Deuteronomychapter 17
20 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Deuteronomy Overview.
Moses gave this law on the plains of Moab to a people with no king, no capital and no standing court. It sets out offices for a nation that did not yet hold its land, centuries before Israel asked for a king. The chapter climbs from the town gate to a higher court and then to the throne. At each step it asks who may decide a matter and on what evidence. Listen for the number of witnesses a sentence requires, and for the book a king must keep beside him. The histories of Samuel and Kings can be read against this chapter.
Context
- Who
- A people with no king, no capital and no standing court
- What
- The laws for judging a charge of idolatry at the town gate, for taking hard cases to the priests and the judge at the chosen place, and for the king Israel would one day set over itself.
- Where
- The plains of Moab, with courts set at the town gates and a higher court at a sanctuary not yet chosen.
- When
- The fortieth year after the Exodus, about 1406 BC on the early date this site keeps, some four hundred years before Israel asked for a king at 1 Samuel 8:5.
- Why
- To keep a sentence from resting on one voice and to put every ruler, the king included, under the same law as the people.
Historical context
The speech is Moses in the first person, and the chapter builds offices for a nation that does not yet hold the land.
Show the rest of the historical context, 6 more paragraphs
The setting is the plain east of the Jordan in the fortieth year, at about 1406 BC on the frame this site keeps. The request for a king that verse 14 anticipates is made at 1 Samuel 8:5, centuries later.
The occasion is the appointment of judges at 16:18. This chapter says what those judges do, what happens when a case is too hard for them, and what a king may and may not be.
A first hearer knew the gate as the courthouse. Sentence was carried out there because the whole town could take part, which Albert Barnes ties to the place itself.
He knew what a witness risked. Verse 7 puts the first stones in the hands of the witnesses, and the older commentators read that as a brake on a false charge.
He knew that Egypt was the horse market of the region. The account at 1 Kings 10:28-29 later prices a chariot out of Egypt at six hundred shekels of silver and a horse at a hundred and fifty.
He knew what it cost to copy a scroll by hand, which is what verse 18 asks of a king from the day he takes the throne.
Significance
The chapter gave a people without institutions the shape of the ones they would need, from a bench at a town gate up to a court of appeal.
Show the rest of the significance, 2 more paragraphs
It refused to let one voice take a life, and it made the accuser throw the first stone.
The law of the king came before Israel had one, and it put the throne under the same book as the man in the field. The record in 1 Kings 10 and 11 reads like a ledger kept against verses 16 and 17.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The authority a Jewish court holds over Jewish practice is read out of this chapter, and it is one of the points where Judaism and Christianity part. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:11:1 takes the command against turning to the right or the left as binding even against the hearer's own judgment. Where the judge calls right what looks left to you, and left what looks right, the ruling still stands, and Rashi argues from that case to the plain ones. He cites Sifrei Devarim 154:5. A Christian reader meets here the ground of rabbinic authority, which a Protestant reader in particular will weigh against the sufficiency of Scripture alone. This card states the Jewish reading and passes no verdict on it. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:9:1 reads the priests of the verse as those who come from the tribe of Levi, and Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:8:1 reads the hard case as one hidden from the local court.
How it is read
The commentary reads the law of the king as a set of limits rather than a grant. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:16:1 holds that the king may keep only the horses his carriages need. The reason given is that horses came from Egypt, and a trade in them would carry the people back there, which Rashi supports from 1 Kings 10:29 and cites to Sanhedrin 21b. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:17:1 puts a number on the wives, eighteen, and reasons from the six wives of David and the words of Nathan about doubling them, citing Sanhedrin 21a. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:18:1 reads the throne of the following verse as conditional, holding that a king who keeps these limits is worthy of a lasting kingdom, from Sifrei Devarim 160:1. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:20:1 extends the command against departing to the least command given through a prophet. On the trial of an idolater, Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:5:1 corrects a Targum reading. The gates of the verse are the city where the man served the idol rather than the gate where the court sits. Rashi argues it from the same word at verse 2, citing Sifrei Devarim 148:2 and Ketubot 45b. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:4:1 reads the word for certain as meaning that the witnesses agree. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:6:1 asks why three witnesses are named when two suffice. The answer he gives is that three are joined to two as one testimony, so that none of them can be treated as a plotting witness unless all are, from Makkot 5b. The Rashi entries are from corpus entries marked kept, the Rosenbaum and Silbermann edition, public domain. Ibn Ezra stands across this chapter at 17:1:1, 17:2:1, 17:3:1, 17:4:1, 17:7:1, 17:12:1 and 17:15:1, and Sforno at 17:14:1, with Malbim at 17:10:1. All of those carry no text the licence permits here and are cited by ref alone.
