Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 13:9-11 
Context13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! 1 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 2 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 3 because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 4
1 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail” (cf. NIV “you must certainly put him to death”).
2 tn Heb “to put him to death,” but this is misleading in English for such an action would leave nothing for the others to do.
3 sn Execution by means of pelting the offender with stones afforded a mechanism whereby the whole community could share in it. In a very real sense it could be done not only in the name of the community and on its behalf but by its members (cf. Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Deut 21:21; Josh 7:25).
4 sn Some see in this statement an argument for the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Deut 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
