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Deuteronomy Chapter
Seventeen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 17
This
chapter begins with a caution not to sacrifice anything to the Lord that is
blemished or ill favoured
Deuteronomy 17:1
an order is given to put to death men or women guilty of idolatry
where it is
clearly proved upon them
Deuteronomy 17:2
and it is directed that when cases are too hard for inferior judges to
determine
they should be brought to Jerusalem to the priests
Levites
and
judges
which formed the great consistory there
whose sentence was to be
adhered unto on pain of death
Deuteronomy 17:8
and rules are given about the choice of a king
and he is informed what he must
not do
and what he should do
Deuteronomy 17:14.
Deuteronomy 17:1 “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.
YLT
1`Thou dost not sacrifice to
Jehovah thy God ox or sheep in which there is a blemish -- any evil thing; for
it [is] the abomination of Jehovah thy God.
Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or
sheep wherein is blemish
.... No sacrifice of any sort
whether burnt offering
sin
offering
or peace offering
was to have any blemish in it; typical of the unblemished
and immaculate Lamb of God
who
being without sin
offered himself without
spot to God
and so could take away the sins of others by the sacrifice of
himself; see Leviticus 22:18
or any evilfavouredness; any sickness
or disease upon it of any sort
which made it ill favoured to the sight
or
disagreeable to the smell
or however unacceptable for sacrifice:
for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God; every such
blemished and ill favoured sacrifice; see Malachi 1:8.
Deuteronomy 17:2 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
YLT
2`When there is found in thy
midst
in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee
a man or a
woman who doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah thy God by transgressing
His covenant
If there be found among you
within any of thy gates which the
Lord thy God giveth thee
.... In any of their cities in the land of Canaan:
man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord
thy God: as all that is wrought is in the sight of the omniscient God;
here it means not any kind of wickedness
for there is none lives without
committing sin of one sort or another
all which is known to God the searcher
of hearts
but such wickedness as is after described:
in transgressing his covenant; that is
his law
and
particularly the first table of it
which respects divine worship
and which is
in the nature of a marriage contract or covenant; which
as that is
transgressed by adultery committed by either party
so the covenant between God
and Israel was transgressed by idolatry
which is spiritual adultery
and going
a whoring after other gods
as it follows:
Deuteronomy 17:3 3 who
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
YLT
3and he doth go and serve
other gods
and doth bow himself to them
and to the sun
or to the moon
or to
any of the host of the heavens
which I have not commanded –
And hath gone
.... The Targum of Jonathan adds
after the
evil imagination or concupiscence
lusting after other lovers
and forsaking
the true God
and departing from his worship:
and served other gods; strange gods
the idols
of the people
other gods besides the true God; the creature besides the
Creator:
and worshipped them; by bowing down before
them
praying to them
or ascribing their mercies and blessings to them
and
giving them the glory of them:
either the sun
or moon
or any of the host of heaven: the two great
luminaries
and the planets
constellations
and stars
any of them; which kind
of idolatry very early obtained
and was in use at this time among the
Heathens
and was an iniquity to be punished by the judge
Job 31:26
which
sin
though so strictly forbidden
the people of Israel sometimes fell into
2 Kings 21:3.
which I have not commanded: and which is a
sufficient reason
in matters of worship
to avoid and abstain from anything
that God has not commanded it; for in things of that nature nothing should be
done but what he has ordered
who is a jealous God
and will not suffer any to
take upon them to direct what should be done as a religious service and duty;
and if any are so presumptuous
they must expect it will be resented; see Isaiah 1:12 and
especially with respect to the object of worship
as here
and which relate to
things if not forbid expressly
yet tacitly
to do which was an abomination to
the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:4 4 and
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
YLT
4and it hath been declared
to thee
and thou hast heard
and hast searched diligently
and lo
truth; the
thing is established; this abomination hath been done in Israel –
And it be told thee
and thou hast heard of it
and inquired
diligently
.... A report of this kind was not to be neglected; though it was
not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay
it was to be looked into
and
the persons that brought it thoroughly examined; so the Targum of
Jonathan
"and inquired the witnesses well
'what proof and evidence they
could give of the fact
who the persons were
when and where
and in what
manner the sin was committed:
and
behold
it be true
and the thing certain; upon
examining the witnesses the case is plain and out of all question:
that such abomination is wrought in Israel; to do it in
any country was abominable
but much more so in the land of Israel
among the
professing people of God
who had the knowledge of the true God
and had had so
many proofs of his deity
his power and providence
as well as received so many
favours and blessings from him
and had such laws and statutes given them as no
other people had.
