All this word which I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it, nor diminish from it.
verse value 5538
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 56 letters. Verse gematria: 5538 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֤ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·the·word" (אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֗ר, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·the·word" (אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֗ר), "not·shall·you·add" (לֹא־תֹסֵ֣ף), "you·shall·diminish" (תִגְרַ֖ע). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "all·the·word" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·do', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 5 words. Full calculation: אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֗ר [all·the·word] (662) + אֲשֶׁ֤ר [that] (501) + אָנֹכִי֙ [i] (81) + מְצַוֶּ֣ה [commanding] (141) + אֶתְכֶ֔ם [you] (461) + אֹת֥וֹ [it] (407) + תִשְׁמְר֖וּ [you·shall·observe] (946) + לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת [to·do] (806) + לֹא־תֹסֵ֣ף [not·shall·you·add] (571) + עָלָ֔יו [upon] (116) + וְלֹ֥א [not] (37) + תִגְרַ֖ע [you·shall·diminish] (673) + מִמֶּֽנּוּ [from] (136) = 5538.
Onkelos
Every matter that I command you, that you shall take care to do; you shall not add to it, nor subtract from it.
Rashi
את כל הדבר EVERYTHING [I COMMAND YOU] — light precepts as well as grave ones (Sifrei Devarim 82:1), תשמרו לעשות OBSERVE TO DO — This statement is intended to attach also a prohibition (לאו) to the positive commands mentioned in this section (Sifrei Devarim 82:2), for wherever השמר is used it is a term that implies a prohibition, but the difference between this and an ordinary prohibition is that flagellation is not inflicted for infringing a prohibition resulting from the use of the term השמר in connection with a positive command. לא תסף עליו THOU SHALT NOT ADD THERETO — as, for instance, to place five chapters in the Tephillin, to employ five species of fruit and plants in the fulfilment of the command of Lulab, to recite four instead of three blessings in the Benedictions of the priests (Sifrei Devarim 82:4; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:2).
Sforno
לא תוסף עליו, for you might add something which is despicable in the eyes of the Lord. If, perchance, you would add new ways of the serving the Lord, you have no assurance that such innovation is acceptable to G’d, for instance the burning of one’s children in G’d’s honour. ולא תגרע ממנו, even if, in your judgment, the rationale for observing the commandment in question no longer applies, is no longer relevant. An example would be Solomon’s reasoning that the restrictions placed by the Torah on the number of wives a king may have did not apply to him as none of these wives could possibly incite him to turn away from G’d. (compare Sanhedrin 21).
Chizkuni
לא תוסף עליו, “do not add thereto;” the letter ס here has the vowel tzeyre under it.עליו, additional numbers of sheep, goats of bulls to the offerings. Neither must you add other categories of offerings, such as your sons or daughters. ולא תגרע ממנו, “neither are you to detract from the number of animal species that I have authorized for of offerings”.
If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams—and he give you a sign or a wonder,
verse value 2249
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 41 letters. Verse gematria: 2249 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "or" (א֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·there·arises" (כִּֽי־יָק֤וּם, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 7: or, or. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "dream" (חֲל֑וֹם), "wonder" (מוֹפֵֽת). The root או appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·gives" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy); "to·you" (root אל, 98x in Deuteronomy); "in·your·midst" (root קרב, 57x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נביא ("prophet") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root חלם ("dreamer") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'dream', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: כִּֽי־יָק֤וּם [if·there·arises] (186) + בְּקִרְבְּךָ֙ [in·your·midst] (324) + נָבִ֔יא [prophet] (63) + א֖וֹ [or] (7) + חֹלֵ֣ם [dreamer] (78) + חֲל֑וֹם [dream] (84) + וְנָתַ֥ן [and·he·gives] (506) + אֵלֶ֛יךָ [to·you] (61) + א֖וֹת [sign] (407) + א֥וֹ [or] (7) + מוֹפֵֽת [wonder] (526) = 2249.
Onkelos
If there should arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
Rashi
ונתן אליך אות [IF THERE ARISE AMONG YOU A PROPHET …] AND GIVETH THEE A SIGN that will show itself in the heavens, just as it is stated in the case of Gideon who spoke to the angel, (Judges 6:17) “[If now I found grace in your sight], then show me a sign (אות)”, and then it further states, (Judges 6:39) “[let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece;] let it be dry only upon the fleece [and upon all the ground let there be dew]”. או מופת OR A WONDER showing itself on the earth. — Nevertheless you shall not hearken unto him (although the sign or the wonder come to pass; cf. v. 3). But if you ask, why then does God give him the power to perform a sign? Scripture replies, (v. 4) “for the Lord your God trieth you, [to know whether you really love the Lord your God]” (Sifrei Devarim 84:1; cf. Sanhedrin 90a).
Ramban
IF THERE ARISE IN THE MIDST OF THEE A PROPHET, OR A DREAMER OF DREAMS. Scripture calls him “a prophet” on the basis of his own claim, for it is he who claims, “G-d spoke with me while I was awake and I am His prophet sent to you [to command] that you [worship idols,” as mentioned in Verse 3]. But it is possible that Scripture alludes to that which is true [that the person does indeed possess certain prophetic powers], for there is a prophetic potential in the souls of some people by which they know of things to come without the person knowing whence it comes to him, but he will isolate himself and [then] a spirit will arrive within him saying, “Thus it will happen to that person in the future in a particular matter.” The philosophers call [that power of prophecy] kahin. They do not know its cause, but the matter is substantiated in the sight of witnesses. Perhaps the soul in its keenness cleaves to the pure intellect and concentrates on it. Such a person is called “prophet,” because he predicts events, and, therefore, the sign or wonder whereof he spoke comes to pass. AND HE GIVE THEE ‘OTH’ (A SIGN) OR ‘MOFEITH’ (WONDER). A Sign [denotes a natural phenomenon serving as] a symbol of something similar that will take place afterwards, this being associated with the expression, every man with his own standard, ‘b’othoth’ (according to the ensigns). For when a prophet comes and says “The following [natural] matter is to represent something which is to take place” that is termed an oth (a sign), similar to what is stated, Therefore, the Eternal Himself shall give you an ‘oth’ (a sign) that G-d is with us, [the omen being] the name of the son of the prophet’s wife, [“Immanuel,” meaning “G-d is with us”] The word oth is thus derived from at hah [“coming,” since the oth represents something about to come]. A mofeith (a wonder), on the other hand, applies to something novel which the prophet does before us, making some change in the natural order of the world, similar to what is stated, to inquire of ‘hamofeith’ (the wonder) that was done in the Land; And I will show ‘moft him’ (wonders) in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire. The word mofeith is thus a shortened form of mufleith (marvelous) — just like the expression ‘sheirith’ (the rest of) Israel [which is a shortened form of she’eirith]. The [Sacred] Language adopted the term to signify anything which is supernatural, just as it is stated, Thus Ezekiel shall be unto you ‘l’mofeith’ (for a wonder), and it is stated there, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; so shall thou be ‘l’mofeith’ (for a wonder) unto them, seeing that his actions were wondrous in the eyes of the beholders. The word mofeith [a derivative from pele — wonder] is thus similar in sense to the following expression, and she is come down ‘p’la’im’ (wonderfully). So also: the signs ‘v’thimhaya’ (and wonders); how great are His signs, ‘v’thimhohie’ (and His wonders) how mighty they are!; the signs ‘v’hamoft him’ (and the w...
Ibn Ezra
"If there arises among you a prophet" — The reason for "among you" is that a prophet can only come from Israel. This passage is connected to the subject of idolatry, for the burning of children was done in service of idols. "A prophet" — meaning one who claims that Hashem or His messenger spoke to him while awake, or in a dream. Some say it is possible that the prophet is one who steals the word of Hashem [i.e., overhears prophecy not meant for him], and they explain that here Scripture speaks of a true prophet whose sign comes to pass, thus validating him — and the one who heard it reported it so that it would serve as a sign for him personally. Others say that even if the sign and wonder comes to pass, one should not believe him, since his words contradict sound reasoning. In my view, a sign and a wonder are like a signal — and the proof is the words of Isaiah, who said, "Behold, I and the children that Hashem has given me are for signs and for wonders" (Isaiah 8:18): the sign of the prophet was when "My servant Isaiah walked naked and barefoot" (Isaiah 20:3), and the signs of his sons were their names, each corresponding to an event that would occur in their day — they being Immanuel, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and Shear-jashub. Likewise, regarding the plagues: "They shall be for you a sign and a wonder" — and there are many more such examples.
Or HaChaim
כי יקום בקרבך נביא, "When a prophet arises in your midst, etc." The word נביא implies that even if this person has an established reputation as a true prophet, if he asks you to violate any of G'd's commandments even temporarily and it involves idolatry he is guilty of death. [He may ask you to temporarily violate a different one of the commandments such as Elijah at Mount Carmel who rebuilt a private altar upon which it was forbidden to offer sacrifices after the Temple in Jerusalem had been built. Ed.] ונתן אליך אות או מופת, "and he will demonstrate to you a sign or a wonder, etc." Why did the Torah not first mention what it is the prophet said and which he wishes to lend credence to by performing a miracle? Furthermore, what does the Torah mean when writing: ובא האות…לאמור, and the sign comes about….saying?" Does the sign then say something? Is it not the prophet who says something, i.e. to serve an alien deity, and that is why he incurs the death penalty? It appears that our verse addresses the following situation. The prophet claims that G'd has instructed him to legitimise himself by means of a sign or a certain kind of miracle. The idea is that the prophet tells the people that if, as a result of his attempts to create a miracle and this miracle would materialise in a certain predetermined manner, then this would be proof that G'd had asked the people to worship a certain deity. If, on the other hand, said miracle would materialise in a different form, this would be proof that G'd wanted said deity to be burned and destroyed. ובא האות והמופת, and now the miracle has indeed materialised in the form which would indicate that the people ought to worship the deity which the prophet spoke about (although he had been careful to leave the decision to the people themselves), the Torah says: "do not hearken to him!" In other words, such a so-called prophet is guilty of the death penalty even though he himself had not insisted that the people engage in idolatry but had left the decision up to them and to their interpretation of the miracle's meaning. Although the people themselves had freely decided to engage in worship of such a deity, the "prophet" is still guilty of the death penalty.
Chizkuni
כי יקום בקרבך נביא, “if a prophet arises in your midst;” this subject is introduced here as the subject of idolatry will follow thereafter.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי יקום בקרבך נביא, “When a prophet will arise among you, etc.” This refers to someone claiming to be a prophet, claiming that G’d had communicated with him either while he was awake or while he was dreaming. ונתן אליך אות, “and he will produce a sign (miracle) for you,” something in heaven proving G’d had communicated with him (compare Judges 6,17). או מופת, “or a miracle,” something occurring on terrestrial earth which defies the laws of nature. The Torah tells you that such miracles nothwithstanding you are not to listen to his instructions. (Rashi) If you will ask why G’d has empowered such a person to perform a miracle, the Torah answers that G’d will test your faith in Him by doing so. [It is assumed that the so-called prophet uses the miracle to entice you to violate a law of the Torah you are familiar with, primarily forms of idolatry. Ed.] Nachmanides understands the word אות או מופת as follows: אות is advance notice of an otherwise unexpected future event, the sort of thing Moses did when he announced the arrival and time of the plagues to Pharaoh beforehand. The Torah had referred to his staff as the instrument with which he would make these אותות occur. (Exodus 4,17) Isaiah 7,14 also uses the word אות to describes an event he had foretold. The word is derived from אתה, “i.e. to come, to arrive, to occur,” as in Deut. 33,2 ואתה מרבבות קודש, “He arrived with myriads of holy ones” (angels). The word מופת on the other hand, describes a totally new phenomenon occurring on earth, such as when G’d said in Yoel 3,3 ונתתי מופתים בשמים ובארץ, “I will perform miracles in the sky and on earth.” The word מופת is an abbreviation of the word מופלאת, (compare Job 37,16). In Egypt G’d had performed both אותות ומופתים as we know from Deut. 4,34. אותות were the ones Moses had announced in advance, whereas מופתים took the victims by surprise and also defied the laws of nature. It is a well known fact that one does not accept a person’s claim to be a prophet until he has legitimized himself either by an אות or by a מופת. Not only do the miracles he foretold have to occur, but they have to occur 100% as he had foretold, both regarding date, regarding extent, etc. If a single detail of what the claimant promised did not materialize it is certain that he is not a prophet. Once a person has legitimatized himself in that all the miracles he foretold occurred in accordance with his predictions, if he will foretell a disaster in the future and the disaster does not occur this does not mean that he is a fraud. The test of whether a prophet is real or an impostor is when he foretold something pleasant, something that people look forward to and all or some of it fails to materialize. It makes no difference whether his prophecy concerned an individual or a group of people; not a single detail of what he predicted is allowed to fail to come true. In Jeremiah 28,9 the prophet told Chananiah son of Azor, who claimed to be a prophet “if a prophet prophesies good fortune, then only when the word of the prophet comes true can it be known that the Lord really sent him.” When prophets predict disasters which do not occur, one does not suspect them but attributes this to other causes, primarily that the people warned of the disaster had repented. After all, the whole purpose of the prophet’s mission is to cause people to return to G’d in penitence. We have a rule that G’d never reconsiders the promise of good fortune (compare Maimonides Yesodei Hatorah 10,4). Proof that the failure of a prophet’s foretelling disaster does not disqualify him when it does not occur, is what happened a Nineveh. Jonah was not discredited by the people of Nineveh doing teshuvah. Had G’d wanted to destroy those people at that time why did He have to send the prophet to them in the first place? When Isaiah told king Chizkiyah מות תמות, “you will surely die,” it did not discredit the prophet when Chizkiyah was given 15 more years of life on earth. At the time Iaaiah warned Chizkiyah he was most certainly under divine sentence of death. G’d allowed Himself to be entreated by him; this did not make Isaiah a liar. The technical reason why such prophetic pronouncements can be canceled is that teshuvah, repentance, was created prior to the creation of the universe, i.e. it overrides anything created later. (compare Pesachim 54).
