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Deuteronomy 13 tells people not to let trusted relatives or friends lead them into covenant violations. This resembles the Esarhaddon treaty, where trusted people are also possible sources of disloyalty that must be resisted.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 13:6
Hebrew Bible
6 Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known, 7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). 8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community. 10 You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §6
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
62 You shall protect Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, has presented and ordered for you, and on behalf of whom he has confirmed and concluded (this) treaty with you; you shall not sin against him, nor bring your hand against him with evil intent, nor revolt or do anything to him which is not good and proper; 69 you shall not oust him from the kingship of Assyria by helping one of his brothers, elder or younger, to seize the throne of Assyria in his stead, nor set any other king or any other lord over you, nor swear an oath to any other king or any other lord. 73 If you hear any improper, unsuitable or unseemly word concerning the exercise of kingship which is unseemly and evil against Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate, either from the mouth of his brothers, his uncles, his cousins, his family (var. his people), members of his father's line; or from the mouth of magnates and governors, or from the mouth of the bearded and the eunuchs, or from the mouth of the scholars or from the mouth of any human being at all, you shall not conceal it but come and report it to Assurbanipal, the great crown prince designate.
Date: 672 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In VTE the possible perpetrators of disloyalty are extensive, with permutations enumerated over dozens of lines. As with the discussions of Deut 28 and VTE, however, there are a few sections that have gained particular attention, with VTE §10 foremost among them. VTE §10— noted already for its resemblance to VTE §6—includes among its possible sources of disloyalty to Assurbanipal persuasions that come ... This is followed by a general warning in VTE §11 against “[anything] that is evil or improper” and concerning the maintenance of exclusive loyalty to Assurbanipal, and in VTE §12, instructions of what to do if the addressee should discover anyone plotting against Assurbanipal. Deuteronomy 13, in its turn, imagines threats from “prophets or those who divine by dreams” (Deuteronomy 13:2), “your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or your daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend” (Deuteronomy 13:7). Later in the chapter there is a threat from “scoundrels from among you [who] have gone out and led the inhabitants of the town astray” (Deuteronomy 13:14) ..."
C. L. Crouch, Israel and the Assyrians: Deuteronomy, the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon, and the Nature of Subversion, ANEM 8 (Atlanta: SBL, 2014), 82.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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