Bible Commentaries
Deuteronomy 13

Verses 1-18

Warnings against idolatry (12:29-13:18)

In Canaan the Israelites would meet many new temptations. Moses therefore warned them not to be curious about the religious practices of the former inhabitants, lest they copy them and corrupt their own religion (29-32). They were also to beware of the person who could apparently perform miracles and predict events. The test of the genuineness of the person was not whether his predictions came true, but whether he led people in the ways of God (13:1-5).
Another danger was one that could arise in the family circle when a person developed wrong ideas about God and tried to lead others in the household astray. Like the false prophet he had to be stoned to death. As usual, the person making the accusation had to throw the first stone (6-11).
A danger with much wider consequences could come from open enemies of God who set out deliberately to turn a whole community against him. If careful investigation proved that they had been successful, they and their followers had to be executed, and all trace of their evil removed (12-18).