Tur HaArokh
כי יקום בקרבך נביא או חולם חלום, “If there will arise among you someone proclaiming himself as a prophet or as someone receiving messages from heaven in a dream, etc.” [There is a bracket by the publisher in my edition that calls attention to a gematriya our author (did not completely) publish in his commentary known as Baal Haturim in which the letters of the word נביא , prophet, (63) are shown to have the same numerical value as the word ובנה, “and her son.” The author did publish the other half of this, i.e. that the word בקרבך is equivalent in numerical value (324) of the words זו האשה (324) “this is the woman,” i.e. the woman experiencing the immaculate conception, who gave birth to the founder of Christianity who was halachically a Jew. Clearly, the author, living as he did in Christian Spain in the 14th century where the Inquisition held sway, did not want to expose himself to the accusation by the Inquisition that he had labeled that man as a false prophet. Chumash editions printed in predominantly Christian countries either omit the author’s comment on this verse altogether or present it in an entirely unintelligible form i.e. that the numerical value of the word בקרבך=the numerical value of the word זו. Ed.] To the question why the Torah (Moses) refers to such an impostor as נביא, prophet, the answer is simple, i.e. the Torah calls him by the title this man claims to possess. He claims that G’d appeared to him while he was fully awake and appointed him as His messenger. Nachmanides writes that it is possible that the Torah does not refer to an impostor at all, as some people possess souls that have been endowed with some gift of prophecy. Such people have some knowledge of future events although they themselves do not know the origin of such knowledge. They are in the habit of going into temporary seclusion and during that period and while in such seclusion, a spirit reveals to them parts of future events and the when and where of such events. When his listeners find out that the predictions by such people came true, they refer to him as a “prophet.” While we can only speculate on the source of such “prophets’” knowledge, Nachmanides suggests that possibly the soul of such a person, during its nightly sojourn in heavenly regions, established some kinship with disembodied heavenly beings who divulged such knowledge to his soul. Ibn Ezra writes that it is possible that the person described by Moses is someone who had “stolen” his prophetic announcement from a true prophet whom he had overheard as speaking of a vision he had. The “so-called” prophet discussed by Moses uses his knowledge of the true prophecy to establish his credibility concerning additional predictions that he had invented himself. [Compare Jeremiah 23,30 on this subject. Ed.] ונתן אליך אות ומופת, “and he furnishes you with a sign or a miracle.” Nachmanides defines the meaning of the word אות as a visible sign that what the prophet predicted may indeed come to pass. [If the impostor predicted an event which in his words would occur in, say, three years’ time, he would need something to enable him to enroll his followers before the three years were up. Ed.] He would predict that the “sign” was something that would occur in short order and when it did, it would establish his credibility. The root of the word אות here is analogous to Deut.33, 2 ואתה" מרבבות קודש,“ “having arrived, materialized, with myriads of holy angels.” The word מופת refers to something supernatural that this impostor performs in the presence of all his listeners, immediately, again, in order to establish his credibility as having contact with the supernatural. In both instances the objective of such a “prophet” is not to compete with accredited prophets, but to mislead his listeners into believing that he had had a revelation asking him to make the people “update” their religious beliefs by introducing worship to additional deities. [This editor used to have difficulties with believing that the Jewish people could be naive enough to “fall” for such heretical claims by impostors, until I had learned the passage on Rav Ashi’s nocturnal encounter with the apparition of King Menashe, son of the illustrious King Chizkiyah, and his wife, daughter of the famous prophet Isaiah, and the commentary on that aggadah by Rabbi Yitzchak Arama in his Akeydat Yitzchok. Compare Sanhedrin 102, and this editor’s translation of Akeydat Yitzchok, pages 374-378. Ed.] When Moses demonstrated that by throwing his staff on the ground it turned into a snake, and when he took hold of its tail it reverted to becoming a harmless staff, the people were encouraged to believe him when he predicted that G’d had charged him with orchestrating their release from bondage which, of course, would take a little longer to accomplish. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, what Moses speaks about is an impostor who does not even claim to speak in the name of Hashem, but who claims to have been appointed as a prophet for an alien deity, and this is what is meant by ואשר ידבר בשם אלוהים אחרים, “that he speaks in the name of other gods.” He will die, ומת, (compare Deut. 18,20) because this is the penalty for anyone prophesying in the name of other gods whether truthfully or not. That person is guilty of idolatry that carries the death penalty. However, our sages (Sanhedrin 90) explain our verse as speaking of a “prophet” who claims to speak In the name of Hashem,” claiming to have been authorized by Hashem to deliver his message that it is now in order to practice some aspect of idolatry, and that the deity in question is a junior partner of Hashem having assisted in the creation of the universe. The impostor may also try to convince you that Hashem is truly a greater G’d than anyone preceding him. This, while sounding harmless to the average Jew, is a basic form of idolatry, because it posits that there was anything of substance before Hashem created the universe. He claims to have been authorized to ask you to acknowledge these earlier gods in some way, even if ever so briefly. All such propositions are equally idolatrous, and the proponent qualifies for the death penalty. The Torah here commands explicitly that even if such a “prophet” claims to preach in the name of Hashem and his lifestyle is no different from that of any other pious Jew, these are not any considerations in his favour; he tried to lead you astray, hence he must be executed. The impostor in question dresses up his message by acknowledging the Exodus from Egypt, by acknowledging the revelation at Mount Sinai, etc., as he knows full well that it is useless to even question such historic events which are firmly anchored in the people’s collective psyche. [This is why the founders of the Christian religion built on the truth of the “old” testament, but by updating G’d’s attributes tried to introduce a new version of Hashem. Ed.] There never has been another Hashem, there never will be, and His essence or attributes are not subject to change. He revealed Himself at Sinai, in order to leave us in no doubt about all this.
and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you—saying: "Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them";
verse value 3894 — אֱלֹהִ֧ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "god" (אֱלֹהִ֧ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "and·it·comes" (וּבָ֤א, 3 letters) and the longest is "not·you·have·known" (לֹֽא־יְדַעְתָּ֖ם, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "sign" (הָאוֹת֙), "and·the·wonder" (וְהַמּוֹפֵ֔ת), "and·let·us·serve·them" (וְנׇֽעׇבְדֵֽם). The root אחר appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "god" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "that·he·spoke" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·say', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 7 words. Full calculation: וּבָ֤א [and·it·comes] (9) + הָאוֹת֙ [sign] (412) + וְהַמּוֹפֵ֔ת [and·the·wonder] (537) + אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר [that·he·spoke] (707) + אֵלֶ֖יךָ [to·you] (61) + לֵאמֹ֑ר [to·say] (271) + נֵֽלְכָ֞ה [let·us·go] (105) + אַחֲרֵ֨י [after] (219) + אֱלֹהִ֧ים [god] (86) + אֲחֵרִ֛ים [other] (259) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + לֹֽא־יְדַעְתָּ֖ם [not·you·have·known] (555) + וְנׇֽעׇבְדֵֽם [and·let·us·serve·them] (172) = 3894.
Onkelos
and the sign or the wonder comes about which he spoke to you, saying: Let us go after the idols of the nations, which you have not known, and serve them —
Sforno
אשר לא ידעתם, the miracle proving the existence of such a phenomenon seeing you had never heard of its existence. Seeing we do not know the function of the phenomenon makes it more difficult to dismiss the idea that it possesses powers. It is unlike sun and moon whose functions and limitations we know. We know that it is useless to pray to sun and moon, as their obvious limitations are known to us.
Chizkuni
ובא האות והמופת, “and the sign or wonder predicted will come to pass;” the letter ו in the word והמופת means: “or.”We have a similar construction in Exodus 21,15, where the line: ומכה אביו ואמו, means: “anyone who strikes his father or his mother.” Similar constructions occur in Exodus 21,17, and in numerous other places in the Torah. The Sifri quotes a Baraitha in which Rabbi Akiva is cited as saying that we must not be misled into believing that G-d would interfere with the position of sun or moon in order to comply with the wishes of a false prophet. What is meant in our verse is that a true prophet, who has in the past performed miracles, and had thus legitimised himself by having performed such miracles, has become a heretic and the people now believe him, not knowing that he has become a heretic. If such a prophet would call on the people to perform acts of idolatry, he must not be believed, regardless of the fact that at one time he was a legitimate prophet. No true prophet is to be believed if his message entails violating laws of the Torah, regardless of how many times he had in the past demonstrated that he was a true prophet, unless when he did so he said that he suggested such a violation only as a one time emergency measure due to exceptional circumstances. If you were to ask, that seeing that G-d knew in advance that such a prophet would turn into a heretic, so why did He equip him with prophetic powers in the first place?The Torah answers this question by telling us that it is G-d’s way of testing our faith in Moses’ Torah being the one and only Torah He has given us, and that it will not undergo changes in the course of history. (verse 4) This is even more true, when the socalled prophet performs acts by a slight of hand which deceive the onlookers into believing that he had performed miracle. The same is true if such a charlatan knows how to trick you into believing that you had heard things in the name of the Lord, things which he had never heard from G-d. Do not let either your eyes or your ears deceive you when the subject is the inviolability of the laws of the Torah. You must follow only the revealed word of G-d as handed down by Moses in the Torah.
Rashbam
ובא האות והמופת, these false prophets came by their knowledge by means of their dealings with the necromancers, etc., people whom we are supposed to put to death.
you shall not heed the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for Hashem your God puts you to proof, to know whether you do love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
verse value 4343 — יְהֹוָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 101 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·with·all·your·soul" (וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 106: your·God, your·God. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "the·dreamer" (אֶל־חוֹלֵ֥ם), "testing" (מְנַסֶּ֞ה), "whether·you·are" (הֲיִשְׁכֶ֤ם). The root הוא appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root יש ("whether·you·are") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'that', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 12 words.
Onkelos
do not accept the words of that prophet or of that dreamer of dreams, for Hashem your God is testing you, to know whether you love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Ramban
FOR THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D TRIETH YOU. This is to state that the purport of the wonder which came to pass and which G-d showed him in his dream or [as the philosophers say] in his kahin was G-d’s will in order to test you in your love of Him. Now I have already explained that the term “test” is derived from the point of view of the one who is being tested. It states here to know [for the Eternal your G-d trieth you ‘to know’ whether ye do love … meaning] that it became known in fact what exists in potential and is revealed [only] to Him. Thus the commandment of this entire section refers to someone who prophesies to worship the idols. But concerning one who prophesies in the name of G-d to change any of the commandments of the Torah, our Rabbis have interpreted that if he came to [completely] uproot any item from the Torah, such as permitting [the eating of] swine or [permitting] one of the adulterous relationships, according to this judgment shall it be done to him [i.e., he is liable to death as is stated here in Verse 6]. But if he declares it to be permissible only for some time as a temporary measure such as Elijah did on Mount Carmel [in permitting offerings to G-d outside of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem], we are obligated to listen to him and to do everything that he commands us. It appears [to me] that if he prophesies in the name of G-d to command a precept that he innovates, as happened concerning reading of the Scroll [of Esther on Purim], that he is not guilty of a capital offense, only that we are not to obey him, because it is written, These are the commandments, [which our Rabbis interpret to mean]: “No prophet is henceforth permitted to declare any new matter therein.” But perhaps, since we do not believe him, he is thus a false prophet and his death is by strangulation.
Ibn Ezra
The reason for "For Hashem your God is testing you" — because they [Israel] left him and did not execute him, the trial of Hashem serves to reveal the righteousness of the one being tested.
Sforno
לא תשמע אל הנביא ההוא, do not even turn to listen to find out if his words have even partial substance, for there can be no question that the man is full of lies and tells you things he has made up, all for an evil purpose; כי דבר סרה, for what he portrays as a miracle is nothing but sleight of hand or forgery of some other kind. או אל חולם החלום ההוא, to see if even part of what he dreamt reflected some truth of what was going to happen; you may be sure that the dreamers did not actually dream any part of what he claimed to have dreamt, but he invented all of it in order to seduce you; כי מנסה ה' אלוקיכם אתכם, by referring with hostility to a person who spoke out against G’d, you will be proven as truly loving G’d. לדעת, once your previously theoretical faith in G’d has been so tested, you will become truly tested in your intimate conviction of G’d’s goodness which becomes an unshakable enduring conviction. Someone who believes truly in the goodness of the Lord cannot help but hate anyone who denies G’d’s goodness, just as if you love a human being truly you cannot help hating a person who hates the person whom you truly love.