What the rabbis say
The rabbis teach that the execution of an elder who defies the supreme court waits for a festival. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:13:1 draws it from the words about all the people hearing, since all Israel is gathered in Jerusalem at the festival season. He cites Sanhedrin 89a. This site reports it as their ruling on the verse. They teach that the words about gods God never commanded are a comment on the worship rather than on the heavenly bodies themselves, which Rashi gives on Deuteronomy 17:3:1 from Megillah 9b. They teach that the ban on an evil thing in a sacrifice covers an evil utterance over it, which Rashi gives on Deuteronomy 17:1:1 from Sifrei Devarim 147:5 and Zevachim 36. The corpus also holds the Midrash and the Talmud on this chapter as locators without their text. Among them are Bekhorot 14b:10 at verse 1, Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 6:1:2 at verse 2 and Berakhot 18b:3 at verse 6. Others are Aggadat Bereshit 73:1 at verse 8, Berakhot 19b:10 at verse 11, Devarim Rabbah 5:10 at verse 14 and Bamidbar Rabbah 12:17 at verse 16.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:1:1, 17:2:1, 17:3:1, 17:4:1, 17:5:1, 17:6:1, 17:8:1, 17:9:1, 17:11:1, 17:13:1, 17:16:1, 17:17:1, 17:18:1, 17:19:1 and 17:20:1, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, public domain, 1929 to 1934; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 17:1:1, 17:2:1, 17:3:1, 17:4:1, 17:7:1, 17:12:1 and 17:15:1, cited by ref alone, no licence reported; Sforno, Sforno on Deuteronomy 17:14:1, cited by ref alone, no licence reported; Malbim, Malbim on Deuteronomy 17:10:1, cited by ref alone, no English version; Midrash and Talmud, Bekhorot 14b:10, Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 6:1:2, Berakhot 18b:3 and 19b:10, Aggadat Bereshit 73:1, Devarim Rabbah 5:10 and Bamidbar Rabbah 12:17, cited by ref alone; The Sefaria corpus on disk, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/deuteronomy/17.json, fetched 2026-09-19, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Two or three witnesses before a stoning
This rule belongs with the altar material of the previous chapter, and 15:21 had already forbidden the flawed offering. Leviticus 22:22-24 lists the faults meant, and Malachi 1:8 charges a later generation with breaking this rule. Matthew Henry reads the requirement through 1 Peter 1:19, where Christ is the lamb without blemish or spot.
Deuteronomy 17:1
“This verse belongs in subject to the last chapter. It prohibits once more (compare Deu 15:21) that form of insult to God which consists in offering to Him a blemished sacrifice. Any evil-favoredness - Render any evil thing. The reference is to the faults or maims enumerated in Lev 22:22-24.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Deuteronomy 17:1
“God is the best of beings, and therefore whatsoever he is served with ought to be the best in its kind. And the Old-Testament sacrifices in a special manner must be so, because they were types of Christ, who is a Lamb without blemish or spot ( 1 Pet. i. 19 ), perfectly pure from all sin and all appearance of it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Deuteronomy 17:2-4
The offence is idolatry, filed as “transgressing His covenant”, and Matthew Henry reads it as breaking the terms on which Israel was taken as a people. Sun, moon and the host of heaven are its objects, the worship 4:19 warned against and 2 Kings 21:3-5 lays at Manasseh's door. The report must be investigated and found true first, the steps 13:14 required before a whole city could be judged.
