Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 13:17
Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, concluding instructions on handling apostasy and cities devoted to destruction. The command immediately follows the directive to gather plunder in the public square and burn the city as a whole burnt offering to the LORD.
The words — The text uses יִדְבַּק (yidbak), "it will cling," and הַחֵרֶם (haḥerem), "the object(s) for destruction," to describe the total separation of the banned items from human possession. This pairing establishes that the banned material must not attach to a person or their hands.
The thread — The prohibition against retaining devoted items appears in Deuteronomy 7:26, which warns that bringing such a detestable thing into a house will result in the same fate. The promise to multiply the people echoes the patriarchal covenant language found in Genesis 26:4 and Genesis 26:24.
Why it lands — The verse demands immediate and total compliance with the ban to avert divine anger and secure covenant blessings. It requires the reader to prioritize obedience over personal gain when confronting what God has set apart for judgment.
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
King James Version
And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
Cross-references
- Genesis 26:4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
- Genesis 26:24 and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”
- Deuteronomy 7:26 And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.
- Joshua 7:26 And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.
- Genesis 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
- Deuteronomy 30:3 then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.
- Joshua 6:18 But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.
- Genesis 22:16 saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,
- Exodus 20:6 but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- Leviticus 27:28 Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.