Or HaChaim
כי מנסה ה׳ אלוקיכם אתכם לדעת, for the Lord your G'd is testing you, wanting to know, etc." You may well ask why such a prophet should be executed if G'd sent him to test the loyalty of the Jewish people! Clearly then the words כי מנסה do not mean that G'd instructed this prophet to say what he said, but it explains only why the miracles this prophet performed in order to legitimise himself were allowed to happen. Alternatively, the fact is that G'd never allowed any miracles to be performed by a prophet except to demonstrate His dominion over the forces of nature, i.e. that He created these forces. The words כי מנסה השם, "for G'd conducts a test, etc." are only an answer to the question why G'd allows some people to perform such miracles instead of preventing them so as not to mislead the Israelites. The Torah answers that G'd allows the world to function in its normal manner. If it were not for the fact that G'd on occasion wants to test His people, He would not allow such charlatans to perform miracles so as not to reinforce the power of the wicked.
Chizkuni
לא תשמע אל דברי הניא ההוא, “do not listen to the words of that “prophet;” it is illogical to believe that such a prophet’s miracle could override My commandments to you, seeing that I have warned you of the possibility of such false prophets arising already before any such person did in fact claim to be My prophet. כי מנסה “for He is testing;” I already explained the meaning of this “test.” הישכם, the letter י in this word has the vowel chirik.
Tur HaArokh
כי מנסה ה' אלוקיכם אתכם, “Hashem, your G’d is testing you, etc.” the reason why Hashem allows such a person to perform a miracle, or to correctly foretell an unlikely future event, is to put your faith in Him to a test, to see if you will use such people to try and foretell future events for you, thus subverting your absolute faith in Him. During the period in our history when there were prophets, the people when puzzled about events, would indeed turn to the accredited prophet and ask him to enquire from G’d about the meaning of events which they could not reconcile with what they had been taught to expect. Nachmanides has explained that the term ”test” when used by the Torah always refers to how it looks to the person being tested. G’d Himself never needs to test anyone as He is aware of man’s belief and reactions to so-called “tests.”
Rashbam
'כי מנסה ה' וגו, the only reason G’d allowed such people to possess what sounds like supernatural knowledge, is to test our faith, to see if we will heed the prohibition against using such sources of information and of tolerating such people as part of our culture. By choosing not to resort to the knowledge of such people of the future, etc., we accumulate merits in G’d’s books (compare Deut. 18,10-13). Refusing to believe such false prophets is in itself a good deed. Believing them is equivalent to believing in idolatry.
You shall walk after Hashem your God, and you shall fear Him, and you shall keep His commandments, and you shall heed His voice, and you shall serve Him, and you shall cleave to Him.
verse value 6173 — יְהֹוָ֧ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֧ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "and·in" (וּב֥וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·his·commandments" (וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתָ֤יו, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 413: and, and. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·fear" (תִירָ֑אוּ), "and·in·his·voice" (וּבְקֹל֣וֹ), "you·shall·serve" (תַעֲבֹ֖דוּ). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "you·shall·hear" (root שמע, 92x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·shall·fear', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 8 words. Full calculation: אַחֲרֵ֨י [after] (219) + יְהֹוָ֧ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם [your·God] (106) + תֵּלֵ֖כוּ [you·shall·walk] (456) + וְאֹת֣וֹ [and] (413) + תִירָ֑אוּ [you·shall·fear] (617) + וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתָ֤יו [and·his·commandments] (959) + תִּשְׁמֹ֙רוּ֙ [you·shall·keep] (946) + וּבְקֹל֣וֹ [and·in·his·voice] (144) + תִשְׁמָ֔עוּ [you·shall·hear] (816) + וְאֹת֥וֹ [and] (413) + תַעֲבֹ֖דוּ [you·shall·serve] (482) + וּב֥וֹ [and·in] (14) + תִדְבָּקֽוּן [you·shall·cling] (562) = 6173.
Onkelos
After the fear of Hashem your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and to His Word shall you hearken, and before Him shall you serve, and to His fear shall you draw near.
Rashi
ואת מצותיו תשמורו HIS COMMANDMENTS YE SHALL KEEP — the Law of Moses, ובקלו תשמעו HIS VOICE YE SHALL OBEY — the voice of the prophets, ואתו תעבדו HIM YE SHALL SERVE in His Temple (Sifrei Devarim 85:5). ובו תדבקון AND UNTO HIM YE SHALL CLEAVE — i.e. cleave to His ways: do kindly actions, bury the dead, visit the sick, as did the Holy One, blessed be He (Sotah 14a).
Ramban
AFTER THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D SHALL YE WALK. This is a commandment that we follow His counsel, and of Him alone shall we inquire concerning every hidden thing and inquire concerning the future, as it is written, and she went to inquire of the Eternal; because the people come unto me to inquire of G-d. And so did the Israelites do with the prophets, [as it is said,] Is there not here a prophet of the Eternal, that we may inquire of the Eternal through him?; that the Eternal thy G-d may tell us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing we should do. And in the Sifre it is stated: “After the Eternal your G-d [shall ye walk] — this refers to the cloud [of Glory].” This is as we have explained, that we are to hearken to the “voice” of His signs and follow His counsel. AND HIM SHALL YE FEAR. You are to believe that it is He in Whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and it is in His power to kill and to make alive, visiting iniquity, and rewarding for meritorious deeds. AND HIS COMMANDMENTS SHALL YE KEEP. This refers to the Law of Moses. AND UNTO HIS VOICE SHALL YE HEARKEN — to do whatever He commands us to do aside from the Torah, such as Samuel said [to Saul], Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the Eternal thy G-d [referring to a commandment transmitted to Saul by Samuel]. It is this which is explained further, A prophet will the Eternal raise up unto thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken, and it states, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My Name, I will require it of him meaning that he will be liable to death by the hand of Heaven, and as it happened because of the prophet’s command, “Smite me, and wound me by the word of the Eternal” [and when the man refused to obey he was slain by a lion]. And so also the Rabbis said in the Sifre: “And unto His voice shall ye hearken — the voice of His prophets.” AND HIM SHALL YE SERVE, AND UNTO HIM SHALL YE CLEAVE. I have already explained this. Now it has already been stated, Thou shalt fear the Eternal thy G-d, and Him shalt thou serve. But he repeated it here to negate [any consideration of obedience to a false prophet,] that we are not to fear the words of a [false] prophet because of the sign or wonder, and that we should not transgress the service of G-d because of the prophet’s words, for it is the Eternal alone that we are to fear, and no other god. [It was also repeated here] to add, and unto His voice shall ye hearken.
Ibn Ezra
"After Hashem your God shall you walk" — meaning that you should act, to the best of your ability, according to His deeds, and pursue His ways. "And Him shall you fear" — so as not to question His reasons. "And His commandments shall you keep" — for they are the essential core. "And to His voice shall you hearken" — these serve as a reminder referring back to the essential core. "And Him shall you serve" — in deed. "And to Him shall you cleave" — in the heart, at the beginning and at the end.
Sforno
אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו, similarly phrased to והלכת בדרכיו in Deut. 28,9. You are not to seek out new paths which the “prophet” or “dreamer” employs to make you depart from the ways of the Lord. ואותו תיראו, even though the person who now claims to be a prophet had previously been considered as a pious and thoroughly G’d-fearing individual. Your prior esteem of him and his views must turn into total rejection and you must allow your awe and reverence for G’d and His words to outweigh any argument he may present. ואת מצותיו תשמורו, so that you will only observe His commandments and not any new ones claimed to be His by the new “prophet.” This refers in particular to matters involving idolatry where the most minute deviation automatically challenges the totality of Torah and all of its laws. ובקולו תשמעון, you are to carry out all the instructions given to you by properly accredited prophets and to listen to their commands, such as to Elijah at Mount Carmel, and not to the instructions of anyone canceling any of G’d’s commandments. ואותו תעבודו, exclusively. You cannot simultaneously serve any other deity as spelled out in Exodus 22,19 זובח לאלוהים יחרם, “if anyone is found offering sacrifices to any other deity he is guilty of death.” ובו תדבקון, the objective of all your activities must be to carry out His will unaffected by any prior hostility.
Or HaChaim
אחרי ה׳ אלוקיך תלך, "Follow the Lord your G'd, etc. It is difficult to understand why our paragraph about the false prophet is interrupted by this verse. This verse should have been written only after verse 6 in which the penalty of execution of the false prophet is discussed. Besides, why did Moses use such long-winded phraseology as "you shall follow G'd, fear Him; His commandments you shall observe, and to His voice you shall hearken; Him you shall serve and to Him you shall cleave?" I believe that Moses wanted to spell out the various elements which comprise serving the Lord. Once we know this we can better understand why the penalty for a false prophet or a dreamer applies even if he asks you to violate only a single one of these elements which are part of serving G'd by applying them to worship of an alien deity. The first element in serving the Lord, i.e. "following Him" is the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven and not the dictates of any other power claiming to be a god. This teaches us that if the prophet asks the people to accept the sovereignty of any other power he is guilty of enticing the people to serve idols. Moses was careful to use the word תלכו, "you shall walk (future)," to teach us that even if said prophet did not demand immediate acceptance of an alien deity he is still guilty of the death penalty from the moment he made such a statement. Moses continues: ואותו תיראו, "and Him you shall fear," to emphasise that only Him you shall fear. You must not be afraid of any other so-called power in this universe. The Torah implies that even if the false prophet does not suggest you worship or sacrifice to any other power but only "fear" it, he has thereby become guilty of the death penalty. One must only fear G'd in Heaven. Moses continues: ואת מצותיו תשמרו, "and His commandments you shall observe," i.e. His commandments and not the demands made in the name of any other deity. The new element in this statement is that if, say, the deity orders you to do something which brings in its wake a tangible benefit, such as the promise that if you perform a certain act you will become rich as a result, then although the act itself has no connotation of worship you must not do it as you must not take orders from anyone but G'd. If the false prophet were to say that G'd has ordered him that the people should perform a certain idolatrous act in order to be successful, such a false prophet is liable to execution. Moses goes on to say ובקולו תשמעו, "and you shall hearken to His voice," to remind you that you are to listen only to the teachings revealed in the Torah and to teach these sacred words. You are not to listen to words spoken by the Avodah Zarah. [I suppose it would be prohibited to listen to the sound of the voice of the oracle in Delphi. I was there myself, but it did not speak. Ed.] If the false prophet claims to have been instructed by G'd to listen to what such a deity has to say he is guilty of death even though he does not perfo...
Rabbeinu Bahya
אחרי ה' אלו-היכם תלכו, “Follow Hashem your G’d!” This is an exhortation to emulate G’d’s attributes. The call by Moses here is similar to והלכת בדרכיו in Deut. 28,9. ואותו תיראו, “and Him you shall revere.” Do no relate to Him by trying to investigate His essence but by assessing His manifest actions. ואת מצותיו תשמרו, “and His commandments you are to observe.” This is a reference to the written Torah, the 613 commandments written therein. ובקולו תשמעו, “and to His voice you are to hearken.” This refers to the prophets and includes the oral Torah as we learned in Avot 1,1: “Moses received the Torah (orally) at Mount Sinai and handed it over to Joshua,” etc. ואותו תעבודו, “and Him you shall serve.” This refers to prayer. ובו תדבקון, “and to Him you shall cleave.” This means that even while you are preoccupied with matters other than Torah, matters which are your legitimate concern, such as working for a living, you shall still have G’d on your mind and not totally disassociate your mind from Him even at such times. Alternatively, the meaning could be that you should not ever entertain the thought to leave the service of the Lord. When someone is a slave, even if he is fortunate enough to have the most accommodating and sympathetic master, there are times when he wishes to be free, independent. A Jew is never to allow himself the feeling that he wants to be free of his obligations vis-a-vis the Lord. The affinity between Israelite and G’d should be one that neither party ever wishes to sever. The reason is that true freedom is this very cleaving to Hashem, the best insurance against being enslaved to the evil urge. It is also possible to view the words ובו תדבקון not so much as a command but as a promise. It is the promise of life in the world to come if we have fulfilled the instructions in the first half of the verse to emulate the attributes of the Lord, to revere Him and to serve Him by praying to Him and to observe His commandments, both the written ones and the oral ones (compare Ibn Ezra).
