^13:9Instead, you must kill him without fail!¹³ Your own hand must be the first to strike him,¹⁴ and then the hands of the whole community. ^13:10You must stone him to death¹⁵ because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. ^13:11Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you.¹⁶

Punishment of Community Idolatry

^13:12Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that ^13:13some evil people¹⁷ have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities,¹⁸ saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).¹⁹^13:14You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you,²⁰^13:15you must by all means²¹ slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate²² with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. ^13:16You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza²³ and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin²⁴ forever—it must never be rebuilt again.

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Footnotes

13 The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. “you must certainly put him to death”).
14 Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.
15 Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).
16 Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
17 Heb “men, sons of Belial.” The Hebrew term בְּלִיַּעַל (béliyya’al) has the idea of worthlessness, without morals or scruples ( ). Cf. , “scoundrels”; , “worthless people”; “worthless rabble.”
18 The and read “your” for the ’s “their.”
19 The translation understands the relative clause as a statement by Moses, not as part of the quotation from the evildoers. See also v. 2.
20 Theodotian adds “in Israel,” perhaps to broaden the matter beyond the local village.
21 The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. , “surely”; “certainly.”
22 Or “put under divine judgment. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to placing persons or things under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction. Though primarily applied against the heathen, this severe judgment could also fall upon unrepentant Israelites (cf. the story of Achan in Josh 7). See also the note on the phrase “divine judgment” in .
23 Heb “street.”
24 Heb “mound”; “a heap of ruins.” The Hebrew word תֵּל (tel) refers to this day to a ruin represented especially by a built-up mound of dirt or debris (cf. Tel Aviv, “mound of grain”).