Bible Study Deuteronomy 17
‹ Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 · WEB

Courts, the King, and the Limits of Human Authority

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a defect or anything evil; for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.
2If there is found among you within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you a man or woman who does that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God in transgressing his covenant,
3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly bodies which I have not commanded,
4and you are told and have heard of it, then you shall inquire diligently; and behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such an abomination has been done in Israel,
5then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones to death.
6At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he who is to die be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from your midst.
8If a case is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God shall choose.
9You shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict in that case.
10You shall do according to the decision which they shall give you from that place which the LORD shall choose. You shall be careful to do according to all that they shall direct you.
11According to the law which they shall teach you and the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not depart from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or to the left.
12The man who acts presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or to the judge, that man shall die. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
13All the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14When you have come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and you 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 shall choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother.
16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses. Because the LORD has said to you, "You shall not go back that way again."
17He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply silver and gold to himself.
18It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, from the scroll which is before the priests the Levites.
19It 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, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;
20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Israel.
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Summary

Moses addresses three overlapping areas of governance: quality of sacrificial offerings (not defective animals), the judicial process for serious cases including an appeals system to a central court, and the law of the king. The king legislation is remarkable — Moses anticipates Israel's future desire for a king and grants it with severe restrictions: no multiplying horses (military power), wives (foreign alliances), or gold (personal wealth). Most importantly, the king must personally copy the law and read it daily so that he governs under God's authority, not above it. This is the world's earliest constitutional monarchy.

Themes

  • Due process and the requirement of multiple witnesses to prevent wrongful death
  • A judicial appeals system ensuring hard cases receive wise judgment
  • The king as servant of God's law, not above it — constitutional theocratic monarchy
  • The dangers of concentrated power: military, matrimonial, and financial excess
  • The Word of God as the constraint on human authority at every level

Key verses

  • Deut 17:18-19 — “He shall write himself a copy of this law in a book...and he shall read it all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the LORD his God.”
  • Deut 17:20 — “That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left.”
  • Deut 17:6 — “At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he who is to die be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”

Context & background

Moses' law of the king (vv. 14-20) was written centuries before Israel actually had a king. When Israel finally asked for a king (1 Samuel 8), they got Saul, then David, then Solomon — who ironically violated all three prohibitions of Deuteronomy 17:16-17: he multiplied horses from Egypt, took hundreds of wives, and accumulated enormous wealth. The two-or-three-witness requirement (v. 6) became a cornerstone of both Jewish and Christian law. Jesus applied it to church discipline (Matthew 18:16), and Paul cited it multiple times (2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19). The principle that the king must write and read the law daily is one of the most radical statements about accountability and humility in ancient political thought.

Cross-references

  • 1 Kings 11:1-8 — Solomon violates all three prohibitions of Deuteronomy 17:16-17
  • 1 Samuel 8:4-22 — Israel demands a king "like all the nations" — exactly as Moses predicted
  • Matthew 18:16 — Jesus applies the two-witness principle to church discipline
  • Revelation 19:16 — Jesus as King of kings — the ultimate fulfillment of the ideal kingship
  • Romans 13:1-7 — Governing authorities are servants of God, not autonomous rulers

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What three things must the king NOT multiply (vv. 16-17)?

  2. Observe

    What was the king required to do with the law (vv. 18-19)?

  3. Interpret

    Why is daily personal writing and reading more formative than mere access?

  4. Interpret

    What does limiting the king's power reveal about God's vision of leadership?

  5. Apply

    How do you hold yourself accountable to God's Word in positions of authority?

  6. Apply

    If you wrote out one Scripture passage by hand each day, what would you choose?

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