Deuteronomy 17:5 5 then
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.
YLT
5`Then thou hast brought out
that man
or that woman
who hath done this evil thing
unto thy gates -- the
man or the woman -- and thou hast stoned them with stones
and they have died.
Thou shall bring forth that man or that woman which have committed
the wicked thing
.... Idolatry in any of the above instances: this must be
supposed to be done after he or she have been had before a court of judicature
and have been tried and found guilty
and sentence passed on them
then they
were to be brought forth to execution:
unto thy gates; the Targum of Jonathan says
unto the gates
of your sanhedrim
or court of judicature; but Jarchi observes
that this is a
mistake of the paraphrase
for he says
we are taught by tradition that
"thy gate" is the gate in which he has served or committed idolatry;
and so says MaimonidesF4Hilchot Sanhedrin
c. 15. sect. 2.
they do
not stone a man but at the gate where he served or worshipped; but if the
greatest part of the city are Heathens
they stone him at the door of the
sanhedrim; and this is received from tradition
that "to thy gates"
is the gate at which he served
and not where his judgment is finished:
even that man or
that woman; this is repeated
and the woman as well as the man is expressed
to show that no compassion is to be had on her as is usual
nor to be spared on
account of the weakness and tenderness of her sex
but she as well as the man
must be brought forth and executed according to her sentence
without any mercy
shown; and this is observed to show the resentment of the divine Majesty
and
his indignation at this sin:
and shalt stone them with stones until they die; of the manner
of stoning men and women; see Gill on Acts 7:58.
Deuteronomy 17:6 6 Whoever
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.
YLT
6By the mouth of two
witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put
to death by the mouth of one witness;
At the mouth of two witnesses
or three witnesses
shall he that
is worthy of death be put to death
.... The idolater found
guilty was to be stoned; two witnesses were sufficient to prove a fact
if
three the better
but
on the testimony of one
sentence might not be
pronounced. Aben Ezra observes
that some say
if two witnesses contradict two
other
a third turns the scale and determines the matter; and others say
that
two who are wise men will do
and three of others; and because it is said
"at the mouth" of these witnesses
it is concluded
that a testimony
should be verbal and not written; should not be recorded
neither in pecuniary
cases nor in capital ones
but from the mouth of the witnesses
as it is said
"at the mouth"
&c. at their mouth
and not from their
handwritingF5Maimon. Hilchot Eduth
c. 3. sect. 4. :
but at the mouth of one
witness he shall not be put to death; so careful is the Lord
of the lives of men
that none should be taken away but upon full and
sufficient evidence
even in cases in which his own glory and honour is so much
concerned.
Deuteronomy 17:7 7 The
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.
YLT
7the hand of the witnesses
is on him
in the first place
to put him to death
and the hand of all the
people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to
death
.... Of everyone of them
as Aben Ezra; they were to cast the
first stone at him
which would be a further trial and confirmation of their
testimony; for if they readily and without reluctance first began the stoning
of the idolater
it would not only show their zeal for the honour of the divine
Being
but an unconsciousness of guilt in their testimony
and be an
encouragement to others to proceed with safety:
and afterwards the hands of all the people; should be
employed in taking up stones
and casting at him until he was dead:
so thou shall put the evil away from among you; both the evil
man and the evil committed by him
which by this means would be prevented from
spreading
seeing by his death others would be deterred from following his
example; as well as the evil of punishment
which otherwise would have come
upon the nation
had they connived at so gross an iniquity.
Deuteronomy 17:8 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.
