Deuteronomy Chapter 17 — Laws for Judges and Kings
This chapter provides instructions for pure sacrifices, legal procedures for handling idolatry and difficult court cases, and specific regulations for future kings.
1You 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 LORD your God’s sight in transgressing his covenant,
3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded,
4and you are told, and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel,
5then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones.
6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
8If there arises a matter 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 chooses.
9You shall come to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict.
10You shall do according to the decisions of the verdict which they shall give you from that place which the LORD chooses. You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you.
11According to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they announce to you, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12The man who does presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away 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 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 him whom the LORD your God chooses as king over yourselves. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. 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 to himself silver and gold.
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, out of that which is before the Levitical priests.
19It shall be with him, and he shall read from 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 not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away 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.
WEB Translation
Notable Verses
Deuteronomy 17:6
“At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”
This verse establishes a foundational principle of biblical justice requiring multiple witnesses for a capital conviction.
Deuteronomy 17:18
“It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests.”
This unique requirement ensured that the king remained a student of the law and subordinate to divine authority.
Chapter Summary
Deuteronomy 17 begins by prohibiting the sacrifice of animals with defects, calling such offerings an abomination to God. It then establishes a strict legal process for investigating claims of idolatry, requiring diligent inquiry and the testimony of at least two or three witnesses before a sentence is carried out. For complex legal disputes that local courts cannot resolve, the text directs the people to seek a verdict from the Levitical priests and judges at a central location chosen by God, emphasizing that their decision must be strictly followed without deviation. The second half of the chapter anticipates a time when Israel might appoint a king like the surrounding nations. It specifies that the king must be a native Israelite chosen by God. He is forbidden from accumulating excessive horses, wives, or wealth. Instead, the king must write his own copy of the law and read it daily to remain humble and obedient to God's commands, ensuring he does not consider himself above his fellow citizens.
Frequently Asked Questions
A king had to be an Israelite chosen by God, not a foreigner. He was forbidden from acquiring many horses, having many wives, or accumulating excessive silver and gold, and he was required to write and read a personal copy of the law daily.
If a case was too difficult for local gates to decide, it was brought to the Levitical priests and the judge at the place chosen by God. Their verdict was final, and the people were commanded to follow it without deviating to the right or left.
The law required two or three witnesses to prevent a person from being put to death based on a single false or mistaken testimony. This safeguard ensured that the evidence was certain before justice was carried out.
Study Note
The 'Law of the King' in this chapter is distinctive in the ancient Near East for placing the monarch under the law rather than above it.
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