Deuteronomy17
New International Version
1Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.
2If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,
3and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky,
4and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
5take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.
6On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
7The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
8If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.
9Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.
10You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do.
11Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.
12Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the Lord your God is to be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
13All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.
14When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
15be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite.
16The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
17He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.
19It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
20and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 17.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: All sacrifices to be perfect, Idolaters must be slain. (1–7). Difficult controversies. (8–13). The choice of a king, His duties. (14–20).
vv1-7
No creature which had any blemish was to be offered in sacrifice to God. We are thus called to remember the perfect, pure, and spotless sacrifice of Christ, and reminded to serve God with the best of our abilities, time, and possession, or our pretended obedience will be hateful to him. So great a punishment as death, so remarkable a death as stoning, must be inflicted on the Jewish idolater. Let all who in our day set up idols in their hearts, remember how God punished this crime in Israel.
vv8-13
Courts of judgment were to be set up in every city. Though their judgment had not the Divine authority of an oracle, it was the judgment of wise, prudent, experienced men, and had the advantage of a Divine promise.
vv14-20
God himself was in a particular manner Israel's King; and if they set another over them, it was necessary that he should choose the person. Accordingly, when the people desired a king, they applied to Samuel, a prophet of the Lord. In all cases, God's choice, if we can but know it, should direct, determine, and overrule ours. Laws are given for the prince that should be elected. He must carefully avoid every thing that would turn him from God and religion. Riches, honours, and pleasures, are three great hinderances of godliness, (the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life,) especially to those in high stations; against these the king is here warned. The king must carefully study the law of God, and make that his rule; and having a copy of the Scriptures of his own writing, must read therein all the days of his life. It is not enough to have Bibles, but we must use them, use them daily, as long as we live. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bibles, but will have constant occasion for them, till they come to that world where knowledge and love will be made perfect. The king's writing and reading were as nothing, if he did not practise what he wrote and read. And those who fear God and keep his commandments, will fare the better for it even in this world.
Key Words
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
זָבַח: to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice)
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
שׁוֹר: a bullock (as a traveller)
שֶׂה: a member of a flock, i.e. a sheep or goat
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
מאוּם: to stain; a blemish (physically or morally)
רַע: bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
תּוֹעֵבַה: properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol
Cross References
Deuteronomy 17Solomon's historical violation of the prohibition against multiplying wives, which turned his heart away.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Detailed legal definitions of sacrificial blemishes rendering an animal unacceptable to God.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament citation of the two-or-three witnesses rule for capital covenant infractions.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical fulfillment of Israel demanding a king 'like all the nations,' rejecting God's direct rule.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin, JFB
Poetic reference to the ancient practice of worshipping the sun and moon.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The foundational law requiring multiple witnesses to establish any charge in Israel.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jehoshaphat's establishment of a supreme court in Jerusalem to handle hard cases.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Solomon's accumulation of chariots and import of horses from Egypt in direct violation.
Supported by JFB
The coronation of Joash, where he is given 'the testimony' or copy of the law.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic rebuke of Israel offering blind, lame, and sick animals in violation of this law.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The requirement to search, inquire, and ask diligently regarding reports of apostasy.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God's active selection and confirmation of Saul as the first king.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Prophetic woe on those going down to Egypt for help and relying on horses.
Supported by JFB
The command to Joshua to meditate on the book of the law day and night.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The requirement that the Passover lamb be without blemish, foreshadowing Christ.
Supported by JFB