YLT
8`When anything is too hard
for thee for judgment
between blood and blood
between plea and plea
and
between stroke and stroke -- matters of strife within thy gates -- then thou
hast risen
and gone up unto the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment
.... This is
spoken to inferior judges in cities in the country
who sometimes might have
cases too wonderful and mysterious
as the word signifies
or secret and
hidden
such as were out of their reach and beyond their capacity
and so be
very difficult for them to determine what should be done:
between blood and blood; that is
whether a man
is guilty of shedding innocent blood or not; when such a case is depending
between a person charged with it and the relatives of the deceased
or between
a man slayer and the avenger of blood
and the question is
whether he may have
the benefit of a city of refuge or not
and there are some circumstances
attending it which make it difficult how to determine:
between plea and plea; of the plaintiff on one
side and of the defendant on the other
and both have so much to say in their
own cause
that it is hard to decide which is in the right and which is in the
wrong
whether in capital or pecuniary cases; it chiefly if not solely respects
civil things in controversy:
and between stroke and stroke; blow or wound which one
man received from another
and for which he commences a suit of law upon it
Exodus 21:18 or for
assault and battery; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of blows and bruises; but
the Jewish writers generally interpret it of the plague
or stroke of leprosy;
so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but the examination of such a case
did not belong to the civil magistrate
but to a priest; nor was such a person
had up to Jerusalem to be searched
but was shut up in a house until further
evidence could be got; and
besides
the signs of the leprosy are so distinctly
given
that at waiting a proper time
there was seldom or ever any difficulty
about determining it:
being matter of
controversy within thy gates; or what are matters of controversy about
anything else; for the phrase is general
as Aben Ezra observes
and takes in
everything in which anything difficult might occur; so Jarchi interprets it of
things which the wise men of a city are divided about; one pronounces a person
or thing unclean
another clean
one condemning and another justifying
and so
far rightly; for this respects not controversies between men
that may be
brought into courts of judicature
but controversies or divisions arising in
these courts upon them
between the judges themselves
they not agreeing in
their opinions:
then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place which the
Lord thy God shall choose; to Jerusalem
to the great sanhedrim or
court of judicature
to which the inferior judges were to apply themselves
in
matters of moment and difficulty
for instruction
information
and direction;
it being supposed that in such a court such like cases may have been brought
before them
and they were expert and understanding in them.
Deuteronomy 17:9 9 And
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.
YLT
9and hast come in unto the
priests
the Levites
and unto the judge who is in those days
and hast
inquired
and they have declared to thee the word of judgment
Thou shalt come unto the priests
the Levites
.... The
priests that are of the tribe of Levi
as the Targum of Jonathan
and so
Jarchi; for Aben Ezra says there are priests that are not of the genealogy of
Levi; such there were indeed in Jeroboam's time
1 Kings 12:31.
MaimonidesF6Hilchot Sanhedrin
c. 2. sect. 2. observes
that it is
ordered that there should be in the great sanhedrim priests and Levites
as it
is said: "and thou shalt come unto the priests
and the judge that shall
be in those days
and inquire"; judge is here put for judges
of which the
great court consisted
being priests
Levites
and Israelites; See Gill on Deuteronomy 16:18
though others think that only a single person is meant
such as Othniel
Ehud
Gideon
Samson
&c. but then as there was not always such an one in being
I should rather think that the judge here
if a single person
is the president
or prince of the great sanhedrim
who succeeded Moses
and sat in his place;
and of him and his court
the priests
and Levites and Israelites that composed
it
inquiry was to be made:
and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment; give their
judgment in the difficult case proposed
and declare what is right to be done
and what sentence is to be pronounced.
Deuteronomy 17:10 10 You
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.
YLT
10and thou hast done
according to the tenor of the word which they declare to thee ([they] of that
place which Jehovah doth choose; and thou hast observed to do according to all
that they direct thee.
And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place
which the Lord shall choose shall show thee
.... The judges of the
inferior courts were to return and proceed on the difficult case according to
the judgment of the great court at Jerusalem
and follow the directions and
instructions they should give them:
and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform
thee; not only observe and take notice of what they say
but put it in
practice
and not in some things and some circumstances only
but in all and
everything they should give them information about relating to the case in
question.
Deuteronomy 17:11 11 According
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.
YLT
11`According to the tenor of
the law which they direct thee
and according to the judgment which they say to
thee thou dost do; thou dost not turn aside from the word which they declare to
thee
right or left.
