Deuteronomy 17:1-28:46

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

FURTHER CONDITIONS OF BLESSING THE JUDGE AND THE KING (Deuteronomy 17:0 ) In the preceding chapter, Deuteronomy 16:18 , provision was made for judges and other officers of the civil law. They were to hold court in the gates of the cities, the place of ingress and egress, for the cities were walled. This idea of judges sitting in the gates still lingers in the Orient and gives significance to the Mohammedan terms Ottoman Porte and Sublime Porte. Review the preceding chapter and observe the... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

True Worship Deuteronomy 17:0 This makes our relation to God very definite. There is to be no intermediate worship. Closeness almost visible closeness is to be the rule and standard of our communion with God. Nothing must stand between. We are permitted to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There must be no intervening system of priests, or officers of any kind, or angels of any degree: every soul must have right of way to God,... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:1

CONTENTS The subject of the divine laws is continued through this Chapter. Moses under GOD'S authority, points out the unblemished state required of the animals to be offered in sacrifice; of the punishment of idolaters: of controversies in judgment: of the election of a king; and of special duties required of him. Deuteronomy 17:1 I hope the Reader will not overlook, in the frequent notice which he must have made in the several parts of Moses' writings, concerning the unblemished state of the... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 17:1

Ox. By this name all bulls, cows, &c., are designated. For it was not lawful to sacrifice any thing which had lost any member, Exodus xii. 5., and Leviticus i. 3. read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-7

1-7 No creature which had any blemish was to be offered in sacrifice to God. We are thus called to remember the perfect, pure, and spotless sacrifice of Christ, and reminded to serve God with the best of our abilities, time, and possession, or our pretended obedience will be hateful to him. So great a punishment as death, so remarkable a death as stoning, must be inflicted on the Jewish idolater. Let all who in our day set up idols in their hearts, remember how God punished this crime in... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Deuteronomy 17:1-7

Punishment of Idolatry v. 1. Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord, thy God, any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish, or any evil-favoredness; for that is an abomination unto the Lord, thy God. The offering of an imperfect animal as sacrifice, one infected with any of the evils mentioned Leviticus 22:20-Jeremiah :, is just as much an insult to Jehovah as the erecting of pillars to Asherah and Baal; hence the authorities were to watch carefully over these matters. v. 2. If there be found... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

The Fifth CommandDeuteronomy 16:18 to Deuteronomy 18:22Deuteronomy 16:18-2218Judges and officers shalt thou make [give] thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19Thou shalt not wrest [bend, turn aside] judgment; thou shalt not respect persons [the face] neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20That which is altogether just, [Justice,... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-20

Continuing the discourse commenced in the previous chapter, we find insistence on the fact that no false sacrifices must be offered and no false worshipers permitted to approach. For dealing with such, a method was minutely laid down. First there must be careful inquiry and for condemnation there must be three, or at the least two, witnesses. Where cases of peculiar difficulty arose they must be remitted to the priests and to the supreme judge, that is, to the religious and civil court. Then... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1

A Ban On All Religious Objects And Behaviour Which Would Dishonour Yahweh And Make Them Unfit As Judges (Deuteronomy 16:21 to Deuteronomy 17:1 ). It is quite possible that certain matters of justice among the Canaanites (both in Canaan, and in Egypt where Canaanites settled) were decided at Canaanite sanctuaries, with pillars and Asherah involved in the procedures. If so such a procedure was not to be followed by Israel. It would reveal the judges as unfit to judge. So would the offering of... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 17:1-13

Deuteronomy 16:21– Deuteronomy 17:7 . Laws Demanding Pure Worship and Suitable Sacrifices.— This breaks the connexion; its proper place is probably between Deuteronomy 12 and Deuteronomy 13. Deuteronomy 17:1 . See Leviticus 22:17-Lamentations : *.— ox: Heb. means any head of large cattle, bull, cow, calf.— sheep: Heb. means any head of small cattle, ram, ewe, lamb, goat, kid. Deuteronomy 17:2-Judges : probably preceded ch. 13 with which it has close affinities. Deuteronomy 17:2 . within . .... read more

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