Ulangan 13:5

13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, ¹  he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. ² 

Ulangan 13:9

13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! ³  Your own hand must be the first to strike him, ⁴  and then the hands of the whole community.

Ulangan 13:15

13:15 you must by all means ⁵  slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate ⁶  with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.

[13:5]  ¹ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

[13:5]  ² tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).

[13:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).

[13:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.

[13:15]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. KJV, NASB “surely”; NIV “certainly.”

[13:15]  ⁶ tn 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 Deut 2:34.