Tur HaArokh
אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו, “You shall follow Hashem your G’d;” Nachmanides interprets these words as Moses urging the people to follow G’d’s advice exclusively, and if they feel the urge to know something in the future because they are consumed with worry, to turn only to Him via His accredited prophets. They are to emulate our matriarch Rivkah, who, when she was unable to account for what by all accounts was an unusual pregnancy, went to “enquire from a Divine source.” (Compare Genesis 25,23)... ואותו תיראו, “and Him you shall fear.” You should be secure in your heart that life and death are domains that are exclusively His, only He can decree death, and only He can decree life, therefore there is no point in fearing anyone else. ואת מצוותיו תשמורו, “and His commandments you shall observe;” the Torah taught to you by Moses. ובקולו תשמעו, “and to His voice you shall hearken.” As a prelude to observing all His instructions, the ones communicated by His accredited Rabbis, in addition to that which is spelled out in the written text of the Torah. The reason why Moses appears to repeat himself here to some extent is because he wants to counter any effect of the words of a false prophet. Some people, out of fear that maybe the false prophet is a true prophet and not listening to him could bring harm on oneself, are inclined to “play it safe.“ Moses therefore warns such people not to do so. There is no other authority than Hashem that is authorized to issue any instructions whatsoever to His people. This is all part of the warning in 12,31, לא תעשה כן לה' אלוקיך, “do not do thus to the Lord your G’d.” The exclusivity of the nature of Hashem must be preserved at all times and in all places. Ibn Ezra understands the words אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו, as an appeal by Moses for the Jewish people to emulate Hashem whenever and wherever that is possible. We are to follow in His footsteps to the extent that He has revealed them to us. The words: ואותו תיראו, he understands as warning us not to ask “why” before we perform His commandments. The words ואת מצותיו תשמורו, he understands as meaning that “performance” of the commandments is what is what is important, not any additional reason of why you do it, i.e. because you agree with it. The words: ובקולו תשמעו, he understands as any explanations, rationales, supporting these commandments being only a reminder of the essential element of each commandment being its performance whenever possible. The meaning of the words ואותו תעבודו, “Him you shall serve,” is “in deed,” whereas the words ובו תדבקון, “and to Him you shall cleave,” mean “with your heart, throughout your life from its beginning to its end.”
And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken rebellion against Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Hashem your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.
verse value 6395 — יְהֹוָ֥ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 29 words, 127 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֥ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "or" (א֣וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·prophet" (וְהַנָּבִ֣יא, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 126: upon·Hashem, slaves. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·the·prophet" (וְהַנָּבִ֣יא), "spoke·rebellion" (דִבֶּר־סָ֠רָ֠ה), "upon·Hashem" (עַל־יְהֹוָ֨ה). The root הוא appears 2 times in this verse. 26 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 26 and 3 words.
Onkelos
And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, for he spoke perversity against Hashem your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage — to draw you away from the path upon which Hashem your God commanded you to walk. And you shall remove the one who does evil from your midst.
Rashi
סרה [BECAUSE HE HATH SPOKEN] סרה — i.e. something that is strange in the world (more lit., removed from the world), something which never existed and was never created (a pure invention), and which I never bade him say; detournure in O. F. והפדך מבית עבדים AND WHO RELEASED YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SERVANTS — even though he had no other claim on you but that He delivered you, it would be sufficient for Him to claim your obedience (Sifrei Devarim 86:5).
Ibn Ezra
"For he has spoken rebellion" — the word "matter" is missing [as implied subject], as in "and by abundant counsel it shall be established" (Proverbs 15:22) [where the implied subject must be inferred]. The meaning of "rebellion" (סָרָה) is that Hashem commanded to turn away from the worship of stars; or alternatively, it derives from the root of "stubborn and rebellious" (סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה) — and this is the more correct interpretation — in which case the resh would rightly take a dagesh. "Who brought you out" and "who redeemed you" — the two expressions are parallel in meaning, for emphasis. "And you shall purge" — I have already explained this.
Sforno
'יומת, כי דבר סרה על ה, even though he had claimed to speak in the name of the Lord and not in the name of some other deity, something which had convinced him that his crime was not subject to the death penalty. We encounter such a scenario in Jeremiah 26,16 where the elders of Jerusalem do not want to convict Jeremiah to the death penalty because he had spoken in the name of the Almighty G’d, i.e. had not denied His sovereignty, although he was perceived as a false prophet, no one accepting his predictions of doom and his call to repentance. להדיחך מן הדרך, even though he had never asked you to abandon G’d, and had only presented an “updated” version of this same G’d’s commandments. He had, however, asked you to depart from “timeless Torah,” making G’d’s laws something that could be changed from time to time, thus making Moses the father figure of all prophets irrelevant. [my words. Ed.]
Or HaChaim
והנביא ההוא או חולם החלום ההוא, "And that prophet or the dreamer of that dream, etc." The Torah had to make reference to the prophet and to the dreamer separately; if the Torah had mentioned only the prophet I would have concluded that the death penalty which is the subject of this verse applies only to someone who had already enjoyed the reputation of being a true prophet. After all, the Israelites have been commanded to hearken to the words of a prophet in Deut. 18,15 where the Torah writes "to him (the prophet) you shall hearken." There is no command in the Torah obligating us to hearken to someone who proclaims that G'd appeared to him in a dream and ordered certain things; in fact many dreams are totally without spiritual significance. I would have reasoned that such a person has not misled the people sufficiently to warrant death. By including the dreamer in our verse the Torah makes plain that such a dreamer is equally guilty in the eyes of the law. If, on the other hand, the Torah had legislated the death penalty only for a person described as having had an appearance of G'd in a dream, I would have deduced from this that only the dreamer is guilty of death but that the words of a prophet who has been known to be a legitimate prophet must be taken seriously even when he asks us to violate the commandment and asks us to temporarily violate the commandment involving idolatry because of some emergency. החלום ההוא יומת כי דבר סרה, "of this dream, will be executed for he spoke falsely, etc." The Torah had to write this as whereas we would have rejected a prophet who told us that G'd had spoken to him openly asking us to perform some kind of idolatry, we might have believed a man who claimed to have had a dream of this kind. Many strange and incomprehensible things occur in dreams, after all. At least we would have believed that the person claiming to have had a dream in which say the deity itself, i.e. the miracle he had performed invited us to perform certain acts, had in fact dreamed such a dream. Moreover, I would have reasoned that seeing all that person did was to tell us his dream without editorial comment, the Torah had to make it clear that such a person too must be executed. The Torah explains the reason by saying כי דבר סרה, that even if it turns out that what the dreamer foretold came true, he had no business to tell us of such a dream since by doing so he created a false image of G'd in our minds. G'd' goes on record that He could never give any such instructions which would involve acts of idolatry. המוציא אתכם מארץ מצרים, "Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, etc." The Torah justifies the death penalty for the aforementioned dreamer. It recalls that when the Israelites left Egypt all of them were granted the vision of mind-boggling miracles in their waking hours. All of these miracles testified to the fact that only G'd was a power and only He had created nature, i.e. the universe. (compare what I have written on Exodus 20,...
Chizkuni
כי דבר סרה, “for something perverse;” he falsified the message he claimed to have received from Me,” What he did was to lead you astray from revering Me. Where is the warning to such a false prophet not to practice his perversion given? It has been spelled out in the words of the Torah, with which he his familiar, “do not listen to him!” (Exodus 23,13) (Compare Torah sh’leymah by Rabbi Menachem Kasher item 182 on that verse.)
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי דבר סרה על ה' אלו-היכם המוציא אתכם מארץ מצרים, “for he has spoken perversely against the Lord your G’d Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.” In other words, the false prophet is guilty of insurrection against heaven even if he performed numerous miracles and placed the sun in the zenith of the sky (at morning or evening) and claimed that this was proof that G’d had instructed him to do so, so that on that particular day we are to serve a certain planet or constellation of stars or other celestial manifestations. Such an impostor is guilty of death by asphyxiation. The reason is that by doing what he did he challenged Moses’s stature as G’d’s foremost prophet (compare Maimonides Hilchot Yessodey Hatorah 9,5). By claiming to have received such instructions from G’d he violated the second of the Ten Commandments that “you shall not have any other deity.” All of the people of Israel had heard this commandment directly from G’d with their own ears. How could anyone come later and claim that G’d had suspended this commandment even for a day?! All of Israel were witnesses against this so-called prophet even before he spoke. This is why the Torah decrees that such a person must be executed seeing all the “so-called” miracles he performed were not real but were deceptions of his audience, sleight of hand, power of suggestion, mass hypnosis, whatever you want to call it. What we have said so far applies only when such a “prophet” asks the people or some of them to commit an act known to be forbidden as idolatrous. If however, a prophet, who had legitimised himself and had been proven to be a legitimate prophet for an extended period of time, will call on the people to temporarily disregard one of the other commandments of the Torah we must listen to him and continue to believe him and to follow his instructions seeing he made it clear that the suspension of the particular commandment he called for was only temporary. This is the meaning of the words אליו תשמעון, “to him you shall hearken” in Deut. 18,15 where the subject of prophets occurs once more. [if the prophet merely called upon you to perform the commandments of the Torah, the Torah would not have had to tell us that we must be “listening to him;” we would be listening to G’d directly, without the need of a prophet’s call. to do so. Ed.] If we do rely on the miracles performed by such a prophet and do not treat them as deception and sleight of hand this is because he has a חזקה, an established reputation, of being a true prophet. If for some reason unknown to us such a prophet becomes a renegade, the Torah does not consider our being misled by him as our fault, but wrote in Deut. 29,28 הנסתרות לה' אלו-הינו, “hidden matters are G’d’s problem” (not our province to investigate). On the other hand הנגלות לנו ולבנינו , “matters which can be clarified by our using our means of detection, we ourselves are held responsible for.” Man must judge by what his eyes see, only G’d is able to look into a man’s heart (compare Maimonides Hilchot Yessodey Hatorah end of chapter 7). The Talmud Sanhedrin 90 also rules that when an established prophet such as Elijah at the time calls upon you to repair a private altar in order to discredit the priests of the Baal, we are to listen to such a prophet. The exception is if such a prophet were to ask you to commit an act of idolatry. The fact that Elijah offered a sacrifice outside the Temple, something prohibited in Leviticus 17,4 and 9, was prompted only by special circumstances. Anyone arguing that a commandment should be canceled permanently is a false prophet seeing the commandments of the Torah (unless otherwise stated) are permanent This is the meaning of the last half of the verse we quoted from Deut. 29,28 לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת, “for us and for our children to carry out all the words of this Torah forever.” What the sages said in respect of Elijah at Mount Carmel is applicable in all similar situations when prophets cancel Torah injunctions as an emergency measure. When Joshua (compare Bamidbar Rabbah 14,5) violated the Sabbath when the priests carrying the shofarot and the Holy Ark marched around Jericho for seven days in a row, he did so at the express command of G’d. This was an emergency. We encounter a similar occurrence with the prophet Elisha in Kings II 3,25 when the Israelites in their battle against Moav cut down fruit-bearing trees and stopped up wells. Although the Torah had expressly forbidden this in Deut. 20,19 the prophet used his authority to set aside this injunction on a temporary basis. If the prophet gives such orders and they sound as if they are meant to be permanent he has discredited himself and people must not listen to his instructions. This is the meaning of a statement in Yevamot 102: “if Elijah were to come and tell you that the rites of chalitzah are performed with a shoe known as מנעל one follows his instructions; if he were to instruct that this procedure must not be performed with a sandal instead, one does not follow his instructions.” [The original practice had been to use a shoe known as מנעל. At the time of the Talmud, sandals had been in use for this for hundreds of years already. Even this established custom a prophet must not cancel permanently. Ed.] The Talmud in Berachot 24,2 quotes a scholar saying that even if the greatest authority of his time had told him that it was permitted to recite the kriat shema in an otherwise unfit location by placing his hand over his mouth first, he would not obey this scholar in this matter. Moreover, the Talmud is also on record that even when such instructions are issued by means of a bat kol, a heavenly echo, this is without halachic significance when it involves permanent changes of Torah law. Prophecy is a higher authority than a בת קול and all the laws of the Torah have been communicated by the father of all prophets, by Moses. Rabbi Joshua used this latter statement in Baba Metzia 59 to aver that halachic decisions are arrived at by a majority of the competent scholars of their time and are not subject to divine interference (at a time when we have no prophets).
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, that is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying: "Let us go and serve other gods," which you have not known, you nor your fathers;
verse value 6685 — אֱלֹהִ֣ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 94 letters. Notable word values: "gods" (אֱלֹהִ֣ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "if" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·let·us·serve" (וְנַֽעַבְדָה֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "he·entices·you" (יְסִֽיתְךָ֡), "son·of·your·mother" (בֶן־אִ֠מֶּ֠ךָ), "or·son" (אֽוֹ־בִנְךָ֨). The root בן appears 2 times in this verse. 21 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root חיק ("bosom") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·say', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 9 words.
