Texts in Conversation
The covenant language in Deuteronomy 13 warning against being influenced to violate the covenant is based on ancient Near Eastern tradition in the Esarhaddon treaty that similarly warns to not be led astray by otherwise trusted influences.
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The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon
Ancient Near East
You swear that you will protect Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, has designated to you and of whom he has spoken to you, and concerning whom he has firmly imposed the treaty upon you. That, you will not sin against him; that you will not bring your hand against him with evil intent. That you will not revolt or do anything to him which is not good, and not proper. You will not oust him from the kingship of Assyria by helping one of his brothers, older or younger, to seize the throne of Assyria in his stead. You will not set over you any other king or any other lord, nor will you swear an oath to any other king or any other lord. You swear that you will neither listen to nor conceal any improper, unsuitable or unseemly words concerning the exercise of kingship, which are unseemly and evil against Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince, either from the mouth of his brothers, his uncles, his cousins, his, family, members of his father's line; or from the mouth of officials or governors, or from the mouth of an officer or courtiers or from the mouth of any skilled person or from the mouth of any of the masses, as many as there are, but you will come and report these things to Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince.
Date: 672 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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.
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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) ..."
Crouch, Carly L.
Israel and the Assyrians: Deuteronomy, the Succession Treaty of Esarhaddon, and the Nature of Subversion
(p. 82) Society of Biblical Literature, 2014
* 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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