Deuteronomy17
New King James Version
1“You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.
2“If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant,
3who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
4and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel,
5then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.
6Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
8“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
9And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.
10You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you.
11According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.
12Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.
13And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.
14“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’
15you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
16But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’
17Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
18“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.
19And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,
20that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of 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