Deuteronomy 17
Deuteronomy 17:1 “Do not sacrifice to Yahveh your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, because that is repulsive to Yahveh your God.
Deuteronomy 17:2 “If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that Yahveh your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of Yahveh your God and violating his covenant
Deuteronomy 17:3 and has gone to serve other gods by bowing in worship to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky – about which I have commanded –
Deuteronomy 17:4 and if you are told or hear about it, then investigate it thoroughly. Notice if the report turns out to be true that this repulsive act has been done in Israel,
Deuteronomy 17:5 you are to bring out to your city gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.
Deuteronomy 17:6 The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness.
Deuteronomy 17:7 The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.
Deuteronomy 17:8 “If a judgment is too complicated[1] for you – concerning bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults – cases disputed at your city gates, then go up to the place Yahveh your God chooses.
Deuteronomy 17:9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the judgment.
Deuteronomy 17:10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place Yahveh chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you.
Deuteronomy 17:11 You must abide by the instruction they give you and the judgment they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you.
Deuteronomy 17:12 The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there ministering to Yahveh your God or the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 17:13 Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly.
Deuteronomy 17:14 “When you enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will place a king over me like all the nations around me,’
Deuteronomy 17:15 you are to place over you the king Yahveh your God chooses. Place a king from among your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you or one who is not of your people.
Deuteronomy 17:16 However, he must only acquire a few horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses because Yahveh has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must acquire a manageable amount of silver and gold for himself.
Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
Deuteronomy 17:19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Yahveh his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these prescriptions.
Deuteronomy 17:20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his fellow citizens, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.
[1] פָּלָא = complicated, overwhelming. Deuteronomy 17:8; 28:59; 30:11.
Deuteronomy 17 quotes:
“In the closing lines of chapter xvi, Israel is w-arned against the most distant approach to the religious customs of the nations around. “Thou shalt not ])lant thee a grove of an}’ trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy God hateth.” They were carefully to avoid everv thing which might lead them in the direction of the daik and abominable idolatries of the heathen nations around. The altar of God was to stand out in distinct and unmistakable separation from those proves and shady places where false gods were worshiped, and things were done which are not to be named.* In a word, every thing was to be most carefully avoided which might in any way draw the heait away from the one living and true God.”
Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. pp. 258-259.
“There had to be at least two valid witnesses against the accused person in order for a case to be established and the death penalty to be put into effect. One witness was not sufficient in a case of this severity, for in the last resort, the evidence would consist merely in one man’s word against that of another fellow Israelite. For the application of the principle of two or more witnesses in the NT, see Matt. 18:16, 2 Cor. 13:1, 1 Tim. 5:19. The way in which the execution was to be carried out emphasizes the burden of responsibility for truthful testimony that rested on the witness in a case involving capital punishment.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 250-251). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 17 links:
a king who follows God’s rules
arrogant evil
focused to the finish
in retrospect- lex rex
instructions for a future king
repulsive religious acts
the collector reflects on human nature
timeless truths about testifying
trusting the judges
The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.
jeffersonvann 