6 " If your brother , your mother's son , or your son or daughter , or the wife you cherish , or your friend who is as your own soul , entice you secretly , saying , ' Let us go and serve other gods ' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known , 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end ), 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 " But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death , and afterwards the hand of all the people . 10 "So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt , out of the house of slavery . 11 "Then all Israel will hear and be afraid , and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
(Read Deuteronomy 13:6-11)
It is the policy of Satan to try to lead us to evil by those whom we love, whom we least suspect of any ill design, and whom we are desirous to please, and apt to conform to. The enticement here is supposed to come from a brother or child, who are near by nature; from a wife or friend, who are near by choice, and are to us as our souls. But it is our duty to prefer God and religion, before the nearest and dearest friends we have in the world. We must not, to please our friends, break God's law. Thou shalt not consent to him, nor go with him, not for company, or curiosity, not to gain his affections. It is a general rule, If sinners entice thee, consent thou not, Proverbs 1:10. And we must not hinder the course of God's justice.