Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 13:9
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.
Thou shalt surely kill him; not privately, which pretence would have opened the door to innumerable murders, but by procuring his death by the sentence of the magistrate; and thou shalt cast the first stone at him, as the witness was to do. See Deu 17:7; Act 7:58.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. thou shalt surely kill himnothastily, or in a private manner, but after trial and conviction; andhis relative, as informer, was to cast the first stone (see on De17:2; Ac 7:58). It is manifestthat what was done in secret could not be legally proved by a singleinformer; and hence Jewish writers say that spies were set in someprivate part of the house, to hear the conversation and watch theconduct of a person suspected of idolatrous tendencies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Lu 13:33, but the difficulty is how such an one could be convicted, since the affair was transacted secretly, De 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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. , 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.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9 But thou shalt surely kill him. He would not that every one should privately execute vengeance without a public trial; but he referred to the ordinary custom, that the witnesses should throw the first stone at condemned criminals, as we shall see elsewhere. For it was an admirable provision, that God would have those who had denounced the crime, to be the executors of its punishment, in order that they should be more cautious and moderate in giving their testimony. The reason, which is added at the end, “because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out, ” etc., again exaggerates the crime on the score of its ingratitude; which was detestable in proportion to the inestimable blessing of their deliverance. It was an act of gross wickedness to rebel against God after they had known Him; but it was still more gross to undervalue their Deliverer. Finally, the advantage and fruit of this severity is subjoined; for, whilst punishment was inflicted on one man’s crime, all others were inspired with terror; and thus the death of one is a wholesome discipline for all, in the way of example.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death.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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Ver. 9. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death The person was to be stoned, and the accuser was to throw the first stone at him, together with the witnesses; see chap. Deu 17:7. To this our Saviour alludes, Joh 8:7. This law at first sight may appear too great a trial to humanity; but it is no more than requiring a compliance with that plain principle of morality, that we are to sacrifice all private considerations to the good of the public: as well as with that first principle in religion, that we are to sacrifice all private connections to the love of God. Such is the doctrine which our Saviour teaches, when he says, if any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luk 14:26.
REFLECTIONS.Our nearest and dearest relatives, in this particular, must have no regard shown to them; should they tempt us secretly to idolatry, the same holy indignation must fire our bosoms against them: we must neither conceal nor pity them. Our hand must be first upon them to stone them, and then that of all the people; that thus both the evil may be removed, and such execution deter others from the like criminal attempts. Note; (1.) Those temptations are doubly bewitching, which come through persons whom we love. (2.) The hope of secresy and security in sin is a great snare to lead men into it. (3.) To conceal the criminal from justice, is to be a party in his crime. (4.) The design of every execution is to strike terror into others, that they may be kept from the same guilty ways and miserable end.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 13:9 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.
Ver. 9. Kill him, ] i.e., Deliver him up to the magistrate to be killed; for he bears not the sword in vain, like St Paul in a glass window, or George on a signpost.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
But: Deu 17:2-7, Mat 10:37, Luk 14:26
thine hand: Deu 17:7, Joh 8:7, Act 7:58
Reciprocal: Gen 37:22 – lay Lev 24:14 – all that Num 25:5 – Slay ye Deu 26:1 – General 2Ki 11:18 – slew Mattan 2Ch 23:17 – slew Mattan Job 34:26 – in Psa 106:30 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 13:9-11. Thou shalt surely kill him Not privately, a permission to do which, under pretence of the partys 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. Thy hand shall be first upon him As the witness of his crime; for he was to be stoned to death, and the accuser was to throw the first stone, together with the witnesses, Deu 17:7. This law, at first sight, may appear too great a trial to humanity; but it is indeed no more than requiring a compliance with that plain principle of religion and morality, to sacrifice all private considerations to the glory of God and good of mankind. All Israel shall hear and fear The law, though severe, yet was just and necessary, and calculated to preserve the body of the people from the contagion of idolatry.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; {g} thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
(g) As the witness is charged.