Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and serve strange gods which you know not:

There are men, children of Belial, gone out from among you, and they have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom ye have not known;

Certain men, the children of Belial, have gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

Men, sons of worthlessness, have gone out of thy midst, and they force away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known,

That good-for-nothing persons have gone out from among you, turning the people of their town from the right way and saying, Let us go and give worship to other gods, of whom you have no knowledge;

'The sons of Belial have departed from your midst, and they have persuaded the inhabitants of their city, and they have said: "Let us go, and serve strange gods," ' which you have not known:

Egressi sunt quidam homines filii impietatis e medio tui, qui impulerunt habitatores urbis suae, dicendo, Eamus et colamus deos alienos quos non nostis.

Certain men, the children of Belial. Moses puts a case, which very often is wont to occur. For all do not break forth into impiety together at the same moment, but Satan stirs up some who are like fans to excite others; and by their instigations the multitude is led to imitate them. Moses calls such as these "children of Belial;" [1] by which word some think that rebellious (proefractos) men are pointed out, and expound it "without yoke." Their opinion, however, seems to be more correct, who interpret it "men of nothing," men in whom nothing good or praiseworthy is found; and literally translate it "those who are worthless." This expression is invariably applied to the wicked (sceleratis, improbis, et nequam;) and therefore Paul, contrasting Christ with Belial, designates by it Satan the chief of all the wicked. (2-Corinthians 6:15.) He uses the words "gone out," as if they had dared to come forward, and openly to parade their impiety. But, though the evil may have originated with a few authors, he does not mean that punishment should stop with them; as if the instigation of others availed as an excuse for the multitude. And he enjoins diligent inquiry to be made, for two reasons: viz., lest they should connive at the iniquity, and be lax, and careless about it, or lest they should be too hasty and precipitate in their judgment; because, on the one hand, whilst we are never equitable, nor decide rightly in precipitation and anger, so on the other it betrays base indifference, and something like disloyalty, to overlook so great a crime. Thus both activity and moderation are commended, so that the judge may neither be lax, nor make any decision until the matter shall be carefully inquired into.

Footnotes

1 - vlyl, Belial. If the authority of the points be conceded, this word must be considered as composed of vly, without, and yl, use, or profit, so as to correspond with our expression good-for-nothing; but, if the points be disregarded, it might be considered as made up of vly, and l, without yoke; insubmissive, rebellious. S.M.'s note says, "Without the yoke of the Divine Law." -- W.

In Deuteronomy 15:9 and in Nahum 1:11 the word "Belial" is rendered in our translation by the adjective "wicked." The word means "worthlessness."
(from Barnes' Notes)

Children of Belial - בליעל, from בל bal, not, and יעל yaal, profit; - Sept. ανδρες παρανομοι, lawless men; - persons good for nothing to themselves or others, and capable of nothing but mischief.

Certain men, the children of Belial,.... Which signify either persons without a yoke, who have thrown off the yoke of God's law, and will not submit to it, or unprofitable ones, as wicked men be, both to God, themselves, and others:
are gone out from among you; not locally, but with respect to their religious sentiments and practices, having separated themselves from the people of God, and from the service of the sanctuary, the true worship of God, and a profession of it, and given into the worship of idols:
and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city; withdrawn them by the force of persuasion from the worship of the true God, and drawn them into idolatry:
saying, let us go and serve other gods; unite as one man in the worship of the gods of the Gentiles:
which ye have not known; this was not said by the children of Belial, but is added by the Lord by way of explanation, showing what gods they were that these men advised them to serve, and confirms the observation made on Deuteronomy 13:6.

The third case is that of a town that had been led away to idolatry. "If thou shalt hear in one of thy cities." בּאחת, not de una, of one, which שׁמע with בּ never can mean, and does not mean even in Job 26:14. The thought is not that they would hear in one city about another, as though one city had the oversight over another; but there is an inversion in the sentence, "if thou hear, that in one of thy cities...worthless men have risen up, and led the inhabitants astray to serve strange gods." לאמר introduces the substance of what is heard, which follows in Deuteronomy 13:14. יצא merely signifies to rise up, to go forth. מקּרבּך, out of the midst of the people.

Children of Belial - It signifies properly persons without yoke, vile and wretched miscreants, lawless and rebellious, that will suffer no restraint, that neither fear God, nor reverence man. From among you - That is, from your church and religion. It notes a separation from them, not in place (as appears by their partnership with their fellow citizens both in the sin and punishment) but in heart, doctrine and worship.