Deuteronomy 17:14-20

(2) KINGS (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

14 When thou art come unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; 15 thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 20 that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not 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 midst of Israel.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 17:14-20

292.

These verses contain a prophesy covering how many years?

293.

Was this prediction an encouragement to disobedience? Discuss.

294.

Discuss the importance of the three prohibitions. Cf. Deuteronomy 17:16-17.

295.

What law book was to be copied by the King? For what purpose?

296.

What are some of the indications of his heart being lifted up above his brethren?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 17:14-20

14 When you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live there, and then say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me;
15 You shall surely set as king over you him whom the Lord your God will choose; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner, who is not your brother, over you.
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses, since the Lord said to you, You shall never return that way.
17 And he shall not multiply wives to himself, that his [mind and] heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And when he sits on his royal throne, he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of what is before the Levitical priests;
19 And he shall keep it with him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life, that he may learn (reverently) to fear the Lord his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them;
20 That his [mind and] heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he may not turn aside from the commandments, to the right hand or to the left; so that he may continue long, he and his sons, in his kingdom in Israel.

COMMENT 17:14-20

As we have already seen, and shall see in this book, God divinely anticipates the evil into which Israel would degenerate and makes provision for it. See another example of this in 1 Samuel 8:4-22; 1 Samuel 12:12. He does not condone or endorse all he allowsor all he foreknows. Their desire for a king would represent a degeneration and corruption of Israel's Theocracy. But God was still their father, and Israel was still his nation, and he was not about to forsake them on this account. So the regulatory laws we have here. As we will see, even these were soon broken!

Because God knew ahead of time what Israel would do after they arrived in the promised land, did not mean he caused or compelled them to do itmuch less authorized it. A scientist-astronomer may now know that an eclipse will take place exactly at such-and-such a time in 1980. Does his foreknowledge cause the eclipse? No, but it may cause him to do many things in anticipation of it. It seems we have a fair parallel here. God anticipated the evil into which Israel would degenerate in clamoring for a king, and the present scriptures provide for that state of things. McGarvey asks, What was to prevent Moses from anticipating this? He was starting his people on their national career without a king, when all the nations round about them had kings, and had been ruled by them in the past. He would have been grossly ignorant of human nature had he not anticipated and feared that in the course of time they would grow weary of such singularity, and want to live like other nations. Such has been the fearful anticipation of every body of patriots who ever organized a democratic or republican form of government.[36]

[36] Authorship of Deuteronomy, p. 116

AND SHALT SAY, I WILL SET A KING OVER ME (Deuteronomy 17:14)1 Samuel 8:5; 1 Samuel 8:19-20.

KING. WHOM JEHOVAH THY GOD SHALL CHOOSE (Deuteronomy 17:15)An Israelite that had God's divine approval. Note, for example, David's anointing, 1 Samuel 16:4-13. Of course, this principle was often broken after the kingdom divided.

HE SHALL NOT MULTIPLY HORSES (Deuteronomy 17:16). WIVES (Deuteronomy 17:17) SILVER AND GOLD (Deuteronomy 17:17)King solomon probably represents the most flagrant transgressor of these prohibitions. He at first obeyed the Lord, and riches (which he had not asked for) were added to his request for wisdom (1 Kings 3:9-14). But he was soon sidetracked from wholehearted service to Jehovah. Exactly as these verses specify he was not to do, he multiplied

(1)

Horses1 Kings 4:26 (Cf. 2 Chronicles 9:25) 1 Kings 10:26; 1 Kings 10:28-29. Note also that his horses were brought out of Egyptagain breaking the command of God as we have it here (Deuteronomy 17:16). A king would not multiply horses normally, unless preparing for war or building up military might. See Psalms 20:7; Psalms 33:16-19; Psalms 147:10-11; Proverbs 21:31; Isaiah 2:5-8. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah! (Isaiah 31:1).

(2)

Riches1 Kings 10:27, 2 Chronicles 1:15. At first given by God, money apparently became an obsession with him. This meant heavy, excessive taxes, plus a system of forced labor, 1 Kings 5:13-17. Compare Israel's complaint to Rehoboam, 1 Kings 12:4.

(3)

Wives1 Kings 11:1-10. These turned Solomon's heart away from God.

HE SHALL WRITE HIM A COPY OF THIS LAW OUT OF THAT WHICH IS BEFORE THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES (Deuteronomy 17:18)It is likely this means, that the copy which the king was to write out was to be taken from the autograph kept in the tabernacle before the Lord, from which, as a standard, every copy was taken, and with which doubtless every copy was compared; and it is probable that the priests and Levites had the revising of every copy that was taken off, in order to prevent errors from creeping into the sacred text. (Clarke) The priests were the custodians of the law (Deuteronomy 31:26).

The book was to be constantly studied and meditated upon by the king (Deuteronomy 17:19-20)and be his directory and guide in daily life. Joshua was not a king, but was God's leader of Israel, note Joshua 1:7-8. David, of course, is the king who truly held God's law in its proper esteem (Psalms 119, etc.).

It is probable, however, that the book here referred to was neither the book of Deuteronomy or the Pentateuch. As this law was to be copied -out of that which was before the priests,-' it did not, of course, contain all that was in that book; and as it was to govern the king rather than the priests or the people, it included only such portions as related to the king's personal and official duties. It was not, therefore, a very long document. (McGarvey)

This may have been the testimony given Jehoash (Joash), 2 Kings 11:12.