Deuteronomy 17:2
“It was on this condition that God took them to be his peculiar people, that they should serve and worship him only as their God, so that if they gave to any other the honour which was due to him alone that covenant was void, and all the benefit of it forfeited. Other sins were transgressions of the command, but this was a transgression of the covenant.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 17:2
“Compare Deu 13:1 ff. Here special reference is made to the legal forms to be adopted, Deu 17:5-7. The sentence was to be carried into effect at “the gates” (compare Gen 19:1 note) of the town in which the crime was committed; because, as “all the people” were to take a part, an open space would be requisite for the execution. Note the typical and prophetical aspect of the injunction; compare Act 7:58; Heb 13:12.”
any of the host of heaven: John Wesley reads the sun, the moon and the host of heaven as the most splendid objects any idolater could worship, glorious works of God set up in his place. If these are forbidden, gods of wood and stone made by hand fall under the same sentence. Ezekiel 8:16 finds men at the temple bowing to the sun.
Deuteronomy 17:3
“The host of heaven - Those glorious creatures, which are to be admired as the wonderful works of God, but not to be set up in God's stead. By condemning the most specious of all idolaters, he intimates, how absurd a thing it is to worship stocks and stones, the works of men's hands. I have not commanded - That is, I have forbidden.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Adam Clarke separates the stages, a private report, then a thing heard in public, then a careful investigation of the persons reporting and the circumstances. The case goes forward only if the report is true and the evil has happened in Israel. Rumour and malice put no man or woman to death.
Deuteronomy 17:5-6
Sentence is carried out at the gates, the open ground of a town's legal business, and Albert Barnes ties the place to the need for all the people to take part. Two or three witnesses are required in a capital case, as Numbers 35:30 requires for murder. Hebrews 10:28 cites this rule, and the same number governs church discipline at Matthew 18:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:1.
Adam Clarke gives the reason for the number: one witness can be deceived, prejudiced or malicious. John Wesley adds that the witnesses had to be credible and competent, and he reports that Jewish courts refused the testimony of children, women, servants, familiar friends, enemies and men of evil reputation. A lone witness puts no one to death.
Deuteronomy 17:6
“Two witnesses - One might be deceived, or be prejudiced or malicious; therefore God required two substantial witnesses for the support of the charge.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 17:6
“Witnesses - Namely, credible and competent witnesses. The Jews rejected the testimonies of children, women, servants, familiar friends or enemies, persons of dissolute lives or evil fame.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The men who gave the testimony throw the first stones, and commentators from Gill onward read the order as a brake on false accusation. Acts 7:58 shows the rule at Stephen's death, and John 8:7 puts the first stone in the hand of whoever is without sin. The closing line, “purge the evil from among you”, is quoted at 1 Corinthians 5:13 of a man inside a church.
Deuteronomy 17:7
“First upon him - God thus ordered it, for the caution of witnesses, that, if they had thro' malice or wrath accused him falsely, they might now be afraid to imbrue their hands in innocent blood; and for the security and satisfaction of the people in the execution of this punishment.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Cross references
Deuteronomy 17:7
- Quoted in1 Corinthians 5:13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
'Put away from among yourselves that wicked person'
Too hard for you? Go up to the place he chooses
Deuteronomy 17:8-9
The hard case goes up to “the place the LORD your God will choose”, so a standing court now sits where Moses sat at 1:17. The court is “the Levitical priests” with the presiding judge, hearing cases of bloodshed, lawsuits and assaults. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown identify the later form of this tribunal with the Sanhedrin.