Onkelos
If your brother, your mother's son, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your covenant, or your companion who is as your own soul, should entice you in secret, saying: Let us go and serve the idols of the nations, which you have not known, you and your fathers —
Rashi
כי יסיתך IF [THY BROTHER …] ENTICE THEE — The term יסת always denotes to “stir up”, “to incite”, as it is said, (I Samuel 26:19) ”If it be the Lord that hath stirred thee up (הסיתך) against me” (Sifrei Devarim 87:2); inciter in O. F., Engl, to incite — i.e. that he induces one to act thus. אחיך THY BROTHER — means, thy brother on the father’s side (Sifrei Devarim 87:4). בן אמך THE SON OF THY MOTHER — i.e., thy brother on the mother’s side. (The meaning of the Hebrew words is: thy brother or the son of thy mother) (Sifrei Devarim 87:5). חיקך [OR THE WIFE OF] THY BOSOM — i.e. who lies on thy bosom and is attached (מחוקה) to you, affichee in O. F. Similar is the expression (Ezekiel 43:14) “and from the bottom (מחיק) upon the ground” — i.e. from the foundation that is sunk in the ground. אשר כנפשך [OR THY FELLOWMAN] WHO IS AS THINE OWN SOUL — Thus refers to thy father (Sifrei Devarim 87:11). Scripture specially mentions all those who are dear to you — that you must not consent unto them nor spare them (v. 9), how much the less should you consent unto others or spare them. בסתר [IF THY BROTHER ENTICE THEE] SECRETLY — Scripture speaks of what usually occurs (but does not intend to exclude one who entices people publicly), for usually the words of the enticer are spoken in secret. Similarly does Solomon say of the strange woman that she practises her art of seduction (Proverbs 7:9) “In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness” (Sifrei Devarim 87:12). אשר לא ידעת אתה ואבתיך [LET US GO AND SERVE OTHER GODS] WHICH THOU HAST NOT KNOWN, THOU, NOR THY FATHERS — This would be a great disgrace for you: for not even the heathen nations abandon that which their fathers have handed down to them, and this man says to you, “Abandon what thy fathers have handed down to you”! (Sifrei Devarim 87:13).
Ibn Ezra
"If your brother entices you" — the meaning is: even your brother. The reason for "son of your mother" specifically — because you shared the same womb, and the mother is like matter, while the father is like form; but form is understood only by a select few.
Or HaChaim
כי יסיתך אחיך, "If your brother entices you, etc." In this paragraph the Torah teaches that enticement to sin is not only due to external sources but may be due to something within us, in fact some force born within us from the day we see the light of day. Our sages in Sanhedrin 91 derive this from Genesis 4,7: "sin rests at the door." There is an additional internal "enticer," i.e. the spiritually negative force man creates every time he sins. This is the mystical dimension of Avot 4,2 that "one sin drags another in its wake." Kabbalists have talked at length about this subject explaining that every sin creates an accuser which in turn increases the power of the original evil urge within us. The more man sins the more powerful the forces which urge him to sin become. This is the meaning of Berachot 34 that מקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים אין צדיקים גמורים יכולין לעמוד, "that it is not possible to draw a valid comparison between the forces of evil to which a repentant sinner is exposed and to similar forces to which the person who is totally without sin is exposed." There is a third dimension to the personality of a person who indulges in sin. By doing so he acquires an additional soul, as it were. Just as we have a principle that he who observes the Sabbath is granted an additional soul (spiritually positive force) on that day, the reverse holds true for the habitual sinner. When you continue on such an evil path, allowing yourself to be enticed into sin, one eventually integrates one's personality with the forces of evil so much so that instead of merely becoming the victim of enticement one denies the essence of Judaism leading one to embrace idolatry. When Moses speaks of בי יסיתך אחיך, "when your brother entices you," he describes the evil urge as someone who considers himself as "your brother" from birth. He adds the words בן אמך, "son of your mother," to explain whence the enticer originates, i.e. he is a "son" of our common mother Eve who was responsible for the fact that good and evil are inextricably mixed within us at birth. Concerning the second aspect of evil within us, i.e. the one created by our own sins -as opposed to Eve's- Moses says או בנך או בתך, "or your own son or your own daughter." These are references to the spiritually negative creations which are the result of our own sins. They too are called alien children. The reason that the Torah lists both בנך, "your son," as well as בתך, "your daughter" to describe such creations, is that some sins produce accusers of a masculine type whereas other sins produce accusers of a feminine variety. It all depends on the type of sin one has committed. The greater the sin the more likely that the accuser it creates is of the masculine type. If the sin is relatively minor, the accuser it creates may be described as בתך, "your daughter." With regard to the third acquisition i.e. an evil soul which hence-forth accompanies the sinner constantly, Moses describes it as אשת חיקך, "the wife of your b...
Chizkuni
אחיך בן אמך, “your brother, the son of your mother.” The same applies to “your brother, the son of your father;” the reason why the Torah chose as its example the brother, son of your mother,” is that normally the bonds to one’s mother are closer, and one is in the same house with one’s mother all the time, while the father is in the field or elsewhere outside the house, earning his livelihood. Moreover, brotherly love to one another is often tainted by the fact that one has to share the father’s inheritance with one’s brother of the father, but not with a brother of the same mother.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי יסיתך אחיך בן אמך, “if your brother, the son of your mother tries to seduce you, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text the wording means that “even if the seducer is a brother, son of the same mother, you must not protect him against justice“ (Ibn Ezra). A Midrashic approach based on Kidushin 80: even a brother who does not share the inheritance with you seeing he is only the son of the same mother and there is therefore no natural jealousy between them must not be protected, nor must one allow oneself to be seduced by him into idolatry. This is all the more so if the brother is one with whom one shares the parental heritage, when there is reason to suspect that he is being given bad advice for ulterior motives. אשר לא ידעת אתה ואבותיך, “whom neither you nor your fathers have known of.” Rashi comments: “consider for a moment how despicable such advice is. He tells you to abandon a deity whom you and your fathers have served successfully, and suggests you try something totally unknown.” It is also possible that the Torah here alludes to two separate aspects of faith. One is based on tradition, the other on intelligence. If someone believes because he has a tradition from his parents, this is a good form of faith though it is not perfect as he did not examine the premise this tradition is based on. Such a person lacks wisdom and is like someone who is blind and walks in the company of more blind people. They appear to get to their goal because each one holds on to the hand of his nearest companion. As long as this column of blind people have one seeing person at their head they will travel a well paved road seeing they all follow the seeing person. This is what happens to us if we rely completely on the faith handed down by our ancestors. Seeing that Moses was “seeing,” as long as we follow the tradition of Moses we cannot go wrong, seeing we heard the instructions from Moses directly and our fathers have told us about it if we were not around at the time. However, such a faith is not perfect. The problem with such a faith is that when the believer is challenged by people presenting a different viewpoint, a person who does not possess wisdom will be shaken in his belief, become unsure of himself and his forefathers as they did not equip him with the answers to the new challenges. A physically blind person no less than a spiritually blind person is by definition unsure of himself and a potential victim of the seducer mentioned in our verse. This is why it is not enough to accept the tradition handed down by our fathers but one must study it and thereby develop the insights necessary to counter arguments presented by theologians of different religions. Only in that way will one acquire a perfect אמונה, faith. This is what the sages in Avot 2,19 had in mind when they said: “try and study Torah in depth so that you will know how to answer the heretic.” This is why the Torah refers here to two aspects of אמונה, one which lacks ידיעה by yourself, the other a faith not even handed down by your fathers.
Tur HaArokh
אשר לא ידעת אתה ואבותיך, “that you did not know, and that your forefathers did not know either.” Moses mentions “your forefathers,” so that in the event that someone close to you, as close as your friend, i.e. even your own father, would try and seduce you to follow idolatrous ways, enquire from the other ”fathers” if they had ever heard of such deities as your own father now proposes that you should worship. They will confirm that your father is lying to you.
Rashbam
יסיתך, every advice the end result of which leads to disaster is called הסתה; examples of such meanings of the word הסתה occur in Job 2,3 ותסיתני לבלעו חנם, You have incited me against him for no reason.” Or, Kings I 21,25 אשר הסתה אותו איזבל אשתו, “at the instigation of his wife Izzevel.” Or, Chronicles II 18,2 ויסיתהו לעלות אל רמות גלעד, “he incited him to march against Ramot Gilead’ (a campaign which failed and cost Achav’s life)
Daat Zkenim
כי יסתך אחיך בן אמך, “If your brother, son of your mother, will attempt to entice you (to worship an idol);” The reason that the Torah adds the words: “son of your mother,” here is that it is likely that brothers of the same mother, i.e. the same womb, are closer to one another than brothers who only share the same father. Furthermore, sons of only the same father are likely to be hostile to one another for reasons of the eventual inheritance. בסתר לאמור, “secretly, saying:” the Torah uses an example that is commonplace, i.e. forbidden matters are usually discussed under a mantle of secrecy. Rabbi B’chor shor sees in the Torah’s use here of the expression בסתר, “secretly,” the Torah’s answer to what Solomon said in Proverbs 11,13: הולך רכיל מגלה סוד, “a talebearer reveals secrets,” i.e. condemnation of revealing secrets; there is one exception to his rule and that is when worship of idols is being planned in secret. Then it becomes a positive commandment to reveal the people planning this to the authorities. Verse 9 even adds the fact that concealing such information is equivalent to transgressing a negative commandment also.
of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;
verse value 3286 — מֵאֱלֹהֵ֣י = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "from·gods" (מֵאֱלֹהֵ֣י) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "or" (א֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "surrounding" (סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 296: earth, earth. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "surrounding" (סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם), "the·remote" (הָרְחֹקִ֣ים). The root קצה appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "from·gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root קרוב ("near") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root רחוק ("the·remote") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: מֵאֱלֹהֵ֣י [from·gods] (86) + הָֽעַמִּ֗ים [the·peoples] (165) + אֲשֶׁר֙ [that] (501) + סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם [surrounding] (544) + הַקְּרֹבִ֣ים [near] (357) + אֵלֶ֔יךָ [to·you] (61) + א֖וֹ [or] (7) + הָרְחֹקִ֣ים [the·remote] (363) + מִמֶּ֑ךָּ [from] (100) + מִקְצֵ֥ה [end] (235) + הָאָ֖רֶץ [earth] (296) + וְעַד־קְצֵ֥ה [and·to·the·end] (275) + הָאָֽרֶץ [earth] (296) = 3286.
Onkelos
from the idols of the nations that are around you, whether near to you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth —
Rashi
הקרבים אליך או הרחקים [LET US GO AND SERVE OTHER GODS … NAMELY, OF THE GODS] WHICH ARE NIGH UNTO THEE, OR FAR OFF [FROM THEE] — To what end does it (Scripture) mention the gods of the near nations and those of the far-off ones? But this is in effect what Scripture says: From your knowledge of the gods of the near nations, you may draw conclusions regarding the nature of the gods of those far-off; just as there is nothing real in those of the near ones so there is nothing real in those of the far-off ones (Sanhedrin 61b; Sifrei Devarim 88:1). מקצה הארץ [GODS … FAR OFF FROM THEE] FROM THE ONE END OF THE EARTH [EVEN UNTO THE OTHER END OF THE EARTH] — This refers to the sun, the moon and the host of heaven (the stars) who move from one end of the world to the other (Sifrei Devarim 88:2).
Sforno
הקרובים אליך, even though these nations live in your vicinity and you are aware of the lies which their religion is based upon, and because you are, there would be no reason to worry about the influence of such a religion upon you. או הרחוקים ממך מקצה הארץ, so that on account of the very distance there is no real concern that you would learn from their ways.
Or HaChaim
מאלוהי העמים, "from among the gods of the nations, etc." The enticer points to the successful lives led by nations bordering on Israel and uses this as proof that there could be nothing wrong with their religion. Alternatively, the enticer points to the vast majority of nations who serve idols, especially during the time of the Romans when the Roman Empire built on idolatry was so pre-eminent in the world. The argument that the whole world prospered while worshiping the gods of the Romans while only the Jewish people were in abject poverty and exile, is apt to entice sinners very easily. Moses warns לא תאבה לו, "do not even be willing to enter into a discussion with such an enticer." Moses paraphrases what Solomon said in Proverbs 1,10: "my son, if sinners entice you do not consent." Deny the suggestion without bothering to argue the merits or otherwise of the enticer's argument. Please read my commentary on Deut. 2,30 that even arguing the point gives the enticer a foothold in your heart.
