Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 13:13

"Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;" — Deuteronomy 13:13 (ASV)

Children of Belial. —The very same expression is used in Judges 20:13: Deliver us the men, the children of Belial, that are among you. This is the first place where the expression “sons of Belial” occurs, and Judges 19:22 is the second. It is generally explained by modern scholars as “worthlessness.” Rashi curiously makes it “destroyers of the yoke” (of Jehovah).