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee
.... For they
were not to make any new law
but to teach the law of God
and so far as their
sense and opinion of things agreed with that law they were to be regarded:
and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee
thou
shalt do; what were law and justice
what were fit and right to be done
according
to the will of God
which they should declare unto them
that was carefully to
be done by them:
thou shalt not decline from the sentence they shall show thee
to
the right hand nor to the left; by setting up after
all their own
judgments against theirs to whom they had applied for information and
direction
which to have done would have been very insolent and affronting;
they were not to depart from the determination they made of the case
on
pretence of knowing better
nor even in any minute circumstance to deviate from
it
but strictly and closely to keep unto it; though not to follow them so
implicitly as to receive from them and embrace things the most absurd and
unreasonable
as Jarchi suggests; who says
that their sense was to be abided by
even if they should say that the right hand is the left
and the left hand the
right.
Deuteronomy 17:12 12 Now
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.
YLT
12And the man who acteth with
presumption
so as not to hearken unto the priest (who is standing to serve
there Jehovah thy God)
or unto the judge
even that man hath died
and thou
hast put away the evil thing from Israel
The
judge of the country court that makes his application to that at Jerusalem for
information and direction; if
after all
he is conceited in his own opinion
and rejects theirs
and is obstinate
and will not be guided and directed
but
will take his own way
and pursue his own sense of things
and act according to
that:
and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there
before the Lord thy God; the priests of the tribe of Levi
of whom the court generally
consisted
Deuteronomy 17:9
priest for priests; though some think the high priest is meant
to whom the
character very well agrees; but he was not always at the head of the sanhedrim
nor indeed a member of it
unless he had the proper qualifications; see Deuteronomy 18:18.
or unto the judge; or judges; See Gill on Deuteronomy 17:9. L'EmpereurF7In
Misn. Middoth
c. 5. sect. 3. thinks
that the supreme senate
or grand
sanhedrim
was twofold
according to the diversity of ecclesiastic and
political matters; since where it treats of the supreme senators
or chief
persons in the court
the priest is manifestly distinguished from the judge
(i.e. priests or judges); now the man that has asked advice of them
and will
not be directed by it
but takes his own way
this being so great a contempt
of
and insult upon
the great senate of the nation:
even that man shall die; and this was by
strangling
for so the rebellious older
as such an one is called
was to die
according to the MisnahF8Sanhedrin
c. 10. sect. 2. ; and it is saidF9Maimon.
Issure Biah
c. 1. sect. 6.
that the death spoken of in the law absolutely
(without specifying what kind of death) is strangling:
and thou shall put away the evil from Israel; the evil man
that is rebellious against the supreme legislature of the nation
and the evil
of contumacy he is guilty of
deterring others from it by his death.
Deuteronomy 17:13 13 And
all the people shall hear and fear
and no longer act presumptuously.
YLT
13and all the people do hear
and fear
and do not presume any more.
And all the people shall hear
and fear
.... All the
people of Israel in their own cities
and particularly the judges in those
cities; they shall hear of what is done to the obstinate and disobedient elder
and shall be afraid to commit the like offence
lest they should come into the
same punishment:
and do no more presumptuously; after his example;
hence
Jarchi says
they wait till the feast comes
and then put him to death;
and so it is saidF11Misn. Sanhedrin
c. 10. sect. 4.
they bring
him up to the great sanhedrim which is at Jerusalem
and there keep him until
the feast (the next feast)
and put him to death at the feast
as it is said:
all the people shall hear
and fear.
Deuteronomy 17:14 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
’
YLT
14`When thou comest in unto
the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee
and hast possessed it
and
dwelt in it
and thou hast said
Let me set over me a king like all the nations
which [are] round about me
--
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee
.... The land of Canaan:
and shalt possess it
and shalt dwell therein; be entirely
in the possession of it
and settled in it; it seems to denote some time of
continuance in it
as it was
before they thought of setting a king over them
about which are the following instructions:
and shalt say
I will set a king over me
like as all the nations
that are round about me; which was what would and did lead them to such a thought and
resolution; observing that the neighbouring nations had kings over them
they
were desirous of being like them as to the form of their civil government
and
have a king as they had.
Deuteronomy 17:15 15 you
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.