Deuteronomy 17:8
“If there arise a matter too hard for thee - These directions are given to the common magistrates, who might not be able to judge of or apply the law in all cases that might be brought before them. The priests and Levites, who were lawyers by birth and continual practice, were reasonably considered as the best qualified to decide on difficult points.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 17:8
“For thee - He speaks to the inferior magistrates, who were erected in several cities. If thou hast not skill to determine, between blood and blood - That is, in capital causes.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
John Gill reads the Levitical priests as priests of the tribe of Levi, as the Targum of Jonathan does. 1 Kings 12:31 shows Jeroboam appointing priests who were outside Levi, the kind of priest this law would refuse. John Wesley reads the verdict as the judgment the case deserves.
Deuteronomy 17:9
“And he may be distinctly named, tho' he be one of the priests, because of his eminency, and to shew that amongst the priests, he especially was to be consulted in such cases. The sentence of judgment - Hebrew. The word, or matter of judgement, that is, the true state of the cause, and what judgment or sentence ought to be given in it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Deuteronomy 17:10-11
The ruling binds, and “to the right or to the left” is the charge laid on the nation at 5:32 and on the king at verse 20. Rabbinic tradition rested its courts' authority on these two verses, and readers differ over how far one ruling reaches past its case. At Matthew 23:2-3 Jesus tells the crowd to do what those in Moses' seat bid, but not to copy their deeds.
Deuteronomy 17:10
“And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee,....”
Verse 11 names two things the court declares, the terms of law and the verdict in the case. Adam Clarke calls the priests and Levites lawyers by birth and continual practice, the men best fitted to decide a difficult case for the local magistrates. Malachi 2:7 has the people seeking instruction from a priest's mouth.
Deuteronomy 17:11
“Just as a person has to pick his way between fire and water so as to be neither burned nor drowned, so we should steer our way between the pinnacle of pride and the whirlpool of sloth, as it is written, "turning neither to the right nor to the left." For there are some who, through fear of being carried up to the heights on the right, slip and are drowned on the left.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · LETTER 48patristic
Deuteronomy 17:12-13
Refusing the court's decision is capital, and acting presumptuously carries the distinction Numbers 15:30 draws between a sin of ignorance and a defiant one. Adam Clarke reads it as rebellion against the highest authority, and Matthew Henry allows that honest difference from weakness must be borne. Verse 13 states the purpose, “all the people will hear and be afraid”, as at 13:11, 19:20 and 21:21.
Deuteronomy 17:12
“To differ in opinion from weakness and infirmity may be excused and must be borne with; but to do so presumptuously, in pride and wickedness (as the ancient translations explain it), this is to take up arms against the government, and is an affront to him by whom the powers that be are ordained.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew Henry calls the presumption of verse 12 taking up arms against the government, an affront to the God who ordains its powers. The sentence is heard by all the people, and one death teaches the whole nation to fear. Israel went up presumptuously at 1:43.
A king who copies out the law by hand
Deuteronomy 17:14-15
The request “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us” returns almost word for word at 1 Samuel 8:5 and 8:20. Matthew Henry reads the law as permission rather than promise. The king must come “from among your brothers”, and Albert Barnes notes that later Jewish reading stretched the ban on a foreigner to every office, which sharpened the question at Matthew 22:17.
Deuteronomy 17:14
“Their having a king is neither promised as a mercy nor commanded as a duty (nothing could be better for them than the divine regimen they were under), but it is permitted them if they desired it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John Wesley reads the rule of a native king two ways. A brother of the same nation and faith was the man most likely to keep true religion and rule with kindness, and he was a fitting type of Christ, the King who would be one of his brothers. Hebrews 2:17 says he was made like his brothers in every way.
Deuteronomy 17:15
“God reserved to himself the nomination both of the family, and of the person. Thy brethren -- of the same nation and religion; because such a person was most likely to maintain true religion, and to rule with righteousness, gentleness, and kindness to his subjects; and that he might be a fit type of Christ their supreme king, who was to be one of their brethren.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The prohibition has two halves, the horses and the road they would be fetched along. Egypt was the horse market of the region, and 1 Kings 10:28-29 says Solomon's horses came from there at a hundred and fifty shekels each. Adam Clarke gives two grounds for the rule, the traffic with Egypt and the confidence a mounted army invites, which Psalm 20:7 and Isaiah 31:1 press.