Rabbeinu Bahya
הקרובים אליך או הרחוקים ממך, “the ones close to you, or ones which are far removed from you” The Torah draws a comparison between the religions which are practiced by people physically near you to those practiced in distant countries. Just as you know that there is no substance to any religion of the pagans near you, there is no more substance to religions practiced by people further afield. מקצה הארץ עד קצה ארץ, “from one end of the globe to the other end.” An oblique reference to sun and moon each of which travels from one end of the earth to the other.
you shall not consent to him, nor heed him; neither shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare, nor shall you cover for him;
verse value 3299 — ל֔וֹ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 52 letters. Notable word values: "to" (ל֔וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to" (ל֔וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·not·pity" (וְלֹא־תָח֤וֹס, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 116: upon, upon. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·not·be·willing" (לֹא־תֹאבֶ֣ה), "you·shall·not·pity" (וְלֹא־תָח֤וֹס), "you·shall·not·spare" (וְלֹֽא־תַחְמֹ֥ל). The root על appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "to·him" (root אל, 98x in Deuteronomy); "hear" (root שמע, 92x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root כסה ("you·shall·not·cover") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: לֹא־תֹאבֶ֣ה [you·shall·not·be·willing] (439) + ל֔וֹ [to] (36) + וְלֹ֥א [not] (37) + תִשְׁמַ֖ע [hear] (810) + אֵלָ֑יו [to·him] (47) + וְלֹא־תָח֤וֹס [you·shall·not·pity] (511) + עֵֽינְךָ֙ [eye] (150) + עָלָ֔יו [upon] (116) + וְלֹֽא־תַחְמֹ֥ל [you·shall·not·spare] (515) + וְלֹֽא־תְכַסֶּ֖ה [you·shall·not·cover] (522) + עָלָֽיו [upon] (116) = 3299.
Onkelos
you shall not consent to him, and you shall not accept from him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not show him compassion, and you shall not cover for him.
Rashi
לא תאבה לו THOU SHALT NOT CONSENT UNTO HIM — i.e. thou shalt feel no longing (תאב) towards him, thou shalt show no affection for him (אהב); This is stated because it is said, (Leviticus 19:18) “Thou shalt love thy fellowman as thyself”; this man, however, thou shalt not love (Sifrei Devarim 89:1). ולא תשמע אליו AND THOU SHALT NOT HEARKEN UNTO HIM when he makes entreaty for his life, that you should forgive him. This is stated because it says. (Exodus 23:5) “[If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee] thou shalt surely help him”; this man, however, thou shalt not help (Sifrei Devarim 89:2). ולא תחוס עינך עליו NEITHER SHALL THINE EYE SPARE HIM — This is stated because it says, (Leviticus 19:16) “thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy fellow” — this man, however, thou shalt not spare (Sifrei Devarim 89:3). ולא תחמל NEITHER SHALT THOU PITY [HIM] — i.e. thou shalt not occupy thyself in his favour (you shall not seek to find anything favorable to him) (Sifrei Devarim 89:4). ולא תכסה עליו AND THOU SHALT NOT CONCEAL (COVER OVER) HIM — If you know anything about him that will condemn him, you are not allowed to keep silent (Sifrei Devarim 89:5).
Ramban
THOU SHALT NOT ‘THOVEH LO’ — “you shall not ‘long’ for him, nor shall you love him. Because it is said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself — [it is necessary to caution that] this one [who seeks to mislead you into idolatry] you shall not love.” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. But in the Gemara the Rabbis have said [in connection with this verse]: “But [if the one misled] avah (wanted) and consented [to the words of the inciter, although he actually did not worship the idols, the misleader] is guilty” [thus showing that the word thoveh is not an expression of “longing” as Rashi holds, but of “willingness”]. And this is correct, for avah is an expression of “desire,” as it is said, And the Eternal thy G-d was not ‘avah’ (willing) to hearken unto Balaam, meaning “He did not desire.” So also, he is not ‘avah’ (willing) to perform the duty of my husband’s brother, [this expression being based upon the statement in the first part of that verse], and if the man ‘desires’ not to take his brother’s wife. Thus, thou shalt not ‘thoveh lo’ means [“thou shalt not be willing] in your heart [to give credence to him”], nor hearken unto him by consenting to him, saying “I will do so; I will go and I will worship the idol you mentioned.” And [the inciter] becomes liable to the death penalty because of his [the victim’s] consent. And such is the opinion of Onkelos [who translated]: “Do not accept [the offer] from him.” Now these two prohibitions [Thou shalt not be willing to give credence to him in your heart, nor shalt thou hearken unto him] are like Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s house [which prohibits us from desiring what belongs to another], and Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house [which prohibits us from scheming to acquire it], so that if he desires it in his heart, he infringes the first prohibition, and if he goes on to do as he thought, he transgresses also the second negative commandment. NEITHER SHALL THINE EYE PITY HIM — to show him mercy that he not die. NEITHER SHALT THOU SPARE because of the close [family] relationship as mentioned, as it is said, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. NEITHER SHALT THOU CONCEAL HIM — by not testifying against him in court. And in the Sifre it is written: “Neither shalt thou spare — you shall not plead in his favor. Neither shalt thou conceal — if you know anything unfavorable to him, you are not permitted to stand mute.” All [these interpretations] convey the same thought, for the term “concealing” is from he that ‘concealeth’ his transgressions; but a prudent man ‘concealeth’ shame, meaning that he refrains from telling it. And he states, and they shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee, because this matter [of a misleader] is very common, and it would be frequently done were it not for the law [as a deterrent, hence this pronouncement was necessary], but the matter of a false prophet mentioned [above] is not a common occurrence, [therefore,...
Ibn Ezra
"You shall not consent to him" — in your innermost belief. "And you shall not listen to him" — in deed. "And your eye shall not pity him" — so as to kill him. "And you shall not conceal" — meaning: do not leave him be; rather, you must disclose the matter until the witnesses hear it from his own mouth — for so it is written — and only then shall you put him to death.
Sforno
לא תאבה לו, when he suggests that you investigate the truth of his words that a certain form of idolatry is demonstrably effective for its believers, do not assent to listen to him. ולא תשמע אליו, you must not listen to him to make such an experiment, and to go through a “conditional” obeisance as a test. The reason is that the moment you even entertain doubts about the utter falsity of what the seducer claims, in the end you will become a victim of his persuasiveness. You could not even entertain any doubt about G’d and His Torah unless you had never properly understood the greatness of G’d and His mastery in the universe.
Or HaChaim
ולא תחוס עינך עליו, "and your eye shall not take pity on him;" this means that one has to deny the enticer everything he desires or holds dear, even things totally unrelated to what he proposed. The idea is to make him endure suffering. You should not say that there is no point in making this person endure pointless denials seeing that G'd Himself has permitted all these things to be enjoyed by man. Even though the afflictions we speak about affect primarily the soul, they will also have an effect on the spiritually negative mani-festations which have become an inseparable part of this human being. This is the mystical dimension of the whole concept of fasting. Man is to deny himself food and drink in order to weaken the forces of evil within him. ולא תכסה, "and you must not cover up, etc," This may best be understood by a reference to Kidushin 81 in which the Talmud relates a story involving Rav Amram. [The subject matter is being alone with a woman who is not your wife and the implications of such a situation. Ed.] Certain female prisoners whose freedom had been bought by the people of Nehardea, the town in which the pious Rav Amram resided, were entrusted to him for safekeeping. He assigned to them the top floor, removing the connecting stairs. One day he was sorely tempted by his evil urge to socialise with one or the other of these women and he single-handedly put up a ladder to climb the upper floor which it would normally require several people to move. When half way up he cried out that his house was on fire which brought out the neighbours before he could succumb totally to the enticer within him. He embarassed himself thereby publicly, but told his colleagues that it was better for him to be embarassed in the here and now, than to face the consequences of his action in the hereafter where his embarassment would be far greater. Moses says here that you should not conceal the fact that the enticer is active within you, but by exposing this fact similar to Rav Amram, you will be able to defeat the enticer by publicly disgracing him for what he is. כי הרוג תהרגנו, "Rather, you must surely kill him." Moses adds: ידך תהיה בו בראשונה להמיתו, "your hand shall be the first against him to kill him." Moses indicates that in contrast to what Rav Amram did in the story related in Kidushin when he called on others to killl the evil urge within himself, you must do so yourself, at least you must begin the job. Only if you failed in your attempt may you do as Rav Amram did, i.e. call upon outsiders to do what is really your task. Only when you are in the position described by David in Psalms 109,22 that "my heart is pierced within me," may you call on G'd to do the job on your behalf as did David in Psalms 109,26, i.e. "Help me O Lord my G'd, etc." If you fail by yourself, Moses' final comment i.e. ויד כל העם באחרונה "and the hand of all the people at the end," applies. This is a reference to the situation when you may do as Rav Amram did and call ...
Chizkuni
לא תאבה לו, “you shall not consent to him (his suggestion) according to Rashi the root of the word is אהב, Hence the meaning of the line is: “do not profess to love him;” we have a similar construction when the Torah asks us to love our fellow human beings as thyself in Leviticus 19,18. ולא תשמע אליו, “and to not even listen to him.” If he pleads with you to forgive him, in order not to report his criminal suggestions to the authorities, although as a rule the Torah teaches us not to abandon a person in need, (Exodus 23,5), in this instance this rule is to be ignored. Even though we are not to indulge in reciprocal hatred when the hatred has been initiated by the other person, in this instance we must react differently and prevent the spread of idolatry by enabling such a person to convert naive people to his seduction.
Tur HaArokh
לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו, “do not accede to him and do not hearken to him.” Moses points out that both a mere expression to accede to such requests, or even listening to it without protest and giving the impression that you consider such proposals seriously, is culpable in Hashem’s eyes. ולא תחוס עינך עליו, “and your eye must not pity him,” you must not have pity on him so as not to cause him to be executed. ולא תחמול ולא תכסה עליו, “and do not be compassionate with his plight, nor cover up for him.” You must not dodge your duty to testify against such a person in court.
but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
verse value 2870
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·the·first" (בָרִֽאשׁוֹנָ֖ה, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "kill" (הָרֹג֙), "you·shall·kill·him" (תַּֽהַרְגֶ֔נּוּ), "in·the·first" (בָרִֽאשׁוֹנָ֖ה). The root הרג appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "be·in" (root היה, 170x in Deuteronomy); "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "all·the·people" (root כל, 121x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·put·him·to·death', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: כִּ֤י [for] (30) + הָרֹג֙ [kill] (208) + תַּֽהַרְגֶ֔נּוּ [you·shall·kill·him] (664) + יָ֥דְךָ֛ [hand] (34) + תִּֽהְיֶה־בּ֥וֹ [be·in] (428) + בָרִֽאשׁוֹנָ֖ה [in·the·first] (564) + לַהֲמִית֑וֹ [to·put·him·to·death] (491) + וְיַ֥ד [hand] (20) + כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם [all·the·people] (165) + בָּאַחֲרֹנָֽה [last] (266) = 2870.
Onkelos
For you shall surely put him to death; your hand shall be against him first to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward.
Rashi
כי הרג תהרגנו BUT THOU SHALT SURELY KILL HIM — and if he has left the court after having been acquitted have him brought back for condemnation if you know anything against him; if, on the other hand, he has left the court after being found guilty do not bring him back to plead in his favour (Sifrei Devarim 89:6-7). ידך תהיה בו בראשונה THINE HAND SHALL BE FIRST UPON HIM [TO PUT HIM TO DEATH] — He who was to be seduced to idolatry has the duty to put him to death; if he did not die by his hand he must die by the hands of others, as it goes on to state “and afterwards the hands of all the people” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 89:8).
Ibn Ezra
"Your hand shall be first against him" — this would appear to imply the testimony of two witnesses, were it not for the received tradition [which governs how it is applied].
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי הרג תהרגנו, “you are to surely kill him.” Seeing that the words of Torah all express mercy of one kind or another, it is not possible to understand the words הרג תהרגנו as an instruction to take revenge on the individual who is to be executed. If that were the purpose of the execution the Torah would actually train us in developing a cruel streak in our character; this is clearly at odds with all the Torah wishes to teach us. The consideration underlying the Torah’s insistence is the mercy and loving concern the Torah extends to all those who know the guilty party. If he were allowed to get away with it many more people would follow in his footsteps with terrible results for them. To make this whole point clear, the Torah first wrote: “you shall not be compassionate with him;” afterwards the Torah explains its concern for the people by writing that the execution of such a seducer will cause the survivors to relate to G’d with the proper degree of reverence so as to preclude the need for any executions in the future.
Rashbam
כי הרג תהרגנו, the word כי means אלא, but, i.e. but be sure to execute him.
And you shall stone him with stones, that he die; because he has sought to draw you away from Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
verse value 3355 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 63 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "who·brought·you·out" (הַמּוֹצִיאֲךָ֛, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·stone·him" (וּסְקַלְתּ֥וֹ), "he·sought" (בִקֵּ֗שׁ). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "from·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root סקל ("and·you·shall·stone·him") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·he·dies', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 11 words. Full calculation: וּסְקַלְתּ֥וֹ [and·you·shall·stone·him] (602) + בָאֲבָנִ֖ים [with·stones] (105) + וָמֵ֑ת [and·he·dies] (446) + כִּ֣י [for] (30) + בִקֵּ֗שׁ [he·sought] (402) + לְהַדִּֽיחֲךָ֙ [to·lead·you·astray] (77) + מֵעַל֙ [from·upon] (140) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + הַמּוֹצִיאֲךָ֛ [who·brought·you·out] (172) + מֵאֶ֥רֶץ [from·the·land] (331) + מִצְרַ֖יִם [Egypt] (380) + מִבֵּ֥ית [from·house] (452) + עֲבָדִֽים [slaves] (126) = 3355.
Onkelos
And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to draw you away from the fear of Hashem your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Ibn Ezra
"And you shall stone him" — this explains what his mode of execution shall be.
