Chapter Seventeen
Forbidden Actions Judged - Part Two
17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.
It is often thought that God required animal sacrifices offered to Him to be without blemish for two primary reasons:
It is believed that the reason that this verse is stated here in this section regarding forbidden practices related to idol worship, is that the practice of sacrificing animals, which nearly every pagan cult required at that time, typically did not require the animal to be without blemish or defect.
Since it would be difficult to sacrifice an animal with an obvious defect or blemish, as the animal would also need to be inspected and evaluated by a priest, this ordinance could be considered more advisory than any judgment after the fact. It should be noted that the first subject after expressing the need for righteous justice is the subject of idol worshiping, highlighting the serious nature and danger, which did indeed bring an end to their occupation of the land many years later.
17:2 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
The rules that ban any form of idol worship have already been given to this group in Deuteronomy 4:15-31. Here Moses clarifies how to proceed if someone is found serving or worshiping a false god. First, it was to be taken seriously and considered a priority since it could affect all of Israel. The party was to be brought to the city gates, the location where the judges were typically located.[2] Then they were to listen to the evidence from two or more witnesses. If only one witness presents testimony, then the person can be set free. However, if two or more witnesses present sufficient testimony that is to be considered proof of the person’s guilt, then they are to be immediately stoned to death. The witnesses are to be the first ones to throw the stones, followed by the community. The death was necessary to purge the evil from them, as idolatry in Israel was a transgression of their covenant with God and one death would prevent a larger scale retribution.
A Process for Difficult Legal Decisions
17:8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. 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 declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.
The issue of idolatry and worshiping false gods was of the greatest importance, which required urgent and immediate resolution. Now Moses tells them that if a legal decision is required to determine justice or appropriate punishment for other issues such as someone killing another, any legal disagreement, assault, or any other complex legal matter, a higher court is available to them. They are to seek instructions from one of the priests who will in turn seek guidance from God, using the guidelines already established (such as Exodus 22:7-10; Numbers 5:11-35) or possibly through the Urim and Thummim (see Exodus 28:29-30). It is unknown as to why Moses identifies the priests as being from the tribe of Levi as they were the only legitimate priesthood, from the lineage of Aaron, however, Moses consistently uses this reference for the remainder of Deuteronomy.
When a verdict was delivered, they were to do exactly as they were told, no one was to deviate from the instructions, nor were they to act presumptuously (Hebrew word ‘yezî·ḏûn’,[3] prideful, presuming to be right, this is the first appearance of this word in Scripture). If the instructions given by the priest or judge are not obeyed, the person who chose to reject their counsel is to be put to death. Since righteous justice requires a correct verdict and appropriate punishment, anyone who thinks they know better than the judges, priests, or God, must be purged from Israel, which will also serve as a lesson for the people of Israel to prevent them from acting prideful or presumptuously in the future.
Rules Regarding Israel’s Kings
17:14 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
Before outlining God’s regulations for future kings of Israel, Moses presents a prophetic truth that is often missed by readers of 1 Samuel chapter eight, the story about the people of Israel desiring a king. Here Moses tells them that, at some point in the future, after they have settled in the Promised Land, they will want a king like all the other nations around them, instead of continued governance by a theocracy (ruled by God). Those future kings not only would not be exempt from God’s regulations, but there are also six rules that applied only to them.
The last four regulations appear somewhat vague with terms like ‘many’ and ‘excessive’ used to express volume or quantity. The root word for each ‘many’ and ‘excessive’ in these verses is the Hebrew word ‘harbēh’,[4] and simply refers to an increase in number or an abundance, nothing absolute. God never intended the number of horses, the number of wives, or the amount of wealth accumulated to stop at a specific number, these regulations were to serve as a warning that these things can erode their relationship with God. The dependence on warriors and on horses would take away the reliance of God’s provision and protection, as King David wrote, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalms 20:7) Plus, having many wives and great wealth could distract and potentially displace attention to God.
17:18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
God required that when a person became a king, they were required to copy God’s law (the Torah). As referenced in the Introduction to Deuteronomy, the name Deuteronomy was derived from verse 18.[5] There is some debate as to the extent of what was written (some believe only the regulations were copied, others believe the entire five books of Moses) and whether it was to be written by their own hand. The first-century Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and author known as Philo of Alexandria or Philo Judaeus (Philo the Jew) wrote about several Jewish subjects, including the law, he offers this about these verses:
XXXII. (160) And from the first day on which any one enters upon his office, he orders that he shall write out a copy of the book of the law with his own hand, which shall supply him with a summary and concise image of all the laws, because he wishes that all the ordinances which are laid down in it shall be firmly fixed in his soul; for while a man is reading the notions of what he is reading fleet away, being carried off by the rapidity of his utterance; but if he is writing they are stamped upon his heart at leisure, and they take up their abode in the heart of each individual as his mind dwells upon each particular, and settles itself to the contemplation of it, and does not depart to any other object, till it has taken a firm hold of that which was previously submitted to it. (161) When therefore he is writing, let him take care, every day, to read and study what he has written, both in order that he may thus attain to a continual and unchangeable recollection of these commands which are virtuous and expedient for all men to observe, and also that a firm love of and desire for them may be implanted in him, by reason of his soul being continually taught and accustomed to apply itself to the study and observance of the sacred laws.[6]
The copy needed to be reviewed and approved by the priests. The king was to know God’s law intimately and be found following each of the regulations, as they were not to be considered above the law or any other Israelite. If the king and the people of Israel continued to be obedient to the law, they would be able to remain in the Promised Land.
Considerations
Anyone who has read the Old Testament would immediately recognize that many of the kings failed to abide with these regulations. The greatest offender was King Solomon, he violated the last four regulations as he acquired many horses (verse 16), sent to Egypt (verse 16), had many wives (verse 17) and had vast amounts of silver and gold (verse 17).
He had 40,000 stalls (or 4,000 depending on source) for horses and 12,000 horsemen (see 1 Kings 4:26; 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14) and many were from Egypt (see 1 Kings 10:28; 2 Chronicles 9:28). King Solomon is well known for his love of women which became a problem that ultimately led to idolatry being reintroduced to the kingdom:
“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” (1 Kings 11:1-8)[7]
In addition to his many wives, Solomon is also well known for his wealth. Even though God blessed Solomon with great wealth in response to him asking for wisdom and discernment instead of seeking wealth (see 1 Kings 3:10-14), Solomon continued to pursue more silver and gold, including owning a fleet of ships to import gold, silver, ivory, and exotic animals, much of which adorned his palace (see 1 Kings 10:14-29). It is interesting to note that the only other reference to the number 666 in the Bible, other than the well-known use in relation to “the number of the beast” in Revelation 13:18, is to the weight of gold that Solomon received every year (see 1 Kings 10:14-15).
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[1] See commentaries under Genesis 17:1-2; Exodus 12:3-6 and Considerations under Exodus 13:16, regarding blemishes.
[2] See commentary under Genesis 19:1-3; 34:18-24.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 2102.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 7235.
[5] See Misunderstood Name in the Introduction to Deuteronomy.
[6] Yonge, C. D. with Philo of Alexandria. (1995). The works of Philo: complete and unabridged (p. 632). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
[7] See also Considerations under Genesis 16:8-16.