Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 13:17
And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
Deu 13:17
There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing.
Destroy the cursed thing
Israel must conquer idolatrous cities, and destroy all the spoil, regarding all that had been polluted by idolatry as an accursed thing to be burned with fire. Now, sin of all sorts must be treated by Christians in the same manner. We must not allow a single evil habit to remain. It is now war to the knife with sins of all sorts and sizes, whether of the body, the mind, or the spirit. We do not look upon this giving up of evil as deserving mercy, but we regard it as a fruit of the grace of God, which we would on no account miss. When God causes us to have no mercy on our sins, then He has great mercy on us. When we are angry with evil, God is no more angry with us. When we multiply our efforts against iniquity, the Lord multiplies our blessings. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing] As God did not permit them to take the spoils of these idolatrous cities, they could be under no temptation to make war upon them. It could only be done through a merely religious motive, in obedience to the command of God, as they could have no profit by the subversion of such places. How few religious wars would there ever have been in the world had they been regulated by this principle: “Thou shalt neither extend thy territory, nor take any spoils!”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of the cursed thing, i.e. of the goods of that accursed city.
And multiply thee; so thou shalt have no loss of thy numbers by cutting off so many people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. there shall cleave naught of thecursed thing to thine handNo spoil shall be taken from a citythus solemnly devoted to destruction. Every living creature must beput to the swordeverything belonging to it reduced to ashesthatnothing but its infamy may remain.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand,…. That is, they might not take anything whatever to their own use; for all being devoted to destruction, was cursed, and brought a curse upon the man that should make it his own property, as Achan did, when Jericho was destroyed:
that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger; stirred up by the idolatry of the city:
and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee; who, seeing wrath gone forth, might dread the consequences, lest it should spread itself further:
and multiply thee, as he hath sworn to thy fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this is observed to encourage them to execute his orders punctually in the destruction of the idolatrous city; since God could and would multiply them, as he had promised their fathers, with an oath, so that they should not be the fewer by such an instance of his severity.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To enforce this command still more strongly, it is expressly stated, that of all that was burned, nothing whatever was to cleave or remain hanging to the hand of Israel, that the Lord might turn from His wrath and have compassion upon the nation, i.e., not punish the sin of one town upon the nation as a whole, but have mercy upon it and multiply it, – make up the diminution consequent upon the destruction of the inhabitants of that town, and so fulfil the promise given to the fathers of the multiplication of their seed.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(17) We seem to hear an echo of this verse in the close of the story of Achan (Jos. 7:26): And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones, and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. There shall cleave naught to thine hand How the violation of this command brought the anger of Jehovah upon the whole people is seen in the case of Achan. Joshua 7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 17. There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand Nothing could be more wisely appointed than this law, which served at once to create in them the greatest abhorrence of idolatry, and at the same time prevented any temptations to destroy an innocent city for the sake of plunder. After such severe and strict laws for the extirpation of idolatry, one cannot help being astonished at the absurdity of Voltaire’s attempt to prove that idolatry was tolerated among the Jews.
That the Lord maymultiply thee As if he had said, “Fear not that the total destruction of a great city will prejudice your commonwealth; for the Lord, in consequence of your obedience to his commands, will give you other citizens, and those in great abundance.” With respect to the punishment denounced in this chapter, it was necessary; for nothing was more important than to prevent a crime which sapped the very foundations of the Hebrew constitution church and state. Grotius remarks, that idolatry and blasphemy were the only crimes to which a confiscation of goods was attached; as religion is the bond of society, impiety and irreligion are its destruction. See De Jur. B. et P. lib. 2: cap. 20. We should, however, remark at the same time, that, as the law here treated of was founded upon the particular constitution of the people of Israel, we cannot justly conclude from it, that it is lawful among other nations to punish idolaters with death, however enormous their crime may be.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
cursed = devoted [to destruction]. Compare Jos 6:18; Jos 7:1.
as = according as.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
cleave: Deu 7:26, Jos 6:18, Jos 7:1
cursed: or, devoted, Lev 27:28, Lev 27:29, 1Co 16:22
the Lord: Jos 6:26, Jos 7:26, Jos 22:20, Psa 78:38
and show: Exo 20:6, Lam 3:32
and multiply: Eze 37:26
as he hath: Gen 22:16, Gen 22:17, Gen 26:4, Gen 26:24, Gen 28:14
Reciprocal: Exo 32:12 – Turn from Lev 27:21 – devoted Num 16:26 – I pray you Num 25:4 – that the fierce Deu 28:9 – sworn 1Ch 2:7 – accursed Ezr 10:14 – the fierce Psa 85:3 – turned Psa 101:3 – it shall not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
13:17 And there shall cleave nought of the {k} cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
(k) Of the spoil of that idolatrous and cursed city, read De 7:26, Jos 7:11.