Sforno
כי בקש להדיחך, even though he did not cause tangible damage, and therefore might have thought himself immune from prosecution, as opposed to the person who incited to idolatry in the Ir Hanidachat, a city whose majority became idolaters. He is guilty of the death penalty כי בקש להדיחך, because of his attempt to convert people to idolatry. His execution will prevent him from seducing still others. Failure to execute him might result in his success.
Or HaChaim
וסקלתו באבנים, "you shall pelt him with stones, etc. Zohar volume three page 272 speaks of 5 stones needed to kill Satan the enticer and describes the number as a mystical dimension of the verse שמע ישראל. וכל ישראל ישמעו ויראון, "and all of Israel will hear about it and fear." When the Israelites will hear the outcry and the reason for it they will hear and continue to fear the Lord. The reason for the sequence of hearing and fearing is that explained by our sages in Kidushin in connection with the story of Rav Amram.
Chizkuni
באבנים ומת, “with stones so that he will die.” The stoning is to continue until the false prophet or seducer will die. If the first rock did not kill him then more rocks will be hurled at him. (Sifri) Where did the Torah issue its warning against such seducers who had not claimed to be prophets able to perform miracles? Compare verse 12 and how it is explained in the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin folio 63.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.
verse value 3143
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "the·evil" (הָרָ֛ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·Israel" (וְכׇ֨ל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·they·shall·fear" (וְיִֽרָא֑וּן), "and·they·shall·not·add" (וְלֹֽא־יוֹסִ֣פוּ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "thing" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "to·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "all·Israel" (root כל, 121x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·they·shall·fear', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְכׇ֨ל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [all·Israel] (597) + יִשְׁמְע֖וּ [they·shall·hear] (426) + וְיִֽרָא֑וּן [and·they·shall·fear] (273) + וְלֹֽא־יוֹסִ֣פוּ [and·they·shall·not·add] (199) + לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת [to·do] (806) + כַּדָּבָ֥ר [thing] (226) + הָרָ֛ע [the·evil] (275) + הַזֶּ֖ה [this] (17) + בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ [midst] (324) = 3143.
Onkelos
And all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall not do again any such evil matter among you.
Sforno
וכל ישראל ישמעו וייראו ולא יוסיפו, neither the seducer himself nor others who found him convincing.
Tur HaArokh
ולא יוסיפו לעשות כדבר הרע הזה, “so that they shall not continue to commit such evils.” If the law against people preaching idolatry publicly or privately were not strictly enforced such a “disease” would become an epidemic.
If you hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Hashem your God gives you to dwell there, saying:
verse value 4037 — יְהֹוָ֨ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 41 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֨ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֛, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·you·hear" (כִּֽי־תִשְׁמַ֞ע, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "in·one" (בְּאַחַ֣ת), "your·towns" (עָרֶ֗יךָ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). Full calculation: כִּֽי־תִשְׁמַ֞ע [if·you·hear] (840) + בְּאַחַ֣ת [in·one] (411) + עָרֶ֗יךָ [your·towns] (300) + אֲשֶׁר֩ [that] (501) + יְהֹוָ֨ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ [your·God] (66) + נֹתֵ֥ן [giving] (500) + לְךָ֛ [to·you] (50) + לָשֶׁ֥בֶת [to·dwell] (732) + שָׁ֖ם [there] (340) + לֵאמֹֽר [to·say] (271) = 4037.
Onkelos
If you hear concerning one of your cities which Hashem your God gives you to dwell there, saying:
Rashi
לשבת שם [IF THOU SHALT HEAR SAY IN THE CITIES WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN THEE] TO ABIDE THERE — The words “to abide there” are added to exclude Jerusalem which city was not intended as a dwelling-place (Sifrei Devarim 92:5; cf. Bava Kamma 82b). כי תשמע לאמור IF THOU SHALT HEAR … SAYING means, if thou shalt hear people saying thus: “[Certain men, worthless persons,] have gone out” etc.
Or HaChaim
לשבת שם לאמור, "in which to dwell, saying, etc." Moses uses the word לאמור. According to Ketuvot 110 that it is a positive commandment to live in what used to be the land of Canaan, we must read the verse as if the words לשבת שם לאמור had been written in the sequence לאמור לשבת שם. We also need to analyse why the Torah used the apparently superfluous word אנשים in verse 14 when all that was necessary was for the Torah to write יצאו בני בליעל, "lawless people have emerged, etc." I would have known that what are meant are "men." If one were to argue that the word אנשים is in contrast to minors, there is no need to write this as minors are not subject to punishment. Apparently, by writing the word אנשים, the Torah wanted to inform us that the people in question used to be righteous people, צדיקים. According to Bamidbar Rabbah 16 the word אנשים always refers to righteous people. Moses says that as soon as they depart from their normal lifestyle they lose their status and are immediately described as בני בליעל. The Torah also teaches that although you have not had solid evidence that the people accused of having gone out to cause others to serve idols have indeed done so, it is your duty to start an immediate investigation of the rumours.
"Certain scoundrels are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known";
verse value 4075 — אֱלֹהִ֥ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 72 letters. Notable word values: "gods" (אֱלֹהִ֥ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֥ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "sons·of·worthlessness" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּ֙עַל֙, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "sons·of·worthlessness" (בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּ֙עַל֙), "and·they·led·astray" (וַיַּדִּ֛יחוּ), "town" (עִירָ֖ם). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "to·say" (root אמר, 144x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·say', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: יָצְא֞וּ [they·went·out] (107) + אֲנָשִׁ֤ים [men] (401) + בְּנֵֽי־בְלִיַּ֙עַל֙ [sons·of·worthlessness] (204) + מִקִּרְבֶּ֔ךָ [from·your·midst] (362) + וַיַּדִּ֛יחוּ [and·they·led·astray] (44) + אֶת־יֹשְׁבֵ֥י [inhabitants] (723) + עִירָ֖ם [town] (320) + לֵאמֹ֑ר [to·say] (271) + נֵלְכָ֗ה [let·us·go] (105) + וְנַעַבְדָ֛ה [and·let·us·serve] (137) + אֱלֹהִ֥ים [gods] (86) + אֲחֵרִ֖ים [other] (259) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + לֹא־יְדַעְתֶּֽם [not·you·have·known] (555) = 4075.
Onkelos
Certain men, sons of wickedness, have gone out from your midst and have led astray the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and serve the idols of the nations, which you have not known —
Rashi
אנשים CERTAIN MEN — but not women (Sifrei Devarim 93:1). בני בליעל. WORTHLESS PERSONS — people that have thrown off the yoke of the Omnipresent (the word is taken in the sense of בְּלִי עוֹל, without a yoke) (Sifrei Devarim 93:2). ישבי עירם THE INHABITANTS OF THEIR CITY — but not the inhabitants of another city (Sifrei Devarim 93:4). From here they (our Rabbis) derived what they said, “A town is not treated as an עיר הנדחת (i.e. does not come under the category of a “condemned city” which according to vv. 16—17 must be utterly destroyed) unless it be men who lead them (the inhabitants) astray, and unless its seducers be of its midst (inhabitants of that city) (Sanhedrin 111b).
Rabbeinu Bahya
יצאו אנשים בני בליעל, “lawless men have emerged from your midst;” the word בליעל means “not capable of rising spiritually to the domain of G’d.” Alternatively, the word is not connected to על but to עול, “yoke,” people who refuse to wear the yoke of any restrictive legislation, rejection of the authority of heaven. Our sages understand the emphasis on the word אנשים to mean that the legislation spelled out here does not apply if the instigators were women (compare Sanhedrin 111). The words יושבי עירם, “inhabitants of their city, are also understood restrictively, i.e. only if they misled people of their own city does this city have to be destroyed.
then shall you inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of you;
verse value 5281 — הֵיטֵ֑ב = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 54 letters. Notable word values: "thoroughly" (הֵיטֵ֑ב) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "true" (אֱמֶת֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·abomination" (הַתּוֹעֵבָ֥ה, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·inquire" (וְחָקַרְתָּ֛), "and·you·shall·ask" (וְשָׁאַלְתָּ֖). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·word" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "was·done" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "in·your·midst" (root קרב, 57x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root אמת ("true") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root כון ("established") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'thoroughly', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: וְדָרַשְׁתָּ֧ [and·you·shall·investigate] (910) + וְחָקַרְתָּ֛ [and·you·shall·inquire] (714) + וְשָׁאַלְתָּ֖ [and·you·shall·ask] (737) + הֵיטֵ֑ב [thoroughly] (26) + וְהִנֵּ֤ה [behold] (66) + אֱמֶת֙ [true] (441) + נָכ֣וֹן [established] (126) + הַדָּבָ֔ר [the·word] (211) + נֶעֶשְׂתָ֛ה [was·done] (825) + הַתּוֹעֵבָ֥ה [the·abomination] (488) + הַזֹּ֖את [this] (413) + בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ [in·your·midst] (324) = 5281.
Onkelos
you shall inquire, investigate, and ask carefully; and if it is indeed true and the matter is established, that this abomination has been done among you,
Rashi
ודרשת וחקרת ושאלת היטב THEN SHALT THOU INQUIRE, AND MAKE SEARCH, AND ASK DILIGENTLY — From here — from the variety of expressions denoting inquiry in this verse — they (the Rabbis) derived the law of investigating capital cases by means of seven investigations” (referring to date, time and place). in the following manner: here (in our verse) there occur three expressions relating to inquiry, viz., ודרשת, וחקרת and היטב — the expression ושאלת does not come into account, because from it they derived בדיקות, the examination referring to accompanying circumstances, — and in another passage (Deuteronomy 19:18) it states, “and the judges shall enquire diligently (ודרשו השופטים היטב)”, and still in another passage (Deuteronomy 17:40) it states, “and thou shalt inquire diligently (ודרשת היטב)" — thus altogether seven expressions. — And although they are used in connection with different cases they learned by way of analogy (ג"ש) of the term היטב used here and in the passages quoted that it is intended to apply what is stated in one case to the others also (Sanhedrin 40a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 93:6).
Ramban
AND THOU SHALT INQUIRE, AND MAKE SEARCH, AND ASK DILIGENTLY. The nature of “inquiry” and “making search” [with which the judges are to test witnesses] are explained in the words of our Rabbis. Now Scripture mentions these investigations [here] in the case of an apostate city, and also in the case of an idol-worshipper, but it does not mention them in the case of the false prophet or the inciter, because the prophet publicizes himself with his signs and wonders, and in the case of the inciter Scripture addresses itself to the incited party: but thou shalt surely kill him, and he [the incited party, is the one] who knows and bears witness, just as is stated, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him. But in the case of an apostate city and of an idol worshipper, which are deeds that reach us by means of report, Scripture mentions, with reference to them, inquiry and investigation [of the witnesses]. It was unnecessary to state this about the others liable to death because it is known by means of a kal vachomer. He states in the case of plotting witnesses, and the judges shall inquire diligently, because it cannot be determined which of the two conflicting groups of witnesses is telling the truth except after considerable investigation. Concerning the law, all cases are deduced from each other by means of a similarity of Scriptural expressions. And from all the combined expressions we derive the principle that we are to test the witnesses with seven inquiries, and examinations.
Ibn Ezra
"You shall inquire, and investigate, and ask" — these words are well explained in the words of our Sages of blessed memory.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ודרשת וחקרת, “you will have to seek out and investigate thoroughly.” Witnesses who testified in capital crimes were subjected to questioning on seven cardinal points. 1) in which Shemittah cycle did the offense take place; 2) in which year; 3) in which month; 4) on which day of the month; 5) which day of the week; 6) what time of day or night; 7) where did the crime occur? These questions are known as חקירות. In addition the witnesses have to answer questions known as בדיקות, questions which do not pertain to the substance of the testimony and which do not invalidate the testimony if the witness is unsure of some of the answers. Examples of these בדיקות are: what kind of garments did the killer and the victim wear, i.e. white or black? What was the color of the earth on which the victim was found white or red? It happened once that a witness testified that he had observed the crime being perpetrated at a certain place under a fig tree. The judges asked the witness to describe the color of the figs, whether the figs had long or short stalks (compare Maimonides Hilchot Eidut 1,6). The mystical dimension of the requirement for the 7 חקירות is that they are perceived as representing the six extremities on the globe with the Holy Sanctuary at the centre of the globe, i.e. the opposite end of each extremity. [In baseball jargon, this could be described as “covering all the bases.” Ed.] The center is the point at which the truth emerges.
