Deuteronomy 17:15-16

17:15 you must select without fail ¹  a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens ²  you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. ³  17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ⁴  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”

² tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.

³ tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”

⁴ tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).