Deuteronomy 13:12

If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the plains of Moab, outlining covenant obligations before they cross into Canaan. He introduces a hypothetical scenario concerning future cities God will provide for their settlement.

The words — The Hebrew תִשְׁמַע (tishma'), "you will hear," paired with כִּי (ki), "if," establishes a conditional trigger for the law. The participle נֹתֵן (noten), "is giving," grounds the warning in God's active distribution of the land.

The thread — The pattern of receiving reports about a city appears in Joshua 22:11, where Israel receives news of the eastern tribes' altar, and in Judges 20:1, where the congregation assembles after the Gibeah incident.

Why it lands — The text requires the community to evaluate rumors of apostasy before acting, placing the burden of discernment on the people. It demands proactive verification to prevent the spread of idolatry within the settlement.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּֽי־ki-if תִשְׁמַ֞עtish.Ma'you will hear בְּאַחַ֣תbe./'a.Chatin/ one of עָרֶ֗יךָ'a.Rei./khacities/ your אֲשֶׁר֩'a.Sherwhich יְהוָ֨הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your נֹתֵ֥ןno.Ten[is] about to giveלְךָ֛le./Khato/ youלָשֶׁ֥בֶתla./She.vetto/ dwell שָׁ֖םshamthere לֵאמֹֽר׃le./Mor<to>/ saying

King James Version

If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

Cross-references

Joshua 22:11 Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”
Judges 20:1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.