Tur HaArokh
ודרשת וחקרת, “You shall seek information and investigate.” Nachmanides, commenting on this phrase-ology, writes that there is a reason why the Torah urges painstaking investigation in connection with the phenomenon of the עיר הנדחת, the city of which the majority of the inhabitants have adopted idolatry, and also in the case of an individual who is found committing idolatry, whereas the same is not required for the false prophet or the seducer. The self-professed false prophet has already advertised his sin to all the people whom he addressed with his “divinely inspired” message. No court is needed to establish these facts. In the case of the seducer, מסית, the Torah had already called upon his victim or prospective cohort to come forward and to testify against the seducer. It has warned the victim not to be moved by pity. What more could the court do if the people addressed by the Torah fail to come forward? A seducer, who always acts under the cloak of secrecy, cannot be brought to trial except through the cooperation of the victim with the Torah. Knowledge about the first two situations is usually based on rumours first, not on eye-witnesses. The Torah therefore urges not to accept such rumours as fact, but to investigate the accusations thoroughly and without prejudice. We have a similar instruction by the Torah concerning conflicting testimony about a crime or sin by separate sets of witnesses. There too, the Torah (Deut. 19,18) writes: ודרשו השופטים היטב, “the judges must conduct careful examinations etc.,” seeing it is difficult to know which set of witnesses speaks the truth, both having a clean record up to that time.
you shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.
verse value 4623
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "strike" (הַכֵּ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·whole·that·in" (וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֛הּ, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 330: by·the·sword, by·the·sword. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·strike" (תַכֶּ֗ה), "and·whole·that·in" (וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֛הּ), "and·cattle" (וְאֶת־בְּהֶמְתָּ֖הּ). The root נכה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·whole·that·in" (root כל, 121x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "the·town" (root עיר, 57x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'by·the·sword', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: הַכֵּ֣ה [strike] (30) + תַכֶּ֗ה [you·shall·strike] (425) + אֶת־יֹ֥שְׁבֵ֛י [inhabitants·of] (723) + הָעִ֥יר [the·town] (285) + הַהִ֖וא [that] (17) + לְפִי־חָ֑רֶב [by·the·sword] (330) + הַחֲרֵ֨ם [devote·to·destruction] (253) + אֹתָ֧הּ [her] (406) + וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֛הּ [and·whole·that·in] (965) + וְאֶת־בְּהֶמְתָּ֖הּ [and·cattle] (859) + לְפִי־חָֽרֶב [by·the·sword] (330) = 4623.
Onkelos
you shall utterly smite the inhabitants of that city by the decree of the sword; destroy it completely, and all that is in it, and its livestock, by the decree of the sword.
Rashi
הכה תכה THOU SHALT SURELY SMITE [THE INHABITANTS OF THAT CITY] — If you cannot put them to death by the death-penalty prescribed regarding them, kill them in some other way (Sifrei Devarim 94:1; Bava Metzia 31b; cf. Rashi on v. 10).
Ramban
DESTROY IT UTTERLY, AND ALL THAT IS THEREIN. [Destroy] ‘it’ [utterly] — the men that have gone astray [after the idols]; and all that is therein — the women who followed after the men. But the children who are minors, among males and females, are not killed. And so the Rabbis said in the Sifre: “Chanan says: It is written, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers — the verse is speaking with reference to an apostate city.” But in the Tosephta of Tractate Sanhedrin we find a difference of opinion regarding this matter: “Minors, children of people of an apostate city, who have gone astray with [the city] are not killed. Rabbi Eliezer says they are killed. Rabbi Akiba said to him: How do I fulfill then the verse, and He will give thee compassion, and make thee compassionate, and multiply thee etc.? If its intent is to show mercy to the adults, it is already stated, destroy it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof etc. And how then do I fulfill and make thee compassionate, and multiply thee? By applying it to the children therein etc.” Thus all these commandments are explanatory of what it says in the Torah, He that sacrificeth unto the gods shall be utterly destroyed, and now he explained the nature of this “utter destruction” with reference to inciters and the worshippers [of idols].
Sforno
ואת בהמתה לפי חרב, to wipe out their memory as a form of vengeance on behalf of the G’d of Israel. The principle underlying the destruction of the belongings of these people is the same as that contained in G’d’s commandment to destroy every vestige of Amalek in order to obliterate any memory of that nation. (compare. Deut. 25,19) The prophet Samuel spelled this out prior to ordering King Sha-ul to carry out this commandment in Samuel I 15,3.
Rabbeinu Bahya
הכה תכה, “you shall surely smite.“ The Torah means that if one is unable for one reason or another to execute the inhabitants of this town by judicial process one must see to it that the people are killed even by other than accepted judicial procedures. This is why the verb הכה is repeated here (compare Baba Metzia 31).
And you shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the broad place of it, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil entirely, to Hashem your God; and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
verse value 6665
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 79 letters. The shortest word is "mound" (תֵּ֣ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·whole·plunder" (וְאֶת־כׇּל־שְׁלָלָ֗הּ, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 822: and·whole·plunder, and·whole·plunder. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·gather" (תִּקְבֹּץ֮), "and·you·shall·burn" (וְשָׂרַפְתָּ֨), "the·town" (אֶת־הָעִ֤יר). The root שלל appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root קבץ ("you·shall·gather") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 6 words.
Onkelos
And all its spoil you shall gather into the midst of its square, and burn with fire the city and all its spoil entirely, before Hashem your God; and it shall remain a ruin forever, it shall never be rebuilt.
Rashi
לה' אלהיך [AND THOU SHALT BURN WITH FIRE THE CITY …] FOR THE LORD THY GOD — i.e. for the honor of His name and for His sake.
Ibn Ezra
"Wholly" (כָּלִיל) — meaning entirely. "To Hashem your God" — for the honor of Hashem's name shall you burn them, in fire. "Mound" (תֵּל) — from the root denoting a high and steep mountain.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ואת כל שללה תקבוץ, ”and you are to collect all its loot (all the possessions).” Our sages in Sanhedrin 111 say that the word שללה “its loot,” excludes “the loot belonging to heaven” [a reference to donations the citizens had made to the Temple Treasury. Ed.] These are to be subject to redemption just like הקדשות of ordinary people in other towns. They are not to be burned. Included in such שלל שמים is the second tithe which normally is taken to Jerusalem to be consumed there by the owners (or its proceeds). Neither are holy writings such as Torah scrolls subject to this provision of all the possessions of the people in that city having to be burned. They need to be buried (Sanhedrin ibid.) כליל לה' אלו-היך, “completely for the Lord your G’d.” All of it henceforth belongs to G’d; no one has the right to use any of it for deriving any benefit from it whatsoever. On the same folio in Sanhedrin 111 Rabbi Shimon is quoted as saying in the name of G’d: “if you carry out the provisions written here concerning such an עיר הנדחת, a city which has to be obliterated, I will consider it as if you had offered a burnt-offering which the Torah describes as כליל לה'.” He based this on Exodus 32,29: מלאו ידכם היום לה' כי איש בבנו ובאחיו, “dedicate yourselves to the Lord this day, for each has opposed his son and his brother.”
Daat Zkenim
כליל לה' אלוקיך, “as a holocaust (completely) to the Lord your G–d.” You are to do this in public so that everyone knows that your motivation is not to enrich yourself by doing so. [According to an opinion in the Talmud, there is no record of this legislation ever having to have been enforced. Ed.]
And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to your hand, that Hashem may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion upon you, and multiply you, as He has sworn to your fathers;
verse value 4316 — בְּיָדְךָ֛ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 77 letters. Notable word values: "in·your·hand" (בְּיָדְךָ֛) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 4316 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "his·anger" (אַפּ֗וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·shall·not·cling" (וְלֹֽא־יִדְבַּ֧ק, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·shall·not·cling" (וְלֹֽא־יִדְבַּ֧ק), "from·the·proscribed·thing" (מִן־הַחֵ֑רֶם), "from·the·fierceness·of" (מֵחֲר֣וֹן). The root רחם appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "as·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "and·he·shall·give·you" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root רחם ("compassion") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·the·proscribed·thing', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 12 words.
Onkelos
And nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, so that Hashem may turn back from the fierceness of His anger, and grant you compassion and have mercy upon you and multiply you, as He swore to your fathers —
Rashi
למען ישוב ה' מחרון אף THAT THE LORD MAY TURN FROM THE FIERCENESS OF HIS WRATH — for as long as idol-worship exists in the world the fierce wrath of God is kindled against the world (Sifrei Devarim 96:3; Sanhedrin 111b; cf. Rashi on Genesis 9:32).
Ibn Ezra
"So that Hashem may turn back from His fierce anger" — and not destroy you on account of the sin of that city.
Sforno
ולא ידבק מאומה מן החרם, in order to ensure that such loot not become a stumbling block for you, as when loot of idolaters is retained, something the Torah has forbidden not only in practice, but even the desire to own such loot has been forbidden (Deut. 7,25). We have discussed this matter on that verse.
Or HaChaim
This is the intention of this section here, according to the commandment of a city that is rejected, that this whole city [that rejected G-d] be killed by sword, and even their animals. This act will give rise to the nature of cruelty in the heart of man, as the Ishmaelites told us in the king's article that they have a great desire to kill a person and uproot them. The promise of God is that He'll give them mercy, even though nature will give birth to cruelty. The source of mercy [G-d] will affect the power of mercy [within you] to negate the cruelty that was born by virtue of the act [of killing out the city]. And it says about this city [that was killed out] as long as a man has a cruel nature, G-d will behave with him the same way, that G-d is not merciful [on the cruel-natured man], but compassionate. The Torah adds once more ורחמך "and He will be merciful," to warn you that G'd will help us practice mercy only if we ourselves have endeavoured to develop this character trait within ourselves. והרבך, "and He will multiply you." This is a consolation for the people who have watched their numbers being diminished when they executed the inhabitants of the עיר הנדחת, the city whose majority adopted idolatry as their religion. G'd promises that He will more than make up for the void created by these executions. The Torah adds: כי תשמע בקול השם, "if you hearken to the voice of the Lord." The Torah's promise to multiply the Jewish people will be fulfilled only if the execution of the inhabitants of the idolatrous city was motivated purely by religious considerations. If some of you exploited this opportunity to settle some personal score, the Torah's promise is null and void. The Torah adds the words לשמור את כל מצותיו "to observe all His commandments," to tell us that when one carries out the law concerning the עיר הנדחת one is considered as if one had performed all the commandments collectively.
Chizkuni
ולא ידבק בידך מאומה מן החרם, “none of the loot shall cleave to your hand lest it appear that you wanted to “take the spoil and seize the booty.” (Isaiah 10.6). (B’chor shor) ורחמך, “and He will have compassion on you.” The letter ר in the word ורחמך has the vowel chirik, followed by the vowel patach under the letter ח, and the semi vowel sh’va, under the letter .מ והרבך, “and He will cause you to multiply” in another city [to compensate for the destruction of the idolatrous city.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
למען ישוב ה' מחרון אפו, “so that the Lord will turn back from His burning wrath.” In this instance, though the Torah speaks only of Hashem, the attribute of Justice is meant. The mystical dimension of the עיר הנדחת is referred to by the woman from Tekoah (Samuel II 14,14) [who pleaded that David allow Avshalom to return from exile by describing a fictional event. Ed.]. She said (amongst other things) וחשב המלך מחשבות לבלתי ידח ממנו נדח, “(G’d will not take away the life) of one who makes plans so that no one may be kept banished.” The people of the עיר הנדחת had been cast out from the celestial domains. Burning all their former belongings was part of their expiation, just as we find that the congregation of Korach was not only killed by G’d but their belongings were burned (compare author’s comments on Numbers 16, 31-32). The site where this city used to be located will be a ruin forever never to be rebuilt even at the time when the Jewish people will experience resurrection of the dead. When the Torah continues ונתן לך רחמים “that the Lord your G’d will grant you (the survivors) mercy, etc.,” this is similar to the promise by Yaakov (prayer) to his sons that on their second journey to Egypt the ruler (Joseph) should release Shimon and allow Binyamin to return home also. (Compare author’s comments on that verse in Genesis 43,14). The words 'כי תשמע בקול ה' are to be understood as “in order that you will hearken to the voice of Hashem Who is your G’d, and observe all of His commandments; then you will do what is right in His eyes,” i.e. in the eyes of Hashem the attribute known as the tetragrammaton.
Tur HaArokh
ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך, ”He will grant you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you.” Moses wants us to set aside the concern that by applying death penalties we will decrease the number of Jews, and he promises that, on the contrary, by testifying against such sinners and bringing them to justice, Hashem will see to it that we will continuously increase in numbers.
Daat Zkenim
ונתן לך רחמים, “so that He will show you mercy;” you will be rewarded for not having displayed mercy towards the inhabitants of this city.”
when you heed the voice of Hashem your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Hashem your God.
verse value 4997 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 71 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·his·commandments" (אֶת־כׇּל־מִצְוֺתָ֔יו, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 66: your·God, your·God. The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'today', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 5 words.
Onkelos
when you hearken to the Word of Hashem your God, to keep all His commandments that I command you today, to do what is right before Hashem your God.
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "if you hearken" — you shall do thus if you seek to do what is right in His eyes. The passage "You are children of Hashem your God" [that follows] is juxtaposed here on account of those who incite — whether a brother, a son, a father, or the people of a wayward city — for it is forbidden to mourn for them, and all the more so to lacerate oneself, for laceration is forbidden even for any ordinary deceased person.
Onkelos
Rashi
Sforno
Chizkuni