Deuteronomy 17:4-20

17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing ¹  is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates ²  that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. ³  17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses ⁴  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁵  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Appeal to a Higher Court

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, ⁶  legal claim, ⁷  or assault ⁸  – matters of controversy in your villages ⁹  – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. ¹⁰  17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention ¹¹  to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.

Provision for Kingship

17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail ¹²  a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens ¹³  you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. ¹⁴  17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ¹⁵  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many ¹⁶  wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law ¹⁷  on a scroll ¹⁸  given to him by the Levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom ¹⁹  in Israel.

[17:4]  ¹ tn Heb “an abomination” (תּוֹעֵבָה); see note on the word “offensive” in v. 1.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “gates.”

[17:5]  ³ tn Heb “stone them with stones so that they die” (KJV similar); NCV “throw stones at that person until he dies.”

[17:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[17:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “between blood and blood.”

[17:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “between claim and claim.”

[17:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “between blow and blow.”

[17:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:8]  ¹⁰ tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.

[17:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).

[17:15]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”

[17:15]  ¹³ 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.

[17:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).

[17:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”

[17:18]  ¹⁷ tn Or “instruction.” The LXX reads here τὸ δευτερονόμιον τοῦτο (to deuteronomion touto, “this second law”). From this Greek phrase the present name of the book, “Deuteronomy” or “second law” (i.e., the second giving of the law), is derived. However, the MT’s expression מִשְׁנֶה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (mishneh hattorah hazzo’t) is better rendered “copy of this law.” Here the term תּוֹרָה (torah) probably refers only to the book of Deuteronomy and not to the whole Pentateuch.

[17:18]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term סֵפֶר (sefer) means a “writing” or “document” and could be translated “book” (so KJV, ASV, TEV). However, since “book” carries the connotation of a modern bound book with pages (an obvious anachronism) it is preferable to render the Hebrew term “scroll” here and elsewhere.

[17:20]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.