Deuteronomy 17:2-13

Deuteronomy 17:2-13

2 If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4 and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently; and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, 5 then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who hath done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them to death with stones. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates; then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose; 9 and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days: and thou shalt inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. 10 And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which Jehovah shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee, 11 according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 17:2-13

246.

Who is to prefer charges against the idolater?

247.

Why not punish a man with only one witness? Supposing the idolator was sincere in his worship; was he yet to be put to death?

248.

What is meant by the expression blood and blood, plea and plea, stroke and stroke?

249.

What is involved in the terrible sin of presumption? Is not this a present-day problem? Discuss.

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 17:2-13

2 If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the Lord your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant,
3 Who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or moon or any of the host of the heavens, which I have forbidden,
4 And it is told that you hear of it; then inquire diligently, and if it is certainly true that such an abomination has been committed in Israel,
5 Then you shall bring forth to your town's gates that man or woman who has done that wicked thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death.
6 On the evidence of two or three witnesses, he who is worthy of death shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
8 If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one legality and another, between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your towns, then arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses,
9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests, and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall make clear to you the decision.
10 And you shall do according to the decision which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses, and you shall be watchful to do according to all that they tell you;
11 According to the decision of the law which they shall teach you, and the judgment which they shall announce to you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the verdict they give you, either to the right hand or the left.
12 The man who does presumptuously, and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.
13 And all the people shall hear, and (reverently) fear, and not act presumptuously again.

COMMENT 17:2-13

We have included this passage with the section above because of its obvious similarity and because it treats the same subject. God had said to have no other gods before (besides) me nor to make any graven image (Deuteronomy 5:7-10). He had also strictly forbidden the worship of any creature, star, planet, etc. (Deuteronomy 4:15-19 and notes). Here it will be seen that the same method of procedure was to follow the punishment of transgressors as we have just noted in chapter 13. One witness was not enough for the death sentence, (Cf. Numbers 35:30) and the witnesses had to have reputations for reliability (Deuteronomy 19:15-21). (Naboth, for example, had two base fellows witness against him, 1 Kings 21:10; 1 Kings 21:13). In matters of discipline in the New Testament church, two or more witnesses are also required (Matthew 18:15-18).

IF THERE ARISE A MATTER TOO HARD FOR THEE IN JUDGMENT (Deuteronomy 17:8)See also Deuteronomy 1:9-18, Deuteronomy 19:16-19, Deuteronomy 25:1-3, and also Exodus 18:13-26. The passages in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 (which speak of the same instance) do not specify that the judges themselves had to be priests or Levites. In fact, the Exodus passage seems definitely to specify that Moses-' choices for these officers were not limited to one tribe: And Moses chose able men out of all Israel. and they judged the people. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 19:17 seem to carefully distinguish between the priests (who of course were always Levites) and the Judges, who might have been from any tribe of Israel.

AND THOU SHALT COME UNTO THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES, AND UNTO THE JUDGE (Deuteronomy 17:9)In all such cases [Cf. Deuteronomy 17:8] recourse was to be had to the court at the sanctuary-'to the priests the Levites,-' i.e. the priests who were of the tribe of Levi, and the judge presiding therethe lay judge associated with the high priest as president. (Pulpit Com.)

AND THOU SHALT DO ACCORDING TO THE TENOR OF THE SENTENCE (Deuteronomy 17:10)Cf. Deuteronomy 17:12, which enacts the death penalty for THE MAN THAT DOETH PRESUMPTUOUSLY in not obeying the judge and the priest. The Hebrew word zid is defined by Baumgartner's Lexicon as insolent, presumptuous,. boundless insolence and by Gesenius, swelling, pride; as joined with insolence and arrogance [here], haughtiness. It ought to be seen from all this that this judicial method was not intended as any kangaroo court by God! The decisions made by these appointed men were to be listened to and obeyed.

Much, of course, is left unsaid in these verses which could perhaps be profitably discussed. For example, to what extent did God personally and miraculously guide these judges and priests? Did the priests employ the Urim and Thummim in making such judgments?

In the theocracy Israel was under, there was little distinction between ecclesiastical and civil cases. The priests no doubt specialized as expounders and judges of cases involving the law, but the lay judges were not added to the court, to be judges of the facts in distinction from the law in the case.

It is debatable whether the judges to whom Israel came for judgment during that era of history known as the Period of Judges (Judges 2:16-19; Judges 3:10; Judges 4:4-5; Judges 10:2, etc.) represent the judge that shall be in those days (Deuteronomy 17:9). If so, they took on far different responsibilities than anything mentioned here, for they were chiefly military men raised up to deliver Israel from his enemiesa task never assigned to these judges.