YLT
15thou dost certainly set
over thee a king on whom Jehovah doth fix; from the midst of thy brethren thou
dost set over thee a king; thou art not able to set over thee a stranger
who
is not thy brother.
Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee whom the Lord
thy God shall choose
.... The Jews take this to be a command to set a king over them:
whereas it is only a permission in case they should desire and determine on
having one
as God foresaw they would; and this with a limitation and
restriction to appoint none but whom God should choose
and which was their
duty and interest to attend unto; for none could choose better for them
and
was what he had a right unto
and it became them to submit to it
since he was
their King in a civil and special sense
and another was only his viceregent;
accordingly we find
when they expressed their desire to have a king in the
time of Samuel
and it was granted
though not without some resentment
the
Lord chose their first king for them
Saul
and
after him
David
and even
Solomon
David's son; and though
in later times
they appointed kings without
consulting him
it is complained of
Hosea 8:4 hence
this clause is prefaced in the Targum of Jonathan
"ye
shall seek instruction from the Lord
and after set him king
&c.'which was
to be done by the mouth of a prophet
or by Urim
as Aben Ezra observes:
one from among thy brethren shall thou set king over thee: that is
one
of their own nation
an Israelite
a brother both by nation and religion:
thou mayest not set a stranger over thee that is not thy brother; one of
another nation
that is not of the family of Israel
as Aben Ezra notes
even
not an Edomite
though called sometimes their brother; and Herod
who was an
Idumean
was set up
not by them
but by the Romans; now in this their king was
a type of the King Messiah
of whom it is said
"their nobles shall be of
themselves"
Jeremiah 30:21.
Deuteronomy 17:16 16 But
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.’
YLT
16`Only
he doth not multiply
to himself horses
nor cause the people to turn back to Egypt
so as to
multiply horses
seeing Jehovah hath said to you
Ye do not add to turn back in
this way any more.
But he shall not multiply horses to himself
.... That he
might not put his trust and confidence in outward things
as some are apt to
trust in horses and chariots; and that he might not tyrannise over and distress
his subjects by keeping a number of horses and chariots as a standing army
and
chiefly for a reason that follows; he was to have no more than for his own
chariot
so Jarchi
and so the MisnahF7Sanhedrin
c. 2. sect. 4. and
MaimonidesF8Hilchot Melachim
c. 3. sect. 3. ; the Targum of
Jonathan restrains it to two:
nor cause the people to return to Egypt
to the end that he should
multiply horses; which was a country that abounded with them
and therefore he
was not to encourage
and much less oblige his subjects to travel thither or
trade with that people for the sake of increasing his stock of horses
Isaiah 31:1.
forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you
ye shall henceforth
return no more that way; not that going into Egypt on any account whatsoever was
forbidden
as for trade and merchandise in other things
or for shelter and
safety
for which some good men fled thither; but for outward help and
assistance against enemies
and for horses on that account
and particularly in
order to dwell there
from which the Jews in the times of Jeremiah were
dissuaded by him
and threatened by the Lord with destruction
in case they
should
Jeremiah 42:15.
When the Lord said this is not certain; it may be when they proposed to make a
captain
and return unto Egypt; or he said this in his providence
this was the
language of it ever since they came out of it
or however this he now said; see
Deuteronomy 28:68.
Deuteronomy 17:17 17 Neither
shall he multiply wives for himself
lest his heart turn away; nor shall he
greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
YLT
17And he doth not multiply to
himself wives
and his heart doth not turn aside
and silver and gold he doth
not multiply to himself -- exceedingly.
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself
that his heart turn
not away
.... From attending to the duty of his office
the care and
government of his people
and from serious religion; and particularly from the
worship of the true God
as the heart of Solomon was turned away from it by his
numerous idolatrous wives
1 Kings 11:3
it is
a common notion of the Jews that a king might have eighteen wives
and no moreF11Maimon.
Issure Biah
c. 1. sect. 2. Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin
c. 10. sect. 4.). T.
