The sentence is short and severe. Whosoever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall be slain with the sword, and his goods be destroyed; for ye shall worship only the Name of the Lord (Exodus 22:19). No softening, no delay.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus gives the verse its sharpest edge. This is not a ritual misstep. It is betrayal. A person who offers sacrifice to another power has declared allegiance to another lord, and the covenant cannot hold a divided loyalty.
Why the Property Is Destroyed Too
The detail that his goods are destroyed is the striking addition. The Targum treats idolatrous sacrifice as something that contaminates everything it touches. The wealth that fed the altar, the hands that carried the offering, the household that tolerated the betrayal — none of it can be inherited, none of it can be salvaged.
This severity is not about cruelty. It is about removing every incentive. If idolatry could be profitable — if the goods could pass to grateful heirs — then one generation's betrayal could enrich the next. The Torah closes the loop. The property goes down with the act.
The Takeaway
The first commandment at Sinai said, I am the Lord your God (Exodus 20:2). This verse enforces it at its most absolute. Worship belongs to one Name only, and the covenant treats any other offering as the renunciation it truly is.