds two formulas that recur across Deuteronomy. The witnesses' hand “first” mirrors the seducer-law of Deuteronomy 13:9 (Cambridge: “so they would feel more seriously the responsibility of their testimony!”). ⚙ The Verifier confirms Deut 17:7 ↔ Deut 13:9 share riʼshôwn (first, H7223), ʼachărôwn (afterward/last, H314), mûwth (die), and yâd (hand). And the closing “so you shall burn out the evil from among you” is the standing Deuteronomic refrain: ⚙ the Verifier confirms Deut 17:7 ↔ Deut 13:5 share bâʻar (burn out, H1197, 90 vv), qereb (midst, H7130), raʻ (evil, H7451), and mûwth (die) — the same four-word formula that closes 13:5; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21. Both are Hebrew↔Hebrew structural/thematic links, the formulaic spine of Deuteronomy's purge-laws.
Deuteronomy 13:5 · Deuteronomy 13:9 · Deuteronomy 19:19
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew, both Verifier-confirmed. Deut 17:7↔Deut 13:9 share H7223 riʼshôwn + H314 ʼachărôwn + H3027 yâd + H4191 mûwth (witnesses'-hand-first formula). Deut 17:7↔Deut 13:5 share H1197 bâʻar (burn out, 90 vv) + H7130 qereb + H7451 raʻ + H4191 mûwth ('purge the evil' refrain). Formulaic repetition, not quotation — tiered structural/thematic.
The specific idolatry of v. 3 — “served other gods and bowed down to them, or to the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven” — is the exact sin against which Deuteronomy 4:19 warns, and the sin Jeremiah indicts Judah for in the same words. ⚙ The Verifier confirms Deut 17:3 shares with both Deuteronomy 4:19 and Jeremiah 8:2 the triad ʻâbad (serve, H5647), shâchâh (bow down, H7812), and shâmayim (heaven, H8064) — three content verbs/nouns describing the same act of astral worship. These are Hebrew↔Hebrew structural/thematic links. Jeremiah 8:2 darkens the picture: the bones of those who “served and bowed to the host of heaven” are spread out before the very sun they worshipped — the law's penalty answered by the prophet's curse.
Deuteronomy 4:19 · Jeremiah 8:2
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew, Verifier-confirmed. Deut 17:3 shares with Deut 4:19 and Jer 8:2 the same three content words: H5647 ʻâbad (serve) + H7812 shâchâh (bow down) + H8064 shâmayim (heaven). Shared motif/vocabulary of astral worship, no quotation claim — structural/thematic.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Ellicott records the seam directly: “The Greek version renders this ‘the wicked man,’ and the sentence is taken up in this form in 1 Corinthians 5:13, ‘and ye shall put away from among you that wicked person’” (verbatim). Paul, expelling the incestuous man from the Corinthian church, ends with the Septuagint wording of this very verse — the Deuteronomic “burn out the evil from among you.” ⚙ The link is cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew), so it cannot rest on a shared Strong's number; it rests on Paul's explicit, word-for-word reuse of the LXX of Deuteronomy 17:7 (and the parallel purge-formulas). What changes in Christ is the instrument: the stone in the hand becomes the censure of the gathered church — the community's responsibility to keep the holy people holy is unbroken, but the death-penalty is not carried over. This is the ancient and widely-held reading.
1 Corinthians 5:13 · Deuteronomy 17:7
The offender is “brought out to the gates” (v. 5) and stoned outside the walls — Keil: “to indicate the exclusion of the criminal from the congregation, and from fellowship with God.” Barnes flags “the typical and prophetical aspect of the injunction; compare Acts 7:58 ; Hebrews 13:12 ,” and the Pulpit Commentary, Cambridge, and Keil all chain the same New-Testament references. ⚙ Stephen was stoned outside the gate under this law (Acts 7:58, named by Cambridge); and Hebrews reads the place itself typologically — “And so Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood” (Heb 13:12, BSB). The One who bore the curse stood in the very place the law reserved for the cut-off covenant-breaker. The link is cross-Testament and typological — it rests not on a shared lexeme but on the shared place of exclusion, read figurally; and it is the church's ancient reading that Christ took the idolater's exile upon Himself.
Hebrews 13:12 · Acts 7:58 · Deuteronomy 17:5
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 is a legal text on capital idolatry, and the synthesis is built up from the Hebrew. Every commentary excerpt is a verbatim, contiguous substring of the sourced voices_raw — trimmed at the ends to a pointed quotation, never altered, reordered, or stitched. A few honesty notes specific to Deuteronomy 17:2–7:
Two notes carry words from a neighbouring verse-page. The biblehub source files Ellicott's whole-section comment and Keil's whole-section comment under 17:2, but those comments expound words that fall in v.3 (Ellicott on the host of heaven) and v.7 (Ellicott on “the evil” / 1 Cor 5:13; Keil's Calvin quotation on the witnesses' hand). They are placed under the verse whose words they treat; the source_url is left pointing to the page where the text was published (17-2.htm), so the provenance is traceable and unfalsified.
The masculine 'the evil.' Ellicott's observation that the LXX read hā·rā‘ as “the wicked man” (concrete, masculine) rather than “the evil thing” (abstract) is a genuine interpretive crux, not a settled fact. The Hebrew articular adjective is grammatically ambiguous; Ellicott himself only says the personal reading “seems to deserve notice.” The synthesis carries it as a weighed possibility — it is the basis for the 1 Corinthians 5:13 link — not as a proven reading.
The witness-formula and the New Testament. The two-or-three-witnesses links to Matthew 18:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:1 are cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew). They are tiered structural/thematic and explicitly cannot use shared Strong's numbers; their basis is the New Testament writers' citation of the principle, not a lexical match. The Old-Testament legs of that thread (Deut 19:15, Num 35:30) are Verifier-confirmed by shared Hebrew lexemes.
On the standing directive. This unit is not in Joshua and does not contain a 1:5; the Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply here.
✦ = 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)