Bab. Sanhedrin
fol. 21. 1. Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc. : neither shall he
greatly multiply to himself silver and gold; he might increase his wealth
but
not greatly
lest his heart should be lifted up with pride by it
and lest his
subjects should be oppressed and burdened with taxes for that purpose; or he
being possessed of so much
should make use of it to enslave them
and
especially should be so elated with it as to deny God
and despise his
providence
and disobey his laws; see Proverbs 30:9. The
Jews generally sayF12Maimon. ib. sect. 4. Misn. ut supra.
that he
ought not to multiply more than what will pay the stipends or wages of his
servants
and only for the treasury of the house of the Lord
and for the
necessity of the congregation (or commonwealth)
and for their wars; but not
for himself
and his own treasury.
Deuteronomy 17:18 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.
YLT
18`And it hath been
when he
sitteth on the throne of his kingdom
that he hath written for himself the copy
of this law
on a book
from [that] before the priests the Levites
And it shall be
when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom
.... When he
is settled on it
and is even amidst all the pomp and glory of it: that he
shall write him a copy of this law in a book; which copy the Septuagint and
Vulgate Latin versions interpret of this book of Deuteronomy
which is a
summary abstract and repetition of the various laws of God to the people of
Israel; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it of the whole
Pentateuch
the five books of Moses; which perhaps may be enlarging it too
much
as it would be reducing it to too little to restrain it to this law
concerning kings
as the Targum of Jonathan. The word "Mishneh"
rendered "copy"
signifies "double"; hence some take it to
mean a double exemplar or copy of the law he was obliged to write out
whereby
it would be the more imprinted on his mind
and he would be furnished with it
for his use at home and abroad
as the Jewish writers observe; so Jarchi by the
copy understands two books of the law
one to be left in his treasury
the
other to go out and in with him. The same is said in the TalmudF13T.
Bab. Sanhedrn
fol. 21. 2.
and with which MaimonidesF14Ut supra
(Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin
c. 2.)
sect. 1. agrees
whose words are
"at
the time a king sits on the throne of his kingdom
he writes for himself a book
of the law
besides what his fathers left him; and he copies it out of the book
of the court by the order of the sanhedrim of seventy one; if his fathers have
left him none
or it is lost
he writes two books of the law
one he leaves in the
house of his treasures
which he is commanded
as everyone of Israel is
and
the second never departs from him;'but one may seem sufficient on all
occasions
and for all purposes; and this was to be wrote out of that which is
before the priests and Levites; the original copy of it
which was deposited in
the side of the ark; see Deuteronomy 31:26.
Deuteronomy 17:19 19 And
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
YLT
19and it hath been with him
and he hath read in it all days of his life
so that he doth learn to fear
Jehovah his God
to keep all the words of this law
and these statutes
to do
them;
And it shall be with him
.... Always
when at home
or abroad
sitting on his throne or lying down
or wherever he went
unless in
such places where it was not proper to read it
as the Jews observeF15Maimon.
Hilchot Melachim
c. 3. sect. 1. : and he shall read therein all the days of his
life; every day of his life; meditate on it night and day
as a good man does
that he might be well versed in it
and know how to govern his people according
to it:
that he may learn to
fear the Lord his God; to serve and worship
him both internally and externally
he having the fear of God always
before his eyes
and on his heart
which the holy law of God directs to and
instructs in:
to keep all the words of this law
and these statutes
to do them; not only such
as concerned him as a king
but all others that concerned him as a man
a
creature subject to the Lord
and as an Israelite belonging to the church and
commonwealth of Israel
and so includes all laws
moral
ceremonial
and
judicial.
Deuteronomy 17:20 20 that
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.
YLT
20so that his heart is not
high above his brethren
and so as not to turn aside from the command
right or
left
so that he prolongeth days over his kingdom
he and his sons
in the
midst of Israel.
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren
.... On
account of his office
the dignity of it
considering that he was subject to
the law of God
and accountable to the Lord for all his actions:
and that he turn not aside from the commandment
to the right hand
or to the left; not in the least deviate from the law of God in the whole of his
conduct
and particularly in the exercise of his kingly office:
to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom; ruling well
according to the laws of God being the way to rule long:
he and his children in the midst of Israel; this shows
as Jarchi observes
that if his son was fit for the kingdom
he was to be
preferred to any other man; for though it was elective
yet to be continued in
the same family
provided they walked in the ways of the Lord
and observed his
laws.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》