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The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-18
God's executioners upon idolaters. No respecter of persons is God. The sin of all sins is idolatry, and such overt rebels against the supreme God shall be summarily punished, whether they be Amorites or Hebrews. As a ru…
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 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…
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
Further provision is made by this branch of the statute against receiving the infection of idolatry from those that are near and dear to us. I. It is the policy of the tempter to send his solicitations by the hand of th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
A second case supposed is that of temptation to apostasy proceeding from some near relative or intimate friend. Not only was this to be resisted, but no consideration of affection or bend of friendship was to be allowed…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-12
God or our brother. Terribly stern is the duty here laid on the person enticed to idolatry. The law is adapted to an age of stern deeds, and to a people living under a stern dispensation. Yet, reflecting on the nature o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6
Thy brother, the son of thy mother; thy full brother, allied to thee by the closest fraternal tie. The wife of thy Bosom; the object of thy tenderest affection, Whom it is thine to protect and cherish (cf. Deuteronomy 2…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:8
Pity, spare, conceal. The accumulation of terms serves to make the injunction more solemn and impressive.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:11
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.
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
Here is the case of a city revolting from the God of Israel, and serving other gods. The crime is supposed to be committed by one of the cities of Israel. Even when they were ordered to preserve their religion by force,…
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
Here the case is put of a city revolting from its allegiance to the God of Israel, and serving other gods. I. The crime is supposed to be committed, 1. By one of the cities of Israel, that lay within the jurisdiction of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12
Hear in one of thy cities. The Hebrew phrase, "to hear in" ( שָׁמַע בְּ). has sometimes the meaning of to overhear, as in Genesis 27:5; 1 Samuel 17:28; Job 15:8; sometimes it means simply to hear, as in 2 Samuel 19:36 (…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
A third ease supposed is that of the inhabitants of a city being seduced by wicked men into idolatry. In this case inquiry was to be made as to the fact; and if it was found to be so, the inhabitants of that city were t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
A city under ban. The case here supposed is even more appalling than the former one, for it is the inhabitants of a whole city who, with all that they have, are to be destroyed. Yet, as it is certain that godly persons,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:13
Men, the children of Belial; the sons of worthlessness, utterly worthless persons. Beli ya‛al (a compound of בְלִי, not, and עָל, to ascend, to have worth, to profit) means primarily that which is low, hence worthlessne…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:16
All the spoil thereof every whir, for the Lord thy God; rather, all the spoil [booty] thereof as a whole offering unto Jehovah thy God; it was to be wholly devoted to God, and as such to be consumed by fire. "It was a d…
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 14:1-21
Moses tells the people of Israel how God had given them three distinguishing privileges, which were their honour, and figures of those spiritual blessings in heavenly things, with which God has in Christ blessed us. Her…
What Might Be Eaten, and What Not. (b. c. 1451.)
WHAT MIGHT BE EATEN, AND WHAT NOT. (B. C. 1451.) Moses here tells the people of Israel, I. How God had dignified them, as a peculiar people, with three distinguishing privileges, which were their honour, and figures of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:1
Ye are the children of Jehovah your God (cf. Exodus 4:22, etc.). As his children, it behooved them to avoid all that would be offensive to him or indicate distrust in him. Ye shall not cut yourselves, etc. (cf. Le 19:28…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:1-3
Self-respect in mourning. Mourning customs have significance, as testifying to the ideas of God, of human worth, and of immortality, held by those who practice them. Those here forbidden were degrading in their own natu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:1-29
EXPOSITION HEATHEN CUSTOMS OF MOURNING TO BE AVOIDED. NO ABOMINABLE THING TO BE EATEN. MEATS CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. TITHES.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:1-21
Israel, as the people of God, chosen by him to be his children by adoption, must not only abstain from idolatry, but also avoid all heathenish usages and practices, such as those connected with mourning for the dead, an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:2
(Cf. Deuteronomy 7:6.) The reason assigned here is an emphatic expansion of the statement in Deuteronomy 14:1.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:3
Any abominable thing. Any abomination, i.e. anything which is an abomination to the Lord, having been by him pronounced unclean and forbidden; "anything which I have put far away from you (i.e. made to be abominable to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:3-20
The people of God at their own table. However far these minute regulations may seem at first from being appropriate themes for homiletic teaching, a closer study of them may show that they contain an amount of instructi…