Deuteronomy 17:16
“He shall not multiply horses - Tho' he might have horses for his own use, yet he was not to have many horses for his officers and guard, much less for war, lest he should trust in them. The multiplying horses is also forbidden, lest it should raise too great a correspondence with Egypt which furnished Canaan with them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The first prohibition carries its reason, “lest his heart go astray”, and 1 Kings 11:1-4 says Solomon's seven hundred wives turned his heart. On silver and gold, 1 Kings 10:14 counts six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold in a single year. Albert Barnes reads all three clauses as forbidding excess rather than possession, since the king plainly had horses, a wife and a treasury.
Deuteronomy 17:17
“Multiplication of wives would lead to sensuality, and so to an apostasy no less fatal in effect than downright idolatry (compare Exo 34:16). This rule, like the others, abridges to the ruler of Israel liberties usually enjoyed without stint by the kings of the East. The restriction was in the days of Moses unprecedented; and demanded a higher standard in the king of Israel than was looked for among his equals in other nations. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold - In this third prohibition, as in the other two, excess is forbidden.”
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 17:17
“The mischievous effects resulting from the breach of this condition were exemplified in the history of Solomon and other princes, who, by trampling on the restrictive law, corrupted themselves as well as the nation. neither shall he greatly multiply . . . silver and gold--that is, the kings were forbidden to accumulate money for private purposes.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The king copies the law from the text held by the Levitical priests, and the Jewish tradition Adam Clarke reports has him do it with his own hand. The Hebrew for a copy of this law, mishneh hattorah, became deuteronomion in the Septuagint, and the book's name came into English from that rendering. At 2 Kings 11:12 Joash receives the testimony at his crowning.
Deuteronomy 17:18
“He shall write him a copy of this law - משנה התורה הזאת mishneh hattorah hazzoth, an iteration or duplicate of this law; translated by the Septuagint, το δευτερονομιον τουτο this deuteronomy. From this version both the Vulgate Latin and all the modern versions have taken the name of this book; and from the original word the Jews call it Mishneh. See the preface to this book.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 17:18
“He shall write - With his own hand, as the Jews say. Out of that - Out of the original, which was carefully kept by the priests in the sanctuary, that it might be a perfect copy, and that it might have the greater influence upon him, coming to him as from the hand and presence of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Deuteronomy 17:19-20
The king reads “all the days of his life”, so that he may learn to fear the LORD before he enforces the law. Verse 20 adds that “his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen”, putting the throne under the same book as the man in the field. Joshua 1:7-8 lays the same charge on Moses' successor, and 1 Kings 11:11-13 measures the promise against Solomon.
Deuteronomy 17:19
“And it shall be with him, etc. - It was the surest way to bring the king to an acquaintance with the Divine law to oblige him to write out a fair copy of it with his own hand, in which he was to read daily. This was essentially necessary, as these laws of God were all permanent, and no Israelitish king could make any new law, the kings of this people being ever considered as only the vice-gerents of Jehovah.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The promise reaches past the king to his sons, and Adam Clarke infers from this verse that the crown of Israel was meant to be hereditary. Psalm 132:12 sets the same condition on David's throne, that his sons keep the covenant if their sons are to reign after them. The kingdom rests on obedience.
