Tyndale Open Study NotesDeuteronomy 13

Prophets who tried to lead Israel away from the one true God committed treason, which was punishable by death. No other religion demanded exclusive worship of their national gods. As a result, such severe penalties for worshiping other gods were unknown in the ancient Near East.

God performed signs and miracles to inspire wonder and faith in those who saw them (see 6:22). False prophets and magicians could imitate these acts to some extent, sometimes misleading God's people (see Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:7).

• dreamer: Literally dreamer of dreams. It refers to someone who claims to receive messages through dreams.

• purge (literally you must burn): God commanded that false prophets be removed completely so that their harmful influence would not remain. See also 17:12; 19:13.

The Israelites had heard about these false gods before. However, they had not worshiped them.

If they began to worship them, they would break the first two commandments. These commandments express the main meaning of the covenant.

Your hand must be the first against him: Because the guilty person could be someone from your own family, this command was very difficult. It tested how deeply a person was committed to worship the Lord alone (13:6).

God required his people to love and obey him above all else. Their love for God had to come before their love for family members and friends (Matthew 10:34–39).

wicked men (literally sons of Belial): In Hebrew, the phrase son or sons of often shows that a person belongs to a group or shares certain qualities. So sons of Belial refers to people who share evil or worthless behavior.

Wicked men were people who deceived others and led them away from what is right (Proverbs 6:12; 16:27; 19:28; Nahum 1:11).

An abomination is any action or even thought that is offensive to God (see study notes on 7:25–26; 12:31).

Plunder or "spoils of war" were not to be kept. God had ordered them to be completely destroyed (see 2:34; Leviticus 27:28–29).