XVII. (1) THOU SHALT NOT SACRIFICE... — The law concerning the purity of victims is given in full in Leviticus 22:17. It takes its place there among the special laws of holiness. The same principle appears to unite the several topics treated here in Deuteronomy, as the holy days, the administration... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 17:2. EVERY IDOLATER TO BE STONED. (2) IF THERE BE FOUND... MAN OR WOMAN. — This section differs slightly from the third section of Deuteronomy 13. The penalty there is directed against the teachers of idolatry, whether prophets, private individuals, or communities in Israel. Here the p... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 17:8. THE SUPREMACY IN ISRAEL OF THE WRITTEN LAW OF GOD. (8) IF THERE ARISE A MATTER TOO HARD FOR THEE. — Literally, _too wonderful._ BETWEEN BLOOD AND BLOOD, BETWEEN PLEA AND PLEA, AND BETWEEN STROKE AND STROKE. — The “blood” and the “plea” seem to indicate criminal and civil cases. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 17:14. THE LAW OF THE KINGDOM. (14) WHEN THOU ART COME UNTO THE LAND. — These are not the words of a legislator who is already in the land. Those who say that this law dates from later times must be prepared to assert that this clause is expressly framed to suit the lips of Moses, and i... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL WRITE HIM A COPY OF THIS LAW. — This phrase is the source of the Greek title of the book, _Deuteronomion,_ or in English, Deuteronomy. The word appears also in Joshua 8:32. The English conveys the right sense of the word, which primarily denotes repetition. In Hebrew it is _Mishneh,_ the na... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE END THAT HE MAY PROLONG HIS DAYS IN HIS KINGDOM, HE, AND HIS CHILDREN. — Shows that the kingdom in Israel would be hereditary only so far as Jehovah willed it to be so. Again we may say that the striking fact that no dynasty except that of David ever continued for more than five generations,... [ Continue Reading ]