Deuteronomy 17:20
“He, and his children, in the midst of Israel - From this verse it has been inferred that the crown of Israel was designed to be hereditary, and this is very probable; for long experience has proved to almost all the nations of the world that hereditary succession in the regal government is, on the whole, the safest, and best calculated to secure the public tranquillity.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Law, the offices of the nation set out in order, the court and then the king, as 17 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Neither to the right nor to the left | The words are laid on the whole nation at 5:32, on the citizen before the court at verse 11, and on the king at verse 20. Joshua 1:7-8 lays them on Moses' successor with this same book in view.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the note on verses 10 and 11, and the note on verses 19 and 20. | Deuteronomy 17:11, Deuteronomy 17:20, Deuteronomy 5:32 |
| The three steps before a sentence | Verse 4 requires the charge to be reported, heard and investigated thoroughly, and then found true and certain. The same three steps stand at 13:14 before a whole city can be judged.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the note on verses 2 to 4, which cites Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710. | Deuteronomy 17:4, Deuteronomy 13:14 |
| The three things a king may not multiply | Verses 16 and 17 forbid many horses, many wives and great wealth, and the text supplies the reason for the second, that his heart would go astray. Albert Barnes reads all three clauses as forbidding excess rather than possession.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the note on verse 17, which cites Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. | Deuteronomy 17:16, Deuteronomy 17:17 |
| The doubled pairs of the hard case | Verse 8 names what the supreme court hears in doubled pairs, which the King James carries as blood and blood, plea and plea, stroke and stroke. The form covers a class of case rather than a list of crimes.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the note on verses 8 and 9, which cites Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832. | Deuteronomy 17:8 |
| All the people will hear and be afraid | Verse 13 states the purpose of the sentence in a formula the book repeats at 13:11, 19:20 and 21:21. The sentence is public, and the published note records that the offence at verse 12 is called presumptuous.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the note on verses 12 and 13, which cites Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry. | Deuteronomy 17:13, Deuteronomy 13:11 |
The New Testament's use
11 more paragraphs on the patterns
The rule of two or three witnesses at verse 6 is quoted at Hebrews 10:28, that anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. The same number governs church discipline at Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19.
The procedure of verse 7 is still running at Acts 7:58, where the witnesses at Stephen's death laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul. John 8:7 puts the first stone in the hand of whoever is without sin. The closing line about purging the evil is quoted by Paul at 1 Corinthians 5:13 of a man inside a church.
Matthew 23:2-3 has Jesus telling the crowd to do what those who sit in Moses' seat tell them, while warning them off copying what those men do. Albert Barnes notes that later Jewish reading stretched the ban on a foreigner at verse 15 to cover every office. That is part of what gave the question about tribute to Caesar at Matthew 22:17 its edge.
How far a ruling reaches
Verses 10 and 11 make the ruling binding. Rabbinic tradition rested the standing authority of its own courts on these two verses. Readers have long differed over how far one ruling reaches past the case that produced it. The published note carries the difference and states no verdict.
Verse 12 makes refusal of the court's decision capital, and the word is presumptuously, which carries the distinction Numbers 15:30 draws between a sin of ignorance and a sin done with a high hand. Adam Clarke reads the offence as rebellion against the highest authority in the land. Matthew Henry allows that honest difference of opinion from weakness is a separate thing and must be borne with.
Where the king's law was tested
The account at 1 Kings 10:28-29 says Solomon's horses were brought out of Egypt, a chariot at six hundred shekels of silver and a horse at a hundred and fifty. The account at 1 Kings 11:1-4 gives him seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and then says his wives turned away his heart, which is the exact ground verse 17 states. The account at 1 Kings 10:14 counts six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold coming in during a single year.
The clause in verse 16 about never going back that way points to Exodus 14:13. Adam Clarke gives two grounds for the rule about horses, the traffic with Egypt itself and the confidence a mounted army invites, which is what Psalm 20:7 and Isaiah 31:1 press.
The book in the king's hands
The account at 2 Kings 11:12 puts the testimony into the hands of Joash at his crowning. The account at 2 Kings 22 has Josiah hearing a book of the law that had gone missing. Whether Deuteronomy was the scroll found in Josiah's temple is one of the contested points the site's dossier carries with its holders, and the site states no verdict. The page /featured/josiah-finds-the-book stands and carries Deuteronomy 31.
Keep studying
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
The Jewish annual reading cycle, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, portion 48; This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 17, the notes on verses 8 and 9 and on verses 14 and 15, which take the supreme court and the king as the two offices the chapter creates and This site's published structure of Deuteronomy, src/components/book/guides/deuteronomy/DeuteronomyGuide.tsx, which places the chapter inside the second address at